Review of the 10 most important moments in blockchain in 2023

For Web3 people, 2023 is like a roller coaster with ups and downs. It started with a bleak bear market, went through the Binance disaster (Note 1), and the USDC market value plummeted, and then the blockchain ushered in liquidity, hope and enthusiasm. Return, including Bitcoin, has brought about the rebound of the NFT industry and the cryptocurrency market. During this period, what important moments have occurred in the blockchain art ecosystem? Let us find out together below:

【Open Editions】

Open Editions is a sales model used by 2023 artists that does not set supply limits and allows collectors to mint any number of tokens within a fixed period of time. One of the most influential works is Jack Butcher 's " Checks ". The Checks series has exceeded US$128 million in transaction volume, with a single transaction exceeding 31 ETH, but it has been surpassed by another of his works " Opepen " in terms of community awareness.

Opepen is the sequel to Checks. The visual presentation is a frog made of rectangles and circles. It was inspired by the popular Pepe frog at the time. In the end, the project became one of the top projects on the market driven by crazy fans. During this period, a collector proposed to NFT commentator ThreadGuy that he wanted to exchange the commentator's representative mutant ape MAYC PFP with the first-generation Openen. After being rejected, it unexpectedly triggered a discussion in the community about whether ThreadGuy would change the PFP avatar. As the discussion became more and more heated, Jack Butcher later customized an Openen for ThreadGuy with a color based on his MAYC PFP. This move caused ThreadGuy to change his avatar and open a Twitter Space with 3,600 visitors to commemorate this special moment.

Further reading:

• Bitcoin NFT is hotly discussed and Stacks (STX) is very popular: http://tinyurl.com/bdkzf8a8

【Bitcoin Ordinals】

With the launch of the Ordinals protocol, Bitcoin is no longer just a means of investment, but can also host digital collections. (Note 2) On February 1, Udi Wertheimer carved a 4MB image on the Bitcoin blockchain (a wizard drawing TaprootWizards that was famous in the Bitcoin circle ten years ago). This transaction action filled the entire block, creating the largest Bitcoin transaction record in history. The inscription is called "Ordinal" and has become a collection that many people yearn for. However, this has also attracted many doubts, thinking that it not only takes up space, but is also very energy-consuming. Resources, but so far, many markets have supported the Ordinals protocol, including Magic Eden and OKX.

[The war between OpenSea and Blur]

Remember the platform war between OpenSea and Blur? At the beginning of 2023, OpenSea accounted for about 45% of the total NFT market share, but in December it plummeted to less than 25%, and was surpassed by Blur, which accounted for nearly 75% of sales. Driven by airdrop mining activities in the first and second quarters of 2023, Blur has experienced rapid growth. In May, it launched the peer-to-peer NFT lending protocol "Blend", allowing buyers to provide collateral for the purchase of tokens, thereby enabling Traders are able to maximize NFT liquidity.

Faced with fierce competition, OpenSea has temporarily eliminated marketplace fees and has the option to charge royalties to creators. This triggered anger in the NFT community, with major communities such as Bored Ape Yacht Club announcing their intention to create their own markets and enforce royalties.

Further reading:

• The second quarter airdrop of NFT trading market "BLUR" begins! : http://tinyurl.com/4emrzkvc

• NFT platform battle OpenSea handling fee is 0 yuan for a limited time: http://tinyurl.com/2u9kyymz

• Who is responsible for the NFT market decline: Uncovering the Blur platform controversy: http://tinyurl.com/y6dczxtj

• Big OpenSea update: Removal of mandatory royalties on secondary sales: http://tinyurl.com/mvf4axjr

【The Goose】

In 2023, the Ringers series "The Goose" on Dmitri Cherniak Art Blocks was sold at Sotheby's Grails Part II auction for a staggering $6.2 million, much higher than the 3AC co-founder's initial purchase price of approximately $5.8 million. .

The auction, held at Sotheby's New York showroom, is part of a liquidated collection following the collapse of Three Arrows Capital cryptocurrency hedge fund, and features a variety of generative art NFTs, including Autoglyph and Chromie Squiggle. of attention, among which "The Goose" has become a sales highlight. Ultimately, the campaign exceeded expectations, grossing $11 million, and the entire Grails collection ended up grossing $17 million.

The success of the auction is attributed to Sotheby's breaking with tradition and integrating the traditional and digital art worlds, allowing NFT art to appear at the oldest auction. This is undoubtedly a bold attempt. The atmosphere was vibrant, with over 150 attendees and enthusiastic bidding, underscoring the growing appreciation and recognition of generative art within the wider art history of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Further reading:

• Sotheby's auction item The Goose sold for US$6.2 million: http://tinyurl.com/2p5pe5fh

【The Monument Game by Sam Spratt】

The Monument Game is a stunning interactive art work that still attracted many collectors during the bear market. The event kicked off on August 21 on Nifty Gateway, with more than 256 "player" tickets sold , giving holders the opportunity to co-create stories in Spratt's new work "IX. The Monument Game" within four days to compete for three of Spratt's highly sought-after Skulls of Luci NFTs.

Spratt consulted with developers, including Nifty Gateway's Duncan Cockfoster, to create a platform that allows users to zoom in and pan around a massive 20,000-pixel painting depicting a group of ancient humans building a fire among the ruins of an advanced civilization , fight, love and take care of each other, players can delve into hundreds of stories, and all player annotations are marked on the canvas on the Nifty Gateway home page.

Ultimately, the Monument Game painting itself was sold to 1 of 1 founder kukulabanze for 420.69 ETH. The cultural significance of the work and the game is long-lasting. It demonstrates the power of digital art and blockchain, where artists can bring entire communities together to create masterpieces that cannot be replicated.

【Pudgy Penguins Penguins take the world by storm】

Under the leadership of Luca Schnetzler, Pudgy Penguins appeared in front of the public as cute plush dolls. After these toys were put on Amazon, sales approached $500,000 within 48 hours. Their strategy followed iconic brand IPs such as Pokémon and Hello Kitty, aiming to integrate the physical and digital worlds.

Every toy listed on Amazon and Smythe stores is accompanied by the intellectual property rights of an existing NFT, providing NFT holders with substantial IP value. Schnetzler predicted at the time that such a sales strategy would bring the brand $1.5 to $2 million in net profits and connect ordinary people to the broader web3 ecosystem. Later market reaction also confirmed that this was effective. Within a week after the toy was launched, the trading volume of Pudgy Penguins NFT increased by 315%.

In December, the team launched the Web3 game Pudgy World on the zkSync Era blockchain, providing an immersive digital environment and special benefits for NFT holders and toy buyers, allowing its NFT price to continue to grow.

Further reading:

• The reason why Pudgy Penguins NFT toys are so popular: http://tinyurl.com/2j9awvne

[The rise of SocialFi]

When Coinbase's new Base chain debuted over the summer, it rocked web3 with its " friend.tech " app, best known for allowing users to buy "shares" of people on its platform, later changed to room "keys" , holding the key provides exclusive access to high-level cryptocurrency opinion leaders. The application uses points to encourage participants to trade and hold keys. People can earn points by creating popular content. At its peak, the platform has a daily transaction volume of more than 100,000, thus making the SocialFi concept (converting content consumption and participation monetization) becoming mainstream, tokens such as Portalcoin and Memecoin will reward users for participating and promoting their content on X (Twitter).

Further reading:

• The supernova of the NFT art market - Friend tech: http://tinyurl.com/ysw375zn

【SBF dramatic ending】

We also did an annual review in 2022, one of which was the collapse of FTX. The shocking developments of FTX and its founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) caused repercussions in the blockchain circle.

FTX, once a leader in cryptocurrency exchanges with a valuation of $32 billion, declared bankruptcy in November 2022. This collapse triggered a lot of scrutiny and legal proceedings against SBF and its associates. Various frauds were also exposed. In the end, SBF himself faced up to 115 years in prison. The famous artist Beeple even made a painting of the incident and donated it to contemporary society. Art Museum Collection.

The impact of the FTX debacle continued into 2023, with the U.S. Department of Justice establishing a website for FTX customers to report fraud, and the New York State Department of Financial Services issuing guidance to prevent similar incidents from happening. The UK Charity Commission even investigated a charity that benefited from donations from FTX.

Further reading:

• Beeple's large-scale ironic NFT becomes a collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art: http://tinyurl.com/vxh43pbp

["The Simpsons" appears again with NFT]

One of the episodes of the 2023 Halloween TV series "Wild Barts Can't Be Token" of "The Simpsons" featured representative NFT art, such as Bored Apes, Nyan Cat, and Punks, and narrated an interesting story around it, so Triggering a slight rise in NFTs, Punks saw more single-day trading volume than any day since March 2023, NFT floor prices continued to rise, and there was even a series paying tribute to Springfield Punks. This craze occurred during the cryptocurrency winter. It was a major event for the NFT community and led to positive market trends.

【Solana’s Highlights】

When we look back on 2022, we can see that there is a clear trend of improvement in 2023. Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and DeFi all have signs of rising. In particular, Solana has risen by nearly 1,000 from less than $10 on January 1, 2023. %.

Solana was founded in 2020. Since its trading price dropped to $10 last December after its main backer SBF was extradited to the United States in 2022, it has made an astonishing recovery to $124. By the end of 2023, Solana has become the fifth largest by market capitalization cryptocurrency, which has also caused the price of Solana NFT collectibles to soar. For example, the base price of Mad Lads has increased from 50 SOL (approximately NT$160,000) in October to 218 SOL (approximately NT$690,000) in December. The memecoin ecosystem on Solana is also booming, the most famous of which is $BONK. When the price of the token that came with the phone was higher than the price of the phone, it caused many people to take their phones to financial institutions to cash out. The list goes on. .

Although the market value of Ethereum is higher than that of Solana in early 2023, its excessively high GAS and too slow transaction time make Solana the first choice for people to conduct large-scale transactions or mint NFTs. Its DEX transaction volume also often exceeds that of Ethereum. , which means that Solana may further become the trading market of choice for retail investors in 2024.

【Conclusion】

In addition to the rise of Solana, with the possible approval of the Bitcoin spot ETF and the upcoming Bitcoin halving event, I believe there will be more topics worthy of discussion in the blockchain in 2024.

Of course, as NFTs continue to gain popularity, the risk of hackers and cyber attacks targeting digital assets also increases. Some events in 2023, such as the MetaMask credential theft and the OpenSea phishing attack, have highlighted that there are still security vulnerabilities in the platforms, markets and wallets used to buy, sell and store NFTs. Therefore, we also need to call on everyone to use NFT when trading. You can reduce the risk of falling victim to a secure wallet, be wary of phishing attacks, enable two-factor authentication, regularly update your software and wallet, and stay informed about the latest security threats.

In any case, 2024 is a year worth looking forward to, and c2x3 will continue to accompany you and share various blockchain art and technology news with you. Let us continue to grow in the blockchain world together.

Further reading:

• 2022 Annual Review: 10 Important Events in the Cryptocurrency Circle (Part 1): http://tinyurl.com/yf8xamae

• 2022 Annual Review: 10 Important Events in the Cryptocurrency Circle (Part 2): http://tinyurl.com/2xw92bue

Note 1: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit against Binance for violating U.S. securities laws in June 2023, causing Binance to lay off 1,500 employees and senior executives to leave one after another. In Europe, Binance was even withdrawn from the Dutch market. Various factors caused Binance's market share to drop from 70% at the beginning of the year to about 46% at the end of the year.

Note 2: Casey Rodarmor launched the new Bitcoin ordinal protocol "Ordinals" in January 2023, providing a new way to store and trade digital content on Bitcoin. By utilizing Satoshi, the smallest unit of Bitcoin, users can engrave NFTs, BRC-20 tokens, and other arbitrary data directly on the blockchain, making each block a unique tradable asset. Demand for the protocol reached an annual high in mid-December, with Bitcoin-based NFTs accounting for approximately 59% of peak weekly NFT trading volume of $518 million.

Reference compilation:

THE BLOCK - The year in data: 5 charts that show how crypto changed in 2023

NFT NOW - 10 Moments That Defined Web3 in 2023

NFT NEWS TODAY - MAJOR NFT HACKS 2023: PROTECTING YOUR DIGITAL ASSETS

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