2021 has been a great year for Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), with sales volumes growing eightfold and reaching US$10.7 billion in the third quarter of 2021. The rising popularity of NFTs has encouraged a large number of people, from memers to musicians and even adult entertainers, to join in on the trend!
From art pieces like EVERYDAYS: THE FIRST 5000 DAYS by Mike Winkelmann to cryptopunks and memes like Side-eyeing Chloe, the popularity of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) has been on the uptick. They have also been blowing up in value in 2021. NFT sale volumes have surged eightfold, reaching US$10.7 billion in the third quarter of 2021.
As of October, Tether, the largest stablecoin in the world, is the fifth largest cryptocurrency in the world. As of October 18, Tether has a market capitalization of over US$69 billion. However, to make sense of this development, let’s break down what a stablecoin is, and then look at the various kinds of stablecoins and what the future holds for them.
The NFT craze does not seem to be going away anytime soon. The global hype around immutable digital assets has only gone up as TikTok hops on the bandwagon, allowing fans to “own a moment that broke the internet”.
On September 27, 2021, Binance, one of the world’s largest crypto exchange platforms, announced that its Singapore users would no longer be able to buy and trade cryptocurrencies on its global platform starting from October 26 this year.
Oh, to be a viral meme and earn thousands of dollars. From “Bad Luck Brian” to “Success Kid”—the creators and faces of these memes have immortalized themselves on the internet. What’s more? In doing so, they have made a lot of money. Here’s a look at our list of top five memes that sold as NFTs:
Anyone who has heard about NFTs will marvel at the astonishing prices people are willing to pay for them. Recently, the “Side-Eye Chloe” meme sold as an NFT for US$76,377.50, joining many other legendary meme NFTs. But what are NFTs? And why are people willing to bear such an expense to own them?
In 2013, the then two-year-old Chloe Clems went viral as her hilarious side-eyeing expression made her into a beloved internet meme. In her meme avatar, little Chloe has ruled over the hearts of many a Twitter and Reddit enthusiast and has been dubbed the “Patron saint of Tumblr” by Buzzfeed.
A week after crypto mining operations in China’s Sichuan province came to a halt, the country has now declared all crypto transactions illegal. On September 24, ten Chinese government agencies, including the central bank, made a statement saying that they would work closely to ensure a “high-pressure clampdown” on crypto trading.
On September 14, 2021, OpenSea, a popular NFT marketplace startup, admitted to insider trading on their website. The event is unprecedented in crypto history. Within 24 hours of the incident, the company had put in new employee policies to regulate trading on their platform. OpenSea’s insider trading incident highlights the fact that while the popularity of digital items is on the rise, so are cybercrimes that seek to make a profit at the expense of genuine creators and buyers.
A popular NFT marketplace, OpenSea, recently admitted to insider trading by one of their employees. While the company had not revealed the name of the erring employee, individuals were able to utilize the platform’s public access blockchain ledger to ascertain the identity of the culprit.
On September 14, Gary Gensler, the Chairman of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), said that he doesn’t see long-term viability for cryptocurrency. He emphasized the importance of regulating crypto and protecting the interests of investors.
The popularity of Bitcoin has given way to concerns surrounding its ecological impact. As of writing this article, Bitcoin is trading at US$45,106. The global impact of Bitcoin has been so tremendous that El Salvador adopted it as legal tender and Ukraine legalized Bitcoin exchanges.
In August 2021, the cryptocurrency market hit the US$2 trillion mark. The NFT market has been doing equally well, with sales volume surging to US$2.5 billion in the first quarter of 2021. The common thread between these figures is the use of blockchain technology and smart contracts.
On September 14, 2021, OpenSea, a popular NFT (Non-Fungible Tokens) marketplace startup, admitted to insider trading on their website. Insider trading happens when people—employees or otherwise—use a company’s non-public knowledge to their financial advantage. OpenSea did not reveal the employee’s name; however, Twitter users took advantage of blockchain’s public access and transparency to ascertain who did it.
In the latest addition to China’s cryptocurrency crackdown, the government of Sichuan province halted all crypto mining activities in the region. The efforts to restrict cryptocurrency mining have also spread to China’s northwestern province of Hebei. The cyberspace commission of Hebei announced on September 14, 2021 that it will cooperate with the central government’s efforts to curb crypto mining and trading.
