NFT – Non-Fungible Token

Top blockchain and crypto news: Digital currency battling Russian invasion. Ethereum remains NFT projects’ chain of choice. China to lock up crypto traders.

It’s been a booming time for the NFT market, and as data from CryptoSlam shows, there has been particular interest in metaverse projects recently.

With limited access to donations through traditional crowdfunding, cryptocurrencies and NFTs offer immediate help, Trippy Labs tells Forkast.

The total number of unique non-fungible token (NFT) buyers on the Ethereum blockchain crossed the 1 million customers milestone on Sunday as the network’s gas fees slid to its lowest since August.  See related article: Ethereum price expected to hit $7,609 in 2022: report Fast facts NFT sales on Ethereum increased by 36.06% in the […]

Top non-fungible token (NFT) game Axie Infinity generated US$1.3 billion in revenue over the past year, reaching a daily peak of US$17.5 million on Aug. 6, 2021, according to a new report from blockchain analytics firm Nansen. See related article: Axie Infinity becomes first NFT series to break $4B in sales Fast facts Axie Infinity […]

CasperLabs, a smart contracts protocol, is set to power part of China’s state-backed non-fungible token (NFT) network, to support the legal issuance of NFTs in mainland China. See related article: BSN to integrate Neo’s chain to bolster NFT issuance in China Fast facts The Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN) will add Casper Network-powered Fuzhou Chain to […]

Moscow moves to regulate crypto. OpenSea’s security struggle. Will China cool its metaverse mania?

Jupiter Meta on Wednesday launched a fully curated non-fungible token marketplace in India focusing on music, film and gaming.  See related article: WazirX launches India’s first NFT marketplace Fast facts The NFT marketplace is built on Jupiter Meta’s Rubix blockchain, which the company claims has zero gas fees and is sustainable.  Jupiter Meta has also […]

Binance inked a partnership with an SM Entertainment subsidiary to explore non-fungible token (NFT) opportunities, the second K-pop agency to sign with Binance in February.  See related article: Animoca Brands, K-pop agency Cube form metaverse joint venture Fast facts The pair will build what they call a “play-to-create” ecosystem, which aims to let fans reproduce […]

Alibaba is rewarding non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on its first blockchain game Ant Adventure, which can be played through the Alipay mobile application, one of China’s leading mobile payment providers.  See related article: Ant Group’s NFT arm punishes users for digital collectible resales Fast facts Ant Adventure is powered by Alibaba’s blockchain AntChain, and takes users […]

How do NFTs create value? The answer is not as complex as it seems.

Hong Kong-based Animoca Brands and K-pop agency Cube Entertainment announced on Tuesday the completion of a new joint venture named AniCube Entertainment, as Korean music labels race to cash in on their loyal fan bases through metaverse and non-fungible token (NFT) projects. See related article: K-pop agency Cube bets big on NFT and metaverse Fast […]

Jingtan, Alibaba affiliate Ant Group’s non-fungible token (NFT) platform, has placed limitations on at least 56 accounts for participating in the resale of digital collectibles, after various collections surged in popularity in online second-hand markets.  See related article: CCTV NFTs hit resale market before transfer permitted Fast facts Jingtan, developed by AntChain, said it has […]

A former owner of a rare Bored Ape Yacht Club non-fungible token (NFT) is suing marketplace OpenSea for US$1 million or the token’s return after an exploit on the platform saw the NFT sold for a fraction of its market value. See related article: OpenSea NFT marketplace hacked for 332 ETH Fast facts Texas man […]

Dunamu, the operator of crypto exchange Upbit, signed a memorandum of understanding with credit card company BC Card on Monday to develop a non-fungible token (NFT) and metaverse-based credit card. See related article: South Korean crypto exchange acquires stake in major bank Fast facts Certain items purchased offline via the Dunamu BC Card will be […]

When 3D artist Beeple sold a digital piece of art for a record $69 million through Christie’s, the world went NFT crazy. But what exactly is an NFT?

Charitable giving in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is growing by leaps and bounds. Michael B. Greenwald and Logan Weber explain the risks and benefits.

Play-to-earn superstar Axie Infinity became the first non-fungible token (NFT) series to cross the US$4 billion mark in historic sales early Tuesday morning Asia time, according to CryptoSlam data. See related article: Axie Infinity fans play their way to payday as game token prices soar Fast facts Running on the Ethereum sidechain Ronin, Axie Infinity’s […]

NFTs hit resale market in China despite criticism over speculation. Meanwhile, South Korean financial giant plans crypto funds.

An asset bought and valued in crypto becomes decoupled from crypto prices, a split that reflects the differences between crypto investors and NFT buyers.

Blockchain technology allows musicians to sell songs directly and earn more per song, writes Adi Ben-Ari of Applied Blockchain.

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs), or digital collectibles, issued by China Central Television (CCTV), the nation’s largest state-owned broadcast media, are appearing in China’s largest online second-hand market for at least 10 times the original price in a pre-sale bid, even before trade embargoes on the assets have lifted.  See related article: China’s mouthpiece newspaper is giving […]

Trading volumes on non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace LooksRare dropped by more than half its daily volume since developers withdrew roughly US$30 million of its native LOOKS token and cashed out in wrapped Ether (wETH) Fast facts LooksRare was averaging daily sales volumes of around US$550 million but fell more than 50% overnight in early February […]

OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer has responded to an apparent phishing scam that targeted its users in a US$1.7 million theft of popular non-fungible tokens (NFTs) such as Bored Ape Yacht Club and Azuki.  Fast facts “As far as we can tell, this is a phishing attack. We don’t believe it’s connected to the OpenSea website. […]

Azuki, an anime avatars NFT collection, is in a tight race with the CryptoPunks for the weekly sales volume title, building on its successful debut month in January, according to CryptoSlam data.  See related article: ‘All eyes are on it:’ CryptoPunks at center of copyright legal dispute Fast facts Azuki traded the top spot with […]

Animoca Brand’s nWayPlay sold out second batch of Bing Dwen Dwen mascot NFTs on Thursday as prices of first set fetched 900% in average resale value.

South Korea’s Hoseo University will issue non-fungible token (NFT) degrees and certificates to all 2,830 graduates of its 2021 batch at its graduation ceremony on Friday. See related article: Samsung-backed university to issue NFTs to select graduates Fast facts The university hopes the pivot from a paper-based degree to NFTs will improve access to administrative […]

Hong Kong-based blockchain unicorn Animoca Brands’ Japanese strategic subsidiary started operations on Tuesday to bridge the nation’s exclusive intellectual property (IP) with the Web 3.0 ecosystem. See related article: Animoca Brands valued at US$5B after latest fundraise Fast facts The subsidiary, Animoca Brands KK, is building a blockchain-powered platform for Japanese IP holders to launch […]

The price of NEO climbed by 6.2% over the last 24 hours to US$25.13 on Thursday morning Asia time, following China-based Neo’s Tuesday announcement of its Jiuquan Chain’s integration to China’s state-backed blockchain network. See related article: BSN to integrate Neo’s chain to bolster NFT issuance in China Fast facts NEO hit a daily high […]

Indian media staple Viacom18’s Youth, Music and English Entertainment Cluster (YME) released 3,000 Fully Faltoo non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that sold out within 48 hours since launching, the company said in a press release on Wednesday. See related article: WazirX launches India’s first NFT marketplace Fast facts Fully Faltoo is a local award-winning sitcom program that […]

Over 1,200 non-fungible token (NFT)-related trademarks were registered in the U.S. in 2021, a 420-fold increase from the previous year, according to data acquired by Finbold. Fast facts More than 400 trademarks were filed in the month of December 2021 while none were filed in January 2021. There were 450 filings in January 2022, a […]

Top blockchain and crypto news: Super Bowl score for digital asset exchanges. CryptoPunks holders face copyright conundrum. Hong Kong warns of NFT risks.

A new NFT gallery owned by the People’s Daily online arm is airdropping this week its first batch of “digital collectibles” minted on Tencent’s blockchain since the gallery’s opening last January. Fast facts Digital collectibles is a phrase now commonly used by Chinese companies to avoid the term “NFT” since Chinese state media began denouncing […]

China’s state-backed Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN) announced the addition of Neo’s Jiuquan Chain to its open permissioned blockchain ecosystem to support the legal issuance of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in the mainland. Fast facts Jiuquan Chain, powered by China-based Neo, will run as one of the 10 BSN open permissioned blockchains, as part of the BSN […]

HK watchdog’s sends out warning calling NFT a threat, meanwhile in Singapore DBS plans a crypto expansion

Hong Kong’s Ocean Park announced on Monday that it is entering The Sandbox metaverse to offer virtual experiences through non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and gaming, as visitors to its physical venue dropped throughout the pandemic.  Fast facts The government proposed last January that it will transform the physical theme park into a resort and leisure destination […]

A South Korean financial watchdog announced it will strengthen monitoring of new trade assets, including non-fungible tokens (NFTs), in its annual work plan released on Monday. Fast facts The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) said it will prepare countermeasures against factors that cause damage to consumers in the rapidly growing digital assets market. Earlier this month, […]

A Hong Kong government-run internet security watchdog has listed risks associated with non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and the metaverse as a top “must watch” security threat this year, while both trends continue to thrive in the city. Fast facts The Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Centre said in a statement last week that criminals […]

Chinese giant Alibaba and Canaan team up to work on AI. Meanwhile, Valentine NFTs are created by meta-human using auction data.

The biggest-selling NFT collection of all time has two competing versions, threatening to undermine the value of the tokens and faith in the industry itself.

South Korea’s Sungkyunkwan University will issue non-fungible token (NFT) certificates to three students who won in-school competitions at the institution’s upcoming online graduation ceremony on Wednesday. Fast facts Sungkyunkwan University said NFT certificates can be used any time as official proof of graduation without the risks of losing the original or fear of forged copies.  […]

Phillips, a global auction house, launched a nine-day non-fungible token (NFT) auction on Monday, Valentine’s Day, in Hong Kong. Fast facts Six artworks are being auctioned as NFTs. One NFT for bidding is an auction data-generated NFT “Drowning in Love” made by MonoC, a virtual artist developed by Gusto Collective. MonoC is a virtual metahuman […]

Japanese gaming giant Bandai Namco plans on a metaverse with their IP meanwhile, Russia does a crypto flip.

Cryptocurrencies categorized as fan tokens surged by 27.53% in global sales volume over the past seven days while non-fungible tokens (NFTs) dropped by 31.66%, according to CryptoSlam data.   Fast facts The market capitalization of fan tokens surged in tandem, rising by 41.3% over the same timeframe as NFTs also jumped by 30.4% in this measurement.   […]

Non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea has removed CryptoPunks V1, the “wrapped” edition of the original collectibles, after receiving a DMCA notice — a takedown issue by copyright holders — from creator Larva Labs. Fast facts The V1 CryptoPunks is the original issue of the collection but were replaced with exact copies — the current V2 […]

The United Nations specialized agency for telecommunications standardization, ITU-T, has approved a non-fungible token (NFT) technical framework proposed by Chinese tech giants including Tencent Holdings and Ant Group, state-owned media reported.   Fast facts The framework, which introduces an NFT standard, proposes technical and security requirements for digital collectibles on the blockchain.  The international standards approved […]

The new token economy offers unparalleled opportunities for content creators, writes Weiwei Geng of Unite.io. Improving user experience will be key.

WikiLeaks founder’s legal defense fundraising bonanza. Shiba Inu’s big new leap. NFT fever rises in China.

Smart MFG, a blockchain-based supply chain decentralized finance firm, has integrated with Polygon to launch Phigital, a 3D marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFT). Fast facts Phigital will focus on interoperability of 3D assets across metaverses, and NFTs with real-world use cases. The movement of different assets and NFTs across metaverses has been one of the […]

Bithumb, one of South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, says it will distribute digital art non-fungible tokens (NFTs) for traders who meet the criteria every time South Korea wins a medal at the Beijing Winter Olympics. Fast facts Held jointly with blockchain-based sports content platform 300FIT, the NFTs will be accessible to traders who have transacted […]

“Digital collectibles” issued by Shanghai Securities News are trading at least 13 times their original price on China’s largest second-hand trading platform, despite state media’s criticism of the non-fungible token (NFT) frenzy.  Fast facts In China, the phrase “digital collectibles” is often used to avoid references to NFTs. The collectibles are now available on the […]

Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, has partnered with YG Entertainment, a top K-pop entertainment agency, to develop non-fungible tokens (NFTs), metaverse and gaming projects, despite fans’ concerns over the potential environmental impact. Fast facts Binance announced Tuesday that it will provide the NFT platform and technology support, while YG will supply the content. Helen […]

Unique non-fungible token (NFT) buyers hit an all-time high (ATH) in January with more than 895,000 shoppers, according to data tracker CryptoSlam. Fast facts The new ATH recorded an almost 3,000% year-over-year increase and a 6.5% month-over-month growth. The number of unique sellers grew by almost 14% from December to January with 741,865 vendors, just […]

While sales volumes on NFT marketplaces thrive, new data show much of this comes from manipulating sales — painting the whole industry in a different light.

The beloved Pinkfong Baby Shark franchise is getting its own blockchain-based play-to-earn (P2E) game, set for a worldwide release in the first half of this year, South Korean developer CityLabs announced on Thursday. Fast facts The Baby Shark Bubble Pong Friends game has been teased as a bubble-shooter puzzle game where players transact in cryptocurrencies […]

The two most popular NFT-related crimes, money laundering and wash trading, resulted in illicit profits of US$10 million in 2021, according to a report released Wednesday by blockchain forensics firm Chainalysis. Fast facts While the US$10 million of global NFT criminal activity is relatively small, Chainalysis reported a spike in the use of illicit funds […]

Mark Cuban-backed non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace Mintable launched a self-described vampire attack against top marketplace OpenSea by selling popular collectibles at a loss. Fast facts Singapore-based Mintable conducted a fire sale of nine Mutant Ape Yacht Club NFTs by selling them 1 to 2 ETH below their floor price on Jan. 26, while another was […]

Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in her budget speech on Tuesday that a 30% tax will be levied on income from all cryptocurrency or digital assets transfers.  Fast facts The levy on cryptocurrency will also apply to non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and gifts, where the recipient will be taxed. In case of losses from crypto […]

The recent crypto price plunge has done little to rattle new investors. Are they just buying the dip, or is there more to it? Q9 Capital’s James Quinn explains.

The record label conglomerate Warner Music Group (WMG) announced it will create a music-themed digital world in The Sandbox metaverse. Fast facts WMG confirmed its partnership with The Sandbox on Thursday, expanding the music company’s venture into non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and the metaverse. The Sandbox is a subsidiary of blockchain unicorn Animoca Brands, with high […]

OpenSea is the world’s largest open marketplace for NFTs. Find out what’s driving everyone there in this Forkast explainer.

Russian Ministry of Finance against the latest crypto ban, meanwhile in Korea, there are plans to protect metaverse users.

Top blockchain and crypto news: Market chills make investors shiver. Hacking storm at OpenSea. Has Beijing tamed NFTs?

People.cn, the online arm of the Communist Party of China’s party newspaper People’s Daily, launched a “digital collectibles” NFT gallery on Tuesday and hinted that it might launch artwork trading, even though authorities in the past have criticized the non-fungible token (NFT) market for its hype and speculative behavior by investors. Fast facts “Digital collectibles” […]

The metaverse could be life-changing for the world’s unbanked, writes Pavel Matveev of Wirex. Interoperability between the real and virtual worlds will be key.

The tech-savvy nation is deemed a prime environment to grow the metaverse. What comes next, and will some be left out by a digital divide?

A survey of more than 1,000 digital respondents found 79% of Indians want more clarity on cryptocurrency and non-fungible token (NFT) regulations in the budget session of Parliament starting on Jan. 31, according to new survey findings.  Fast facts The survey, conducted by tax and advisory firm Grant Thornton Bharat, also found that 61% of […]

China’s state-backed blockchain network disclosed eight platform partners today in line with the soft launch of its non-fungible token (NFT) platform, the BSN-DDC network.  Fast facts The auction house Rong Bao Zhai, Hainan International Culture and Artworks Exchange Center — an essential part of China’s free trade port — and EY Blockchain are among the […]

OpenSea NFT marketplace has suffered a front-end attack with the exploiter withdrawing 332 ETH (US$800,000), as reported by security and data tracker PeckShield. Fast facts PeckShield noted the issue overnight Asia time, revealing the attacker received 10 ETH from Ethereum mixer TornadoCash, which was then wrapped to wETH to carry out the attack. The non-fungible […]

K-pop fans are waging online campaigns against their favorite artists over NFTs, denouncing the technology’s carbon footprint. How polluting are NFTs?

Global NFT sales are exploding in 2022, but experts predict this is only the beginning of a bigger surge in Asia.

Meta’s Facebook and Instagram are exploring plans that would allow non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to be used as profile pictures, according to a report. Fast facts The plans include the showcasing, minting and selling of NFTs, several insiders told Financial Times. Meta staff members are also reportedly discussing the launch of a marketplace to buy and […]