Ornella Hernandez

<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/art-gobblers-reddit-nfts-and-other-winners-of-october-nft-market/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Art Gobblers became the talk of the NFT community</a> this week after raking in over $20 million in the project’s first 24 hours on the Blur marketplace. 



The Paradigm-backed collection also generated controversy for its association with Justin Roiland, co-creator of animated show Rick and Morty.



<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/meta-pins-web3-hopes-on-instagram-creators-minting-nfts/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Instagram, meanwhile, said the social network plans to become an NFT marketplace</a> as part of the Meta subsidiary’s plan to attract more users to the creator economy. Starting with a select group of US creators, Instagram will soon permit users to mint and sell digital assets directly.



Here are other notable stories that caught the eyes of the Web3 Watch.&nbsp;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Europe’s first NFT vending machine in London</h3>



The 2022 NFT London conference kicked off this week with a neon-purple NFT vending machine greeting attendees outside of the Queen Elizabeth II Centre. Users can pay 10 British pounds ($11.37) for an NFT that could be worth up to 1,000 pounds.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="alignright size-medium"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="263" height="300" src="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/NFT-vending-machine-1-263x300.jpg" alt="London's New NFT Vending Machine" class="wp-image-36954" srcset="https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/NFT-vending-machine-1-263x300.jpg?w=263 263w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/NFT-vending-machine-1-263x300.jpg?w=225 225w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/NFT-vending-machine-1-263x300.jpg?w=228 228w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/NFT-vending-machine-1-263x300.jpg?w=192 192w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/NFT-vending-machine-1-263x300.jpg?w=70 70w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/NFT-vending-machine-1-263x300.jpg?w=44 44w, https://blockworks-co.imgix.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/NFT-vending-machine-1-263x300.jpg?w=700 700w" sizes="(max-width: 263px) 100vw, 263px" /><figcaption>Photo by Ornella Hernandez for Blockworks</figcaption></figure></div>


Customers select an envelope within the display and key in the code provided like any other vending machine. After payment has been made via Apple Pay, Google Pay or credit card, customers receive an envelope that contains a QR code on it. They either use an existing wallet to receive their NFT or set up a new one.



Supported NFTs include the projects Dr. Who Worlds Apart, Thunderbirds, and Delft Blue Night Watch.



The proceeds from the vending machine will be donated to charity in a split between Giveth, an organization that funds services and education in developing nations, and Roald Dahl&#8217;s Marvellous Children&#8217;s Charity.



Back in February, Solana blockchain-based NFT marketplace Neon set up the first NFT vending machine in New York.&nbsp;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">NFTs by the numbers, DappRadar report</h3>



DappRadar’s latest <a href="https://dappradar.com/blog/october-blockchain-industry-report/#1.18-Million-unique-traders-enter-the-NFT-market" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">industry report found</a> NFT trading volume in October decreased by 30% from September to $662 million — the lowest monthly volume yet this year.



While Ethereum and Solana recorded the steepest declines, Polygon’s trading volume and sales increased by 770% from September, likely driven by the success of Reddit’s NFT collections. Polygon and BNB Chain also increased their sales count by 60% over the same period.&nbsp;



Even still, competition between NFT marketplaces has increased. Newcomer Blur launched in October — with at least $14 million in funding from venture capital firm Paradigm, plus additional unspecified backing from NFT-native investment fund 6529 and digital art collector Cozomo de’ Medici.



The hype surrounding Blur was in large part due to the overnight success of the Art Gobblers project. After four days on the market, the collection has an ether (ETH) volume of $61.9 million at the time of publication.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Nevertheless, OpenSea maintains its nearly 50% share of the entire market. In October, OpenSea marketplace dominance decreased by 8.3% compared to August, and NFT trading volume decreased 12.1% ($313 million) month over month — the lowest trading volume registered since July 2021.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">OpenSea’s new anti-theft features</h3>



As the largest NFT marketplace, OpenSea also typically has the greatest number of scams and thefts. It’s now turned its attention to address the challenge and <a href="https://opensea.io/blog/announcements/our-efforts-to-prevent-nft-theft/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">introduce a new system</a> in a bid to ward off bad actors.



OpenSea can now proactively scan URLs shared on its platform against a blacklist of known malicious sites. It can also analyze interactions and transactions with new URLs to identify malicious behaviors such as signature farming and wallet draining. OpenSea will suspend accounts of known scammers.



The marketplace’s second update aims to stop additional resales of potentially stolen digital items. It hopes to start training the system to more effectively detect NFT theft.



OpenSea’s goal, <a href="https://opensea.io/blog/announcements/our-efforts-to-prevent-nft-theft/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according to a company blog</a>, is “to help make the ecosystem safer by reducing the downstream sales of stolen items – both using OpenSea and elsewhere in the NFT ecosystem – and thus reduce the incentive for NFT theft in the first place.” 



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">1/ Stolen items and scams are big issues in the NFT space. So, we’ve been hard at work on 2 new solutions to address both on OpenSea: Introducing Malicious URL Detection and Removal 🚫 and Theft Detection and Disablement 🔐&mdash; OpenSea (@opensea) <a href="https://twitter.com/opensea/status/1587829879923302400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 2, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Y00ts NFT images ‘finally’ revealed</h3>



After nearly two months, creators of the Solana collection “y00ts mint t00b” have revealed the project art. Those who purchased a t00b, essentially a vial, can burn it to mint a y00t NFT.&nbsp;



Dust Labs, the company behind the project, never gave a reason for the delay. But in early October, one of the artists from the popular DeGods collection and y00ts departed from the project. He <a href="https://twitter.com/SCUMSOL/status/1579979374987968512?s=20&amp;t=f-E5fyuI75rrgw2KtFjrGg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweeted</a> that he planned to focus on 1:1 art space instead of PFPs. 



Holders have been sharing their new NFTs to crypto Twitter. One user <a href="https://twitter.com/Solana_Baddie/status/1588564188200591360?s=20&amp;t=kjvK8efi1IhPFmCOKLdwtg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">commented</a> that she is “finally y00ted,” and others <a href="https://twitter.com/Marquel_Martin/status/1588568031080644608?s=20&amp;t=ku7z9z0T1UH_7XlG-3nYtw" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">claimed</a> that it was worth the wait for some “amazing” art.



The collection — a total of 15,000 NFTs — centers around a sheep avatar. Dust Labs plans to experiment with a <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1X3BiIeoiLxVYhJ9zB7SDx7IsVoB36wuS9fzWPx63-is/edit" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">new model of copyright</a> and intellectual property (IP) licensing. 



The NFTs’ IP rights aren’t specific to one holder. Rather, the rights will exist in a registry where anyone who is approved to use an NFT&#8217;s IP is publicly known. It will use the ⓨ symbol instead of the standard ⓒ copyright symbol.



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Web3 Watch: New OpenSea Security Features and London’s NFT Vending Machine

The NFT market is known for its volatility, and this bear market has been no different. But October showed some reprieve — a select few NFT projects bucked the trend, at least in the short term.



It was a month that saw Apple stir the pot by <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/apple-takes-bite-out-of-app-store-nfts-in-hunt-for-revenue/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cracking down on NFT functionality</a> within their App Store, prohibiting apps such as <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/tag/opensea/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">OpenSea</a> from including external links or buttons that take customers away from the App Store to facilitate purchases or auctions.



It was an apparent move to capture potentially lost NFT revenues —- something these NFT projects seem to have little trouble with.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Art Gobblers</h3>



New NFT project Art Gobblers generated $24 million in ether (ETH) in its first 24 hours after launching on Oct. 31.&nbsp;



Venture capital firm Paradigm and Justin Roiland, co-creator of popular animated show Rick and Morty, are behind the NFTs, described as an “experimental decentralized art factory.”&nbsp;



The project launched on the Blur NFT marketplace, which is also backed by Paradigm, and has reported 26,759 ETH ($41.8 million) in trade volume so far, with an average NFT price of 18 ETH ($28,000) that keeps on climbing.



Thanks to Art Gobblers, Blur has surpassed OpenSea and other major NFT marketplaces for the first time in terms of ETH volume in the past 24 hours, per <a href="https://dune.com/queries/1498006" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Dune Analytics data</a>.&nbsp;



It was a free mint for those on the whitelist, similar to <a href="https://opensea.io/collection/goblintownwtf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Goblintown</a>, a collection of similarly crude NFTs which also saw rapid initial success. However, the significant sums on the secondary market have drawn some <a href="https://twitter.com/Pons_ETH/status/1587220436986855426?s=20&amp;t=nIRkAhZdc5-xvNiw8_TZJw" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">skepticism</a> from market watchers.



In any case, a list of prominent NFT influencers and content creators acquired Gobblers, including Rug Radio co-founder Farokh Sarmad, NFT influencer Andrew Wang and content creator Zeneca.



The Art Gobblers ecosystem currently holds fewer than 2,000 NFTs, which means a few trades can really affect floor prices. The cheapest Art Gobbler NFT is now 15.9 ETH ($25,000), just two days after its launch.



Art Gobblers boasts a peculiar minting mechanism – Gradual Ownership Optimization — which secretes goo, an ERC-20 token. Holders spend goo to create blank pages on a specialized drawing <a href="https://artgobblers.com/draw/f912d913-7c41-46bd-8781-d5ff537d988e" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tool</a>, on which they can create and sell their own art.&nbsp;



<a href="https://www.paradigm.xyz/2022/09/goo#goo-issuance" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">According</a> to a Paradigm overview about their tokenomics, Art Gobblers squirt out goo at a rate proportional to the square root of the goo already in their tanks. In other words, the more goo a Gobbler has, the faster it generates more goo (the token is <a href="https://www.geckoterminal.com/eth/pools/0x93c63cab70225568de9f56559c63a0d2de30bc1b?utm_source=coingecko&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=livechart" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">already</a> trading on Uniswap).



The more Gobblers are minted the higher the total goo supply and the almost exponential earning potential. About 290 goo holders <a href="https://etherscan.io/token/0x600000000a36f3cd48407e35eb7c5c910dc1f7a8" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">currently</a> exist. Notably, the project offers a 6.9% royalty rate – a higher than average rate issued at a time when <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/web3-watch-twitters-potential-crypto-wallet-and-a-royalty-optional-looksrare/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">most NFT marketplaces are going royalty optional</a>.&nbsp;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Bored Ape Yacht Club, CryptoPunks and Art Blocks</h3>



Art Gobblers arrived amid a months-long tumbling of crypto prices, as well as declining valuations among the most popular NFT projects and Web3 brands – including Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and CryptoPunks.



As of Nov. 1, however, DappRadar has <a href="https://dappradar.com/blog/leading-nft-brands-regain-1-billion-valuation" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">assessed</a> that both Yuga Labs collections have regained their $1 billion valuation status, calculated by their market capitalization.



While volume, number sales and number of traders were all down in the past 30 days, the market cap increased nearly 6% to a <a href="https://dappradar.com/ethereum/collectibles/bored-ape-yacht-club" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$1.09 billion market cap</a> at the time of publication.



Similarly, CryptoPunks saw a 14% decline in volume during October but marked a 30% increase in market cap closing in at a $1.05 billion valuation at the time of writing, as per <a href="https://dappradar.com/hub/nft-explorer?order-by=mktCap&amp;period=month" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">DappRadar data</a>.



Parent-company Yuga Labs’ valuation <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/bored-ape-yacht-club-creator-secures-whopping-450m-seed/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">once stood at a $4 billion post-money valuation</a> after a $450 million funding round in March. This amount has not been re-evaluated since.



The company also holds Meebits and Otherside projects as subsidiaries.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Another collection that performed very well over the past few months — and especially during October — is the curated Art Blocks collection Gazers by Matt Kane.



According to <a href="https://opensea.io/collection/gazers-by-matt-kane/analytics" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">OpenSea analytics</a>, the numbers are up across the board over the past 30 days. At the time of writing, trading volume was at 414 ETH ($644,057) with a 74% increase; 23 sales meant 10% more sales than the month before; and the floor price was up 46% at 25 ETH ($38,892).



Similar to Art Gobblers, Gazers only has 1,000 NFTs within its collection, so the increased number of sales and trades resulted in the sharp rise in floor price.&nbsp;



The most ether paid for a Gazer during October was <a href="https://nonfungible.com/market-tracker/artblocks/BLOCKS/215000619" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">25 ETH</a> ($39,077) on Oct. 31.



Meanwhile, another popular Art Blocks collection, Chromie Squiggle project by Snowfro, <a href="https://twitter.com/absquigglebot/status/1577119440709324800?s=20&amp;t=JMM-C_ltKP_TAqLgu21PbA" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sold</a> an NFT for 34 ETH ($45,000) on Oct. 4.



Chromie Squiggle, a collection of 9,700, <a href="https://opensea.io/collection/gazers-by-matt-kane/activity" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">registered</a> a 93% increase in trading volume and sales, 2,345 ETH ($3.6 million) and 164 ($256,000), respectively, over the past 30 days on OpenSea. The floor price is currently at 15.9 ETH ($24,700), up 41%.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">While asset markets have collapsed, Art Blocks has been on fire. Below is an equal-weighted basket of Fidenzas, Squiggles, Gazers, and Ringers. Up 3x since May 1st. <a href="https://t.co/U9aWNtsdJ8">pic.twitter.com/U9aWNtsdJ8</a>&mdash; NFTstatistics.eth (@punk9059) <a href="https://twitter.com/punk9059/status/1587467062607167488?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 1, 2022</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Reddit NFTs and Azuki</h3>



The popularity of Reddit’s Avatar NFTs <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/reddit-makes-pfp-nfts-cool-again-marketplace-trading-volume-surges/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">surged dramatically</a> towards the end of October, peaking at a $2 million daily transaction volume, a 14x increase from September, and reaching a $100 million market cap.



Since then, however, the <a href="https://www.redditfloor.com/charts" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">daily transaction volume has fallen</a> back to September levels, and the market cap is just under $70 million.



The impact that the Redditfloor NFT marketplace had on Web3 was significant for two main reasons. It showed that the quickest way to onboard news users into the Web3 space — nearly 3 million in four months — is to use familiar language and not blockchain jargon.&nbsp;



It also proved that NFT profile pictures (PFPs) are still the best NFT use case up until now for onboarding those users.



Unfortunately, that didn’t stop a <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/scammers-spread-fake-reddit-nfts-on-opensea/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">scammer from creating fraudulent Reddit NFTs</a> and listing them to an official Reddit collectibles page on OpenSea.



The same weekend as Reddit’s success, the <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/azuki-nfts-set-the-record-for-most-expensive-skateboards-in-history/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Azuki NFT project set a record</a> for the most expensive skateboards — digital and physical — sales in history.



Nine “Golden Skateboard” NFTs sold under auction for a cumulative total of $2.5 million.



The most expensive in the set — the Azuki Golden Skateboard NFT — sold for 309 ETH ($482,000). Winners can redeem their digital golden skateboards for physical skateboards plated with 24-karat gold starting this month.



A month-long boom may mean that NFT sentiment is looking up, but at least in Art Gobblers&#8217; case, the market seems ready to reward innovative (and kooky) projects.



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