Latest news with #TokenTerminal
Forbes
29-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Nike, Starbucks And Co Exit NFTs But Crypto-Natives Remain Put
Nike is facing a $5 million lawsuit from a group of people who bought its Nike-themed non-fungible tokens. The report follows the global footwear and apparel giant's closure of its RTFKT (pronounced artifact) unit in December 2024. It comes at a time when NFT transaction volumes have fallen to record lows despite the recent resurgence in the crypto market. A handful of other mainstream brands and crypto companies have also closed their NFT projects including Starbucks and DraftKings, while X2Y2, at some point was one of the biggest NFT marketplaces said it is pivoting to crypto AI. However, not all believe that the current state of the NFT market spells curtains for the industry, with Solana-based decentralized exchange platform Jupiter consolidating its strategy for the crypto industry with the acquisition of digital collectibles platform DRiP Haus. The NFT market fell 24% in the first quarter of 2025 to $1.5 billion compared to the preceding quarter, according to a DappRadar report. However, the number of sales was down 10%, implying a substantial decline in the average price for NFTs sold versus the quantity. The $1.5 billion trading volume recorded between January and March 2025 is just a fraction of the $5.7 billion recorded for the final week of January 2022, when the industry was at its peak, as per Token Terminal data. The Token Terminal also shows that whilst NFT trading volume fell by 24% in the most recent quarter compared to Q4 2024, there was a significant improvement over the past two quarters when compared to the preceding two. That surge was linked to the general positivity surrounding the crypto market in the wake of President Trump's election. But even such optimism could not prevent Nike from implementing its previously rumored course of action of shutting down RTFKT. In December, RTFKT announced via Musk's X platform that it was winding down its NFT business. In January, the company concluded its creative journey with the launch of the MNLTH X Blade Drop, released in collaboration with the 3D-printing footwear manufacturer Zellerfeld. Last week, images of CloneX NFTs on the NFT marketplace OpenSea temporarily disappeared after Cloudflare downgraded the account responsible for serving the files. The CloneX NFT collection is one of the biggest by sales volume on RTFKT's portfolio with 470,434.88 ETH, according to CoinMarketCap data. At the peak of the NFT boom, Nike was reported to be the best-performing mainstream brand in the industry, generating $185 million from NFT sales as of June 2022. Just over two and a half years down the line, and nearly four months after news that RTFKT was shutting down, the company is now facing a $5 million lawsuit from a group of people who purchased its NFTs. In the class action filed in Brooklyn, New York federal court on Friday, the purchasers claim the closure of Nike's RTFKT platform caused the demand for their NFTs to dry up, Reuters reported. Nike is not the only mainstream brand that is moving away from NFTs. In March 2024, Starbucks officially closed its NFT royalty program. In the preceding month, Gamestop also closed its NFT marketplace, just months after removing support for its NFT wallet. In both cases, Gamestop pointed to continuing regulatory uncertainty in the crypto industry. Last month, NFT marketplace X2Y2, which once was among the biggest platforms by transaction volume also said it is closing its NFT business to focus on decentralized artificial intelligence. The company pointed to the declining NFT transaction activity as the main reason for its decision. The company said NFT trading volume had fallen 90% from its all-time highs. While some of the biggest brands seem to be retreating from NFTs, some crypto-native companies have chosen to stay, and are now, consolidating their positions in the space. Earlier this month, Solana DEX platform Jupiter said it is acquiring digital collectibles platform DRiP Haus, as part of a broader strategy of upgrading the platform into a 'super app'. Web3 super apps are decentralized applications that offer different services within a single platform, including token trading, NFTs, payments and cryptocurrency swaps. 'We don't believe it,' Jupiter's Kash Dhanda told CoinDesk about claims that NFTs are dead. 'We think NFTs are here for the long term.' Other NFT projects like Pudgy Penguins and Doodles have shown what could be the next evolution of NFTs, by expanding their their strategy into gaming and launching tokens. While PFP NFTs still dominate sales with about 56% of volume, as per DappRadar, sales have been falling more drastically compared to gaming NFTs, which are second in transaction activity. Last October, Pudgy Penguins announced it is developing a AAA blockchain game 'Pudgy Party' set to debut on iOS and Android in 2025. The company also launched the PENGU token, with 25.9% distributed to the Pudgy community, which includes Pudgy Penguins, Lil Pudgys, and Pudgy Rods NFT holders. In February this year, Doodles also announced it is launching a Solana-based token, DOOD, as part of an expanded NFT strategy that positions the brand as an entertainment company focused on immersive storytelling. The token will later launch on Coinbase's Ethereum layer-2 blockchain Base.
Business Mayor
23-04-2025
- Business
- Business Mayor
Ethereum crosses $1.6K – Is $2K now within reach for ETH?
Ethereum's Layer 1 ecosystem is showing signs of revitalization, with TVL now nearing $190 billion – the highest level since late 2022. According to Token Terminal, the resurgence is being driven by a balanced uptick across stablecoins, lending, liquid staking, and DEX protocols. Source: X Notably, liquid staking and lending protocols are gaining ground, signaling investor appetite for yield-generating applications. This shows that capital is rotating back into Ethereum's foundational infrastructure, reinforcing bullish sentiment in parallel with ETH's technical breakout. What to watch for As ETH holds above $1,600 following its recent breakout, traders are eyeing the $2,000 resistance as the next major hurdle. A successful breach could open the path toward $2,500-$3,000 in the medium term. However, the $1,600 support remains crucial; a drop below this level might signal a potential reversal. Upcoming macroeconomic events, particularly any indications of Federal Reserve rate cuts by June, could influence ETH's trajectory. Cooling inflation increases the odds of such cuts, potentially boosting risk assets like Ethereum. Notably, a wallet linked to the Ethereum Foundation recently transferred 1,000 ETH to Kraken, raising concerns about a possible sell-off. Such movements could impact market sentiment and price stability.
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ethereum May Replace EVM With RISC-V, Says Vitalik Buterin
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has proposed a major change to the network's execution layer: replacing the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) bytecode with the RISC-V instruction set. This shift would not affect fundamental smart contract functions like accounts or storage, but would change how contract code is compiled and run. Under the proposal, developers would compile languages like Solidity directly to RISC-V rather than EVM bytecode. System operations like SLOAD or CALL would be handled as syscalls instead of opcodes. One of the main drivers behind this proposal is the network's decreasing base layer activity and revenue. In the week of March 30, Ethereum collected just 3.18 ETH in blob fees—around $5,000. Transaction fees have also dropped sharply, reaching $0.16 on average in April 2025, the lowest since 2020. This drop is largely due to a growing shift in activity to layer-2 networks and contract calls rather than base-layer transactions. According to analytics from Token Terminal and Santiment, Ethereum's fee revenue has significantly declined in early 2025, prompting concerns about the network's long-term sustainability and Ether's value. Buterin noted that most zero-knowledge (ZK) provers already simulate the EVM by translating it into RISC-V. Switching to RISC-V natively could improve efficiency up to 100x and simplify proof generation. To maintain support for existing contracts, Ethereum would keep old EVM contracts running alongside new RISC-V-based ones. This might involve using a RISC-V interpreter to execute old bytecode or running two systems in parallel within the protocol. Over time, this could also allow Ethereum to support other virtual machines, such as Move. This proposal comes ahead of Ethereum's scheduled 'Pectra' upgrade on May 7, which aims to improve scalability, user experience, and validator limits. Buterin believes that for the execution layer to match the improvements seen in the consensus layer, a more fundamental change is required. There are growing concerns that Ethereum's shrinking base-layer fees could weaken Ether's value. Analysts warn that if usage continues shifting away from the mainnet, Ether's price could fall further, possibly to $1,100. The RISC-V proposal is presented as a bold but necessary path to maintain Ethereum's performance and relevance in a competitive blockchain environment. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NFT Marketplace X2Y2 to Shut Down After Trading Volumes Collapsed
X2Y2, once a leading marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFT) will shut on April 30, ending a three-year run that saw the exchange briefly trail only OpenSea in trading volume during the NFT boom of 2021. The decision comes as the broader NFT market continues to deflate. Trading volumes have dropped nearly 90% since their peak, the team wrote in a post, and X2Y2 struggled to maintain the network effects critical to marketplace success. 'Marketplaces live or die by network effects,' founder TP wrote in a post. 'After three years, it's clear it's time to move on.' X2Y2 started up in early 2022 and reached $5.6 billion in all-time trading volume, according to data from TokenTerminal. Smart contracts tied to the platform will remain operational, but users are encouraged to withdraw assets or transition activity by the shutdown date. The price of the marketplace's native X2Y2 token is down 10.7% on the announcement to now trade at little over $0.001. The token has lost 97.7% of its value over the last two years. The team said it is pivoting to a new project involving AI-powered, decentralized financial tools. Sign in to access your portfolio
