Web3 Watch: Pandora ERC-404 collection tops $90M in sales, token falls 55%

The NFT sector is buzzing about ERC-404s, a new standard enabling the conversion between NFTs and fungible tokens, merging uniqueness with liquidity.

A project named Pandora popularized the concept last week when it launched the so-called ERC-404 standard. Pandora contains a collection of 10,000 NFTs that are linked to 10,000 PANDORA tokens created on Ethereum’s ERC-20 standard.

When a PANDORA token is purchased from a liquidity pool, a unique NFT known as a “Replicant” is created. This process links the fungible token with a one-of-a-kind digital asset, embodying distinct characteristics. If the owner decides to sell the PANDORA token, the associated NFT is burned, meaning it’s permanently removed from circulation.

Additionally, the ERC-404 standard introduces an element of semi-fungibility through dynamic interaction between the fungible token and its non-fungible counterpart. Specifically, when a PANDORA token is moved between wallets, the associated Replicant NFT “regenerates,” taking on new characteristics. This mechanism allows for a blend of NFT uniqueness with the liquidity of fungible tokens.

The ERC-404 framework also allows for the minting or burning of NFTs in relation to the ownership status of PANDORA tokens, enabling fractional buying and selling. This means that users can engage in transactions involving fractions of a PANDORA token—and by extension, fractions of the underlying NFT.

In the two weeks since launching on Feb 2., the “experimental and unaudited” NFT standard had already seen roughly $95 million in trading volume as of Friday morning, by far the most over that period according to CryptoSlam.

The token was more of a mixed bag. PANDORA fell 55% in a week from its Feb. 9 high of over $32,000, according to CoinGecko. It was trading at around $14,400 at press time.

Following the success of Pandora’s ERC-404, other developers tried their hand at sort-of-fungible tokens. Asserting the ERC-404 “doesn’t follow existing standards, is inefficient and breaks at certain edge cases,” a group of devs released the DN-404 standard earlier this week. DN-404 is an attempt to create NFT fractionalization while complying with the existing Ethereum ERC-20 and ERC-721 standards.

Notably, neither standard is yet recognized by the Ethereum Foundation as an official token standard. That would depend on a passed Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP).

Aside from trading hype, a 404-type standard has real promise. NFTs have historically suffered from illiquidity, but semi-fungible tokens could deepen the pool by letting NFTs be traded in fractions. And the “re-roll” mechanism caused by moving a 404 from one wallet to another could have interesting implications for Web3 games, for instance.

EtherRock goes to Sotheby’s

The major art auction house Sotheby’s is currently hosting an online sealed auction for an EtherRock, one of 100 rock NFTs minted on Ethereum in 2017.

The early digital collectible is on auction until Feb. 21. The sale is expected to close at $500,000-700,000, according to the auction site. It’s all happening off-chain though, with the sale price only being made known to the buyer and seller.

Hype surrounding the sale has caused other EtherRocks to fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars in the past couple weeks.

One interesting stat:

The seven-day average of Farcaster daily active users (DAUs) fell nearly 15% from their Sunday high to under 30,000, according to a Dune Analytics dashboard.

Also of note:

Deutsche Telekom, Europe’s largest telecom provider, became the first corporate partner of the AI-focused blockchain Fetch.ai this week. Fetch.ai is a Cosmos-built chain looking to facilitate the building, deployment and monetization of AI tools.
Spanish telecom company Telefonica integrated with oracle platform Chainlink to help prevent SIM swaps.

Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the On the Margin newsletter.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.