In this week’s newsletter, read about how Telegram will enable its Gifts feature to be converted into non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and how a CryptoPunk sale is being used to promote a new memecoin. In other news, Lamborghini is bringing its luxury cars to Web3 games and NFTs saw their highest weekly sales volume since August.
Telegram to enable NFT conversion for new Gifts feature
Telegram teased the integration of NFTs by releasing a new feature called Gifts. In an announcement, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov said the platform will allow limited-edition Gifts to be converted into NFTs. This will enable users to trade the assets outside of Telegram.
While Durov did not give a specific date for NFT implementation, the CEO mentioned that it would be later this year.
Record $56 million CryptoPunk likely a publicity stunt, observers say
A CryptoPunk was recently sold for $56.2 million. Still, some say that the sale was a publicity stunt to promote a memecoin.
On Oct. 3, CryptoPunks Bot, an X account that tracks the collection’s transactions, flagged that Punk 1563 was purchased for 24,000 Ether (ETH), worth $56.2 million.
The buyer took a flash loan from the automated market maker Balancer to purchase the NFT. After receiving the funds, the seller almost immediately sent the ETH back to Balancer, leading many to say it was a wash sale.
Lamborghini brings cars to Web3 games with Animoca, Motorverse partnership
Automobili Lamborghini partnered with Animoca Brands to develop a platform that tokenizes its cars. The duo will create a platform called Fast ForWorld, which will work with Motorverse, a digital ecosystem for vehicles.
The partnership will allow Web3 gamers to trade and drive Lambos in many Motorverse games, including Torque Drift 2 and REVV Racing.
NFTs weekly sales volumes hit highest level since August
Despite a downturn in monthly volumes, NFTs had a substantial seven-day sales volume between Sept. 30 and Oct. 6. Data showed that the digital collectibles market recorded $84.9 million in sales during the week. This was the highest weekly volume for NFTs since Aug. 25, when sales exceeded $93 million.
Despite this, NFTs have fallen far from their record highs. CryptoSlam data shows that from Aug. 23 to Aug. 29, 2021, the weekly sales volume for NFTs was more than $2.2 billion.
Thanks for reading this digest of the week’s most notable developments in the NFT space. Come again next Wednesday for more reports and insights into this actively evolving space.