Bitcoin Transaction Fees Surge by 240% in a Month
Bitcoin transaction fees from Ordinals inscriptions have surged by 240% in the past month, according to data from Dune Analytics. The fees have increased from $1.5 million on March 10 to $5.2 million by April 12. The rise came after a period of slow growth between February 16 and March 10, during which transaction fees increased from $1 million to $1.5 million. Prior to that, fees had hit the $1 million mark within the first four weeks of the Ordinals protocol launching on January 21. As of April 11, transaction fees paid for Ordinals inscriptions had hit the $5 million mark, with nearly 1.1 million Ordinals inscribed on the Bitcoin network.
Ordinals inscriptions mostly comprise JPEG images and text, but also consist of PDFs, video and audio formats. Each Bitcoin block usually contains between 2,000 to 3,000 transactions, with roughly 100 to 500 inscriptions processed in each block. However, block 783,758 on April 3 saw a record 3,785 inscriptions, representing nearly 87% of the entire block.
Reddit’s Gen3 NFTs Plagued by Botting Claims
On April 12, Reddit launched its third batch (Gen 3) of NFTs, which is a “Futures Realities Collection” of Collectible Avatars created by over 100 artists. In its announcement, Reddit explained that the artists behind each limited edition Avatar will receive royalties upon each sale, and no cryptocurrency was needed to purchase them. However, the release was not without issues. Many Reddit users claimed they missed out on the sale because spam bots swooped in almost instantly. Some Reddit users believe that the bots were the reason behind Reddit’s NFT shop crashing shortly after launch.
Adidas Releases First in Series of Dynamic NFTs
Shoe brand Adidas has released the first leg of its latest dynamic NFT collection “ALTs by Adidas,” which is the latest move by the company on its quest to expand its NFT ecosystem. The dynamic NFTs will evolve based on the decisions and engagement of the owner, according to an announcement on April 11, which described the collection as the “first step” towards owning an “ALTS by Adidas” identity. The floor price of each Adidas NFT is 0.666 Ether (ETH) ($1,275), and it has raked in 351 ETH ($672,000) in trading volume so far. There are now 8,989 owners, 56% of them unique.
Be Nonfungible, My Friend: Bruce Lee Enters Web3
A new NFT collection commemorating the late Kung-Fu fighter and movie star, Bruce “Little Dragon” Lee, has been released by the Bruce Lee Estate in partnership with Shibuya, an NFT-driven video platform. The NFTs sold at a starting price of 0.008 ETH, or $15, and 13,907 were minted in the first 24 hours, totaling over $205,000 according to its smart contract address on Etherscan. Despite it being an “open edition” collection, collectors can only mint a maximum of 100 of the NFTs.
Other Nifty News
OpenSea, an NFT marketplace, launched “OpenSea Pro” last week, a new, specialized NFT marketplace aggregator aimed at serving the needs of professional NFT traders. The service was made possible by OpenSea’s acquisition of fellow NFT aggregator, Gem, in April 2022. Additionally, an NFT trader fat-fingered a bid for a free NFT, buying it at 100 Ether ($191,000). The token was part of NFT marketplace OpenSea’s Gemesis NFT collection to commemorate the launch of OpenSea Pro on April 4. Some believe the trader meant to bid the token for $100 instead.
In conclusion, the NFT market continues to grow and expand, with more companies and individuals entering the space. However, the rise in transaction fees for Ordinals inscriptions on the Bitcoin network and the botting claims on Reddit’s Gen3 NFTs highlight some of the challenges that the industry must overcome. Nonetheless, with the release of dynamic NFTs and new collections, the NFT market remains an exciting space to watch.
