The Avalanche Foundation has launched Avaissance, an initiative aimed at supporting digital artists and boosting the growth of the Avalanche NFT ecosystem. Avaissance includes two main components: the Artist in Resident program (AIR) for over 50 artists and the Mona Lisa Initiative (MLI) to curate digital art and expand the collections of art-focused DAOs. The AIR program will provide funding, mentorship, and virtual workshops for six months to artists of any skill level. Meanwhile, the MLI will collaborate with DAOs’ curatorial teams to promote emerging Avalanche NFT artists and establish an “Avalanche Permanent Collection.”
In other NFT news, Ticketmaster has announced a new feature called token-gated ticket sales, which allows artists to reward NFT holders with exclusive benefits such as special presales, prime seats, custom travel packages, and access to unique concert experiences. This functionality was developed after American heavy metal band Avenged Sevenfold (A7X) approached Ticketmaster and its Web3 team, Bitflips, for help implementing a service that would allow holders of its NFTs – Deathbats Club, a collection of 10,000 unique Deathbat NFTs – to unlock perks and access to events. The feature works with tokens minted on Ethereum and stored in decentralized application (DApp) wallets like MetaMask or Coinbase.
Patrick Amadon, a popular NFT artist, recently withdrew his work from a major auction house, Sotheby’s upcoming “Natively Digital: Glitch-ism” art sale, to protest a lack of female representation. He shared his decision with his 142,400 Twitter followers, and Sotheby’s responded the next day by announcing that it would pause the sale to “redress the imbalance in representation within the sale” and relaunch later with a “more equitable and diverse group of artists.”
Mike Winkelmann, also known as Beeple, recently shared a video with his Twitter followers, revealing his new 50,000-square-foot studio in South Carolina. According to Beeple’s website, he will use the space to create his artwork and host events to “showcase the very best art and communities.” The website stated that they are looking to partner with the most cutting-edge artists and communities to put on events that are not possible at any other venue.
On March 25, an NFT from the popular CryptoPunks collection valued at approximately $135,000 was accidentally burned by an investor attempting the process of NFT wrapping to potentially borrow liquidity from it. While the loss was unfortunate, it highlights the importance of proper education and caution when dealing with NFTs.
Azuki is making history, the Web3.0 brand renowned for its Non-Fungible Token (NFT) innovations, as it sold out the 8th most expensive skateboard in the world.
The brand announced the successful completion of its Golden Skateboard auction on Sunday as it announced 8 winners of the extremely rare work that embodies a mix of art and technology.
According to the startup, the cheapest bid it received for the golden skateboards was 200 ETH, worth approximately $266,518, based on the price of Ethereum pegged at $1,332.59 at the time of writing.
“The Golden Skateboard is a marvel of art & technology showcasing our first implementation of PBT, which paves the way for a new era of storytelling,” Azuki said in its Twitter announcement, adding that it “broke the record for the most expensive skateboard ever sold (in fact, the 8 most expensive skateboards ever sold).”
As revealed by the NFT startup, the highest bid received for the Golden Skateboard NFT was 303 ETH (approximately $403,774.77) and was snapped up by a Twitter user with the username, @Johnf696969.
Some iconic NFTs are known to go on sale for expensive amounts, and this sort of mega collection is commonplace in the space. While the sales of the Azuki skateboards are impressive, there are collections like the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), World of Women (WoW) and the Moonbirds NFTs amongst others have also recorded massive sales prices over time.
Azuki as an NFT brand has inked a unique spot for itself amongst the most elite of collections, now ranked as the 4 most valuable collection. The Azuki NFT is currently trading at a floor price of 11.5 ETH with a market capitalization of 140,538.45 ETH per data from CoinMarketCap.
In all, Mike Winkelmann, the digital artist known as Beeple holds the title for selling the most valuable NFT to date. His Everydays: The First 5000 Days collage was auctioned for $69.3 million back in March 2020 and was later revealed to be snapped up by Metakovan.
London-based British auction house Christie’s has announced its undisclosed investment in LayerZero, the first ever commitment it will be made through its new investment arm- Christie’s Ventures.
As revealed by the company, Christie’s Ventures will deploy funds to back emerging tech startups and financial innovations that are relevant to the art market.
“As a global leader in the art market, Christie’s has both an incentive and a responsibility to further innovation and deepen experiences for our clients,” said Ben Gore, Christie’s Chief Operating Officer, adding that “the intersections of technology and financial products are increasingly relevant and prevalent, and we believe strongly in the opportunities ahead. For the companies we select to work with, as well as for our clients, the Christie’s Ventures value proposition combines the power of our brand and capital together with our network and expertise; it is another example of the formidable Christie’s Advantage.”
The new Christie’s Ventures offshoot will be led by Devang Thakkar, who said the investment arm will “focus on products and services which can solve real business challenges, improve client experiences, and expand growth opportunities, both across the art market directly and for interactions with it.”
Christie’s has always been setting the pace when it comes to embracing digital innovations. The company signalled its full backing for the digital currency ecosystem and Non-Fungible Token (NFT) offshoot when it helped auction Mike Winkelmann’s record-breaking NFT collage dubbed Everydays: The First 5000 Days.
The NFT was later revealed to be acquired for $69.3 million by Metakovan. Per the ultimate goal of Christie’s Ventures, any startup with the promise of advancing arts reach will be getting financial and professional support.
More major industry players across both Web2.0 and Web3.0 are floating funds through which they plan to invest heavily in Web3 initiatives. With the investment into LayerZero, Christie’s has revealed how willing it is to deepen its ties in the nascent blockchain world.
Wikipedia editors have removed NFT art by Pak from the site’s list of most expensive artworks by living artists.
Editors state that they made the change because the work was sold fractionally and because of a lack of secondary sources.
The decision has caused uproar in the NFT community with many prominent figures arguing against the move.
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Wikipedia doesn’t want to acknowledge NFTs as art. Join Crypto Briefing as we dive into the reasons behind the controversial decision and the reactions and counterarguments from the NFT community.
Wikipedia Fades NFT Art
A fierce debate is raging in the depths of Wikipedia’s countless articles and stubs.
Editors of the world’s premier online encyclopaedia have weighed in on whether NFT artworks such as Beeple’sEverydays: The First 5,000 Daysand Pak’s Mergeshould be included on the site’s list of most expensive auctioned artworks by living artists.
Beeple, the pseudonym of digital artist Mike Winkelmann, put NFTs on the mainstream map in March 2021 after his collagicEverydays: The First 5,000 Dayssold for $69.34 million in a Christie’s auction. More recently, Pak, another digital artist credited for having given Beeple his first primer on selling NFTs, broke his pupil’s record when he sold an NFT artwork calledMerge for a combined $91.8 million through digital art auction platform Nifty Gateway.
“Merge” by Pak (Source: Nifty Gateway)
Although both Beeple and Pak are widely recognized as digital artists, there is much debate over whether their NFTs should be viewed as art. “I think they should not. NFTs have their own list,” said one editor who goes by the name jonas. Several more editors agreed, citing a lack of secondary sources and the fact that not all NFTs that exist are being sold as art.
Others have pushed back. One user posting under the pseudonym Hocus00 highlighted that several major publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Forbes have all referenced Beeple’s NFT sale as the third most expensive work from a living artist ever sold at auction. As editors have frequently pointed out during the discussion, Wikipedia’s entries should aim to be based on multiple corroborating sources, not the personal opinions of its contributors.
Some users approached the issue from a more fundamental perspective. “If we agree Beeple and Pak are artists, why would their sales not count on this list?” wrote an editor who identifies as Pmmccurdy. “I don’t understand the logic here.”
However, as the conversation progressed, the posts became more and more opinionated. Newer contributions to the discussion resembled heavily charged tirades. One user called FibrielSolaer wrote:
“Purchasing via NFT is not in any way purchasing art; purchasing NFT is pretending to purchase art. NFT is a trendy new scam that targets people who are unable to tell reality from ideals, such as young children.”
The crux of the argument against NFT artworks looks to come down to how the underlying technology functions. Several editors have taken issue with the fact that lines of code on a blockchain that represent digital ownership are not the same as the artwork they represent. Additionally, many NFT artworks are solely digital, without a corresponding physical copy. This also seems a point of contention that some contributors think rules NFTs out from being “true” artworks.
After weeks of posting, five out of six editors discussing the issue reached a consensus; Beeple’s Everydayswould stay on Wikipedia’s list of most expensive artworks by living artists but with a caveat. Editors have attached a note describing the sale as “a promotion to increase the value of Ethereum.” However, Pak’s Mergewould be axed, mainly because the only source currently citing the sale as NFT artwork was Nifty Gateway, and because it achieved such a high value by being sold in fractions to multiple buyers. Buyers could purchase tokens starting at a unit price of $575, which increased by $25 every six hours. It is worth noting that the visuals for Merge are generated on-chain, making the technology behind the piece integral to it.
To the NFT community’s biggest enthusiasts, the decisions surrounding Beeple’s and Pak’s work seem arbitrary. While editors continue to dispute the minute details surrounding NFTs, one message has cropped up repeatedly: Wikipedia should not be deciding what counts as art or not—it’s up to the public to decide.
Public Reactions to Wikipedia’s Call
Believe it or not, refusing to accept new forms of artistic expression as “true” art is not a new phenomenon. The pseudonymous Twitter user @punk6529, who’s become something of a thought leader in the NFT space, pointed out that NFTs could be the next in a long line of emerging art forms to be disregarded by existing artists. They said:
“If you have read even the slightest bit of art history, there is a standard pattern that every new artistic movement is declared “not art” by the incumbents.”
In the 19th Century, Impressionist artists the world lauds over today, such as Renoir and Manet, were frequently seen as amateurs by both art critics and the public. This refractory attitude to new forms of artistic expression didn’t end with Impressionism; over the next two centuries, nearly every major art movement, from Kandinsky’s surrealism to Pollock’s abstract expressionism, was initially written off and separated from pre-existing conceptions of art.
Another NFT collector who goes by the name @nfttank compared the work of prominent NFT artist XCOPY to contemporary modern artists whose work is currently classed as art by Wikipedia.
Find the only piece that @Wikipedia voted as “not art”.@XCOPYART pic.twitter.com/hzx7iwL1wb
— Tank (@nfttank) January 21, 2022
Among the line-up is Marcel Duchamp’sFountain, an inverted white urinal first created in 1917. Ironically, while Fountainis now widely recognized as a major landmark in 20th Century art, it was somewhat predictably snubbed at the time of its creation.
When comparing the attitudes toward Duchamp’s art over 100 years ago and NFTs today, there are striking similarities. Both occupy a new medium that was not traditionally considered art. Duchamp used everyday items, while NFT artists use blockchains.
Additionally, Duchamp’s art was initially only understood by those with a deep appreciation of the contemporary art world of the time. Likewise, the most ardent supporters of NFTs often possess extensive knowledge of blockchain technology that the average person is not familiar with.
While many have pointed out the hypocrisy of Wikipedia’s rulings, others have highlighted the potential negative effects of separating NFTs from art. Nifty Gateway co-founder Duncan Cock Foster took to Twitter following the Wikipedia editors’ decision to express his thoughts, stating:
“Wikipedia works off of precedent. If NFTs are classified as ‘not art’ on this page, then they will be classified as ‘not art’ on the rest of Wikipedia. Wikipedia is the global source of truth for many around the world. The stakes couldn’t be higher!”
In the past, while critics often snubbed emerging art forms, the evaluation of any one person was not definitive. This allowed others in the art world to change minds with sound arguments. Over time, the attitudes toward these art forms became less conservative, resulting in their eventual acceptance.
However, in the case of Wikipedia, the online encyclopaedia prides itself on being a source of authoritative knowledge. If editors are willing to set a precedent on such a subjective matter, it could do years worth of damage to artists exploring NFTs as a new medium for art.
Fortunately, it appears that the uproar from the NFT community has not gone unheard. Wikipedia editors have agreed to revisit the conversation over whether NFTs should be classed as art later, leaving the door open to further discussion.
Disclosure: At the time of writing this feature, the author owned ETH and several other cryptocurrencies.
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A group of editors on Wikipedia, the free user generated encyclopedia, have voted against classifying NFTs as a form of art and have come to a consensus to shelve the issue until a later date.
A survey and debate started on the platform at the end of December revolving around the most expensive art sales by living artists and whether NFT art sales should be deemed as “art sales” or “NFT sales.”
“Wikipedia really can’t be in the business of deciding what counts as art or not, which is why putting NFTs, art or not, in their own list makes things a lot simpler,” editor “jonas” wrote.
Much of the discussion centered on whether an NFT represented the art or if it was simply a token that was separate to the underlying art. The editors were torn on the definitions and some felt that there was a lack of reliable information to conclude from.
A call for votes found five editors opposed to including NFTs in art sales and just one in support. A consensus was made on Jan. 12 to remove sales such as Pak’s NFT collection that fetched $91 million and Beeple’s $69 million NFT from the top art sales list, and re-open the discussion at a later date.
The decision seems contentious when looking at Beeple’s NFT “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” in particular, which depicts a collage of original artworks from a renowned digital artist that sold at the prestigious Christie’s art auction house last year in March. The New York Times also described Beeple as the “third highest selling artist” alive at the time.
According to Wikipedia’s guidelines, neither unaminty or a vote is required to form a consensus. To reach a decision, the consensus must factor in all participating editor’s legitimate concerns that fall within the platform’s policies.
What do Wikipedia editors know anyway?
However, the consensus position didn’t go down well with the sole NFT supporting editor “Pmmccurdy” who argued:
“How can we have a consensus when, from the start, I have argued in support of including NFTs on this list. The overwhelming evidence from secondary sources places NFT art as art and thus worthy of inclusion on this list.”
“If we agree Beeple and Pak are artists, why would their sales not count on this list? I don’t understand the logic here,” they added.
Editor “SiliconRed” responded that the consensus they were reading was that: “NFTs should be removed from this list for now with the intention to re-open discussion at a later date. To my understanding, this incorporates all concerns, including yours.”
Related:Wiki contributors want to drop crypto donations over environmental concerns
NFT proponents such as Nifty Gateway co-founder Griffin Cock Foster were irked by the issue, noting on Twitter earlier today that:
“This is pretty messed up to see – Wikipedia mods are trying to say that *no* NFT can be art — as in, if it’s an NFT, it can’t be classified as art.”
Foster’s twin brother Duncan also chimed in, labeling it an “Art Emergency” as he called the community into action via a post that was re-tweeted by Gemini co-founder Tyler Winklevoss.
“Wikipedia works off of precedent. If NFTs are classified as ‘not art’ on this page, then they will be classified as ‘not art’ on the rest of Wikipedia. Wikipedia is the global source of truth for many around the world. The stakes couldn’t be higher!” he said
Art Emergency!!
There is a debate happening rn on @Wikipedia that has the potential to * officially categorize NFTs as ‘not art’ on all of Wikipedia. *
Wikipedia is a global source of truth. Having NFTs categorized as ‘not art’ would be a disaster!
:
— Duncan Cock Foster (@DCCockFoster) January 12, 2022
Everipedia, a decentralized Web3 equivalent of Wikipedia, responded to the platform by comparing its approach to NFTs and art:
“Everipedia editors have created over 100 pages on
#NFT collections while Wikipedia is moving to mark NFTs as “not art” across their platform. It’s time for NFT projects to move to Everipedia $IQ, a Web 3.0 encyclopedia which supports art and innovation.”
This isn’t the first time Wikipedia has had issues with reporting crypto-related information. Cointelegraph reported in September 2020 that anti-crypto activist and senior Wikipedia editor David Gerard helped remove an entry relating to Australian blockchain software firm Power Ledger.
Gerard stated the post was deleted on the “basis of being a pile of press-release churnalism, and the only genuine press coverage was about how Power Ledger was a scam,” despite the entry being sourced from reputable publications such as TechCrunch and The Economic Times.
Crypto took over headlines in 2021. From NFTs to the metaverse, there was no slow news day. Cryptocurrencies’ rapid growth presents an investment opportunity, not only for average individuals, but also for large corporations.
Digital assets are on the rise as a result of technical advancements. More countries around the world are attempting to implement decentralized technology as payment options. You must know which cryptocurrency trends will be relevant in 2022 in order to achieve profitable investments in this market.
Crypto Trends To Watch
1. NFT are not going anywhere:
In the year 2021, Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) were the hottest topic in the blockchain world. Artwork such as Beeple’s The First 5000 Days fetched astronomical prices, bringing the concept of unique digital tokens stored on blockchains firmly into the public mind. It’s also well established in the music industry, with bands like as Kings of Leon, Shawn Mendes, and Grimes all releasing NFTs
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The metaverse rocketed into public consciousness in Q4 2021 with Facebook, Microsoft, Baidu, Huawei buying into the hype. The metaverse is based on NFTs and ownership tokenization, which can link the physical and digital worlds.
NFT Sales by category. Source: CryptoSlam
NFT platforms such as OpenSea, games such as Axie Infinity, and artworks such as CryptoPunks now have their own team of traders, creators, and service providers. In 2021, the number of unique NFT wallets increased by over 1000 percent, a trend that is expected to continue into the new year.
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2. Play-to-earn games are in great demand:
Axie Infinity, Splinterlands, Decentralands and The Sandbox are examples of play-to-earn games that are steadily introducing crypto into the public and increasing access to DeFi and NFT. According to the findings from a Coinlist’s poll, the interface between DeFi and gaming will continue to gain momentum in 2022, and game-oriented platforms like as Flow and Immutable X will become more important. A new generation of gamers will be able to own in-game assets and exchange them on secondary marketplaces thanks to the blockchain. As a result, these ecosystems are projected to witness significant advancements in the coming year and to be widely appreciated.
Play-to-earn users and transaction volume growth over the last few months. Source: DappRadar
We may see gaming businesses enter the crypto industry via mergers and acquisitions next year. Ubisoft, a AAA gaming business, has officially revealed that in-game products would be tokenized as NFTs on the Tezos network.
Related article | Metaverse versus GameFi: A New Blockchain War?
3. Smart Contract adoption expected to explode:
From NFT ownership to smart-contracts, the Ethereum network is used for a wide range of applications. Due to the rapid proliferation and adoption of Ethereum-based projects, Ethereum network transactions grew dramatically in 2021. (like NFTs). We expect smart contract networks like Ethereum and Solana to continue to grow in transaction size and value in the future, as the network of players and use cases expand.
Source: Messari, VanEck.
4. Bitcoin and altcoins to realize huge potential prices:
Price forecasting is notoriously tough, especially when it comes to Bitcoin and other digital assets.
In the current debate, targets in excess of $100,000 are rather frequent, but they are usually estimated to be at least several years away. Given recent price volatility, such a target may appear to be a stretch, but the trend toward wider use and integration supports this prediction.
BTC/USD rallying close to $50k. Source: TradingView
Given the strong macro tailwinds and growing inflation, it’s impossible to see a future where bitcoin falls out of favor while the rest of crypto rises. Despite the fact that bitcoin’s market share has dropped from 70% to 41% this year, Ethereum remains the sole true competitor. However, given the rising competition Ethereum faces from other L1s, it’s unlikely to see a flippening happening in 2022.
El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender in September 2021. It’s expected that has more countries adopt Bitcoin, the value will stabilize into a rally.
5. Crypto Regulation on steroids:
If 2021 was the year of talking about cryptocurrency regulation, then 2022 is likely to be the year of action. Because, if nothing else, 2021 has demonstrated that cryptocurrency isn’t going away anytime soon, which has made a number of regulators sit up and take note.
While some nations may maintain a restrictive stance on cryptocurrency, commentators believe that the overall trend will be toward greater acceptance of cryptocurrency, even if it means implementing some precautions. As regulators have a better understanding of the space, more crypto bans are less likely.
National cryptocurrencies, in which central banks develop their own currency that they can control rather than adopting existing decentralized ones, will also expand in 2022.
Stablecoins will be regulated in various parts of the world, with the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom in particular working on stablecoin regulation. The Regulation on Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) in the EU will follow the same path as the UK.
Related article | Looking Ahead: What Should EU Regulations for Cryptocurrency Sector Look Like?
Featured image from Pixabay, charts from DappRadar, Messari, and TradingView
The most expensive virtual real estate in the Non-Fungible Token (NFT) metaverse has just been sold.
According to a Twitter post by Axie Infinity, a blockchain-based gaming protocol, one of the rarest virtual lands dubbed the Genesis Land Plot was sold for 550 ETH worth approximately $2.48 million.
The Axie Infinity game is one of its kind in the blockchain world whose success since inception has continued to trail the blaze across the board. Developed by Vietnamese studio Sky Mavis, Axie Infinity lets players collect, breed, raise, battle, and trade token-based creatures known as Axies. These Axies live in a virtual world called Lunacia, a 301×301 square grid where each section represents a tokenized plot of land called Terra, which players can also buy, sell, or rent out to other players at will.
The Genesis plot is one of the 220 out of 90,601 land slots that exist in the Axie Infinity world. Beyond selling the plot for 550 ETH, Axie Infinity’s native token, the AXS which users can earn from playing the game, is one of the best performing tokens thus far this year. At a current price of $141, the token has grown by 114409.77% since it printed its all-time low (ATL) price of $0.1234 exactly a year ago per data from CoinMarketCap.
NFT Bogus Valuation: Bubble or New Reality
It is not uncommon to see NFT and metaverse-related digital collectables sell for a very expensive amount of money. While Beeple’s Everydays: The First 5,000 Days remains the most expensive NFT piece sold to date at a price of $69 million, many critics have wondered whether the entire NFT ecosystem is in a bubble or not.
Since the Beeple sale back in March, a number of innovative NFT collections have emerged, all brandishing massive valuations that suggest collectors’ interest is not tapering down in the near term. NFTs are arguably in their infancy, and with room for additional groups, the piece of tech they represent, and the valuations they attract may appear to be the new reality in today’s digital collectable world.
The Collins Dictionary crowned the amazing year NFTs had. According to the UK-based dictionary, “NFT” was the most important word of 2021. There’s no denying that the NFT phenomenon grew immensely this year, and not even Ethereum gas fees and environmental FUD could deter its trajectory. Congratulations to all the artists and businessmen that managed to benefit from the growth, and take Collins Dictionary’s acknowledgment as if it was yours.
Related Reading | DAO To Make Jodorowsky’s Dune Manuscript Public: Member Won $3M Bid
How Does Collins Dictionary Define NFT?
On theWord of The Year page, Collins offers a simple and elegant definition:
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“‘NFT’, the abbreviation of ‘non-fungible token’, the unique digital identifier that records ownership of a digital asset which has entered the mainstream and seen millions spent on the most sought-after images and videos, has been named Collins Word of the Year 2021.
It is one of three tech-based words to make Collins’ longer list of ten words of the year, which includes seven words brand new to CollinsDictionary.com.”
The other tech-based words were “crypto” and “metaverse,” so you know NFT had some fierce competition in 2021. The abbreviation of “cryptocurrency” seems like a bigger and wider concept. And it might’ve been even more everpresent than “NFT.” However, it didn’t have the novel factor. On the other hand, “metaverse” did have the novel factor but it came too late into the race. When facebook announced that the company was changing its name to “meta,” it was already too late. Mark Zuckerberg commanded headlines with those clumsy and cringy videos, but it didn’t help. NFTs had already won the year.
Digging deeper into NFTs,the Collins Dictionary’s blogexpanded on the concept and provided an example:
“Unique” is important here — it’s a one-off, not “fungible” or replaceable by any other piece of data. And what’s really captured the public’s imagination around NFTs is the use of this technology to sell art. For example, the rights to a work by the surrealist digital artist Beeple sold at Christie’s in March for $69m. Called EVERYDAYS: THE FIRST 5000 DAYS, it was a collage of all the images he’d created since he committed in 2007 to making one every day.”
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ETH price chart for 11/25/2021 on FTX | Source: ETH/USD on TradingView.com
About The Collins Dictionary And Its WOTY
The history of this UK-based publicationgoes way back:
“Collins dictionary publishing began in 1824, with the publication of Donnegan’s Greek and English Lexicon in partnership with Smith Elder. In 1840, the first in the series of Collins Illustrated Dictionaries was published alongside the Sixpenny Pocket Pronouncing Dictionary which went onto sell approximately 1 million copies. 20 years later and with the addition of steam presses, Collins could publish dictionaries in all sizes, prices and bindings.”
Related Reading | Beeple’s “Human One,” A Sculpture + NFT Hybrid, Sold For $28.9M At Christie’s
The organization has been declaring a Word Of The Year since 1990. It’s a newer phenomenon so, from the beginning, there’s a strong link to technology. In 1993, the WOTY was “information superhighway”; it was “cyber” in 94, and “web” in 95. When it came to 1997 it was “millennium bug,” and it was the prefix “e-” in 98. Of course, it was “Y2K” in 99. Recently, though, Collins Dictionary has been concerned with social movements and gender identities. Last year, of course, it was “Covid,” and in 2021 the tech world took back the throne with “NFT.”
Featured Image: Collins Dictionary WOTY site | Charts by TradingView
An admin account for Beeple’s official Discord group was compromised overnight resulting in a fake NFT drop that saw users lose an estimated 38 ETH.
An admin from Beeple’s Discord named “Multi” confirmed to the group on Nov. 10 that their account had been compromised despite having 2FA. The perpetrator went on to impersonate Multi and the Beeple Announcements Bot to promote a fake NFT drop from Beeple on Nifty Gateway.
The incident is the latest in a long line of Discord hacks that have caused users substantial losses.
Discord members were primed to expect Beeple to run a cheap drop on the back of his most recent auction since he has done it before, with raffles that saw users snap up his NFTs for as little as $1. Fans kept tabs on the the Discord channel and Beeple’s Twitter all day for a chance to snap up some bargain NFTs.
Discord member “NFT Simon” told Cointelegraph he had his Metamask wallet set up and was ready to pounce just in case.
Multi’s post after the hack: Beeple’s Discord
“When the post came up on the Official Beeple Discord, from the verified Beeple Bot and the verified Administrator with a link to a Nifty Gateway website I didn’t blink twice. I headed over and proceeded to mint as much and as fast as I could,” he said.
NFT Simon nabbed six Beeple NFTs — or so he thought — but was unable to view them on his Nifty account. Back on Discord he was dismayed to find the fake admin was writing in all caps.
“I was greeted to a multiple explicit Gifs of naked men coming from multiple users. It was clearly a scam and someone had hacked Beeple’s Discord.”
After an hour or so the original admin regained control of their login and the chat turned to outing the hackers wallets and reporting them to Binance. “Then we all watched them slowly but surely cash out our money, it was all too late,” he said.
Etherscan shows the alleged hacker’s wallet only has $9,121.54 remaining and that 25 ETH was moved abruptly. Users report more ETH was lost however.
Members of the Discord group provided a mixed reaction today, with some being reasonably calm that Beeple would sort the issue out, while others lamented over the fact that they “FOMO’d” in without thinking.
“I still don’t own a Beeple. I know Beeple stood up for the community once when we crashed Makers Place, who knows how or if he will right things this time. I’d certainly prefer six Beeples over my ETH back,” said NFT Simon.
Beeple’s official account did not address the incident directly but posted a pinned message reading: “To everyone new, please know I will never be like HEY QUICK BUY THIS!!!!”
In response to the lack of communication, one user wrote that instead of a pinned message a “calming and understanding announcement would make things easier to accept.”
“This was not a simple DM with a link, but a major security breach with no mods present that continued for about an hour.”
Cointelegraph has contacted the Discord admins for comment.
A post from the compromised Beeple Announcements Bot on Discord
Famed digital artist Beeple last night sold his ‘HUMAN ONE’ sculpture for nearly $29 million at Christie’s, crushing many estimates.
The piece features a 7-foot-tall astronaut dressed in a mirrored helmet and silvery suit that appears to stroll sci-fi landscapes.
Many other prominent artists like Damien Hirst, Banksy, and Jean-Michel Basquiat had pieces sold at the auction. Some pieces were payable using cryptocurrency.
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Towards the end of the auction, six-figure bids started to feel boring and tame.
Beeple Gets Real
Last night, one of the most valuable living artists in art auction history, Beeple, sold ‘HUMAN ONE’ for $28,985,000 in Christie’s 21st Century Evening Sale. The sale far exceeded the $15 million expectations.The auction was a live event in New York City but had bidders represented from across the world.
The event, which was viewable via livestream, showcased 40 lots of art, and Beeple’s ‘Human One,’ a 7-foot-tall sculpture and its accompanying NFT, was the seventh lot. The auctioneer mentioned how hotly anticipated the piece was, and bidding was up to $15 million in seconds, seeing a major bidding war between someone present in the room and someone online from Switzerland. Ultimately, $25 million was the winning bidsecured byRyan Zurrer of Dialectic. After auctioneer fees and taxes, the price tag is $28,985,000.
The life-size astronaut slowly rotates, appearingto strollthrough the sci-fi landscapes it finds itself in. Beeple told Christie’s, the 255-year-old auction house, that hehad plansto update the piece “fairly regularly,” even going so far as to say that the owner of this piece “won’t really know what they’re getting because I’ll keep changing it.”
Peter Doig’s ‘Swamped’ achieved $39,862,500. Some other NFTs were sold, and some pieces were payable via cryptocurrencies Ether and/or Bitcoin. The last piece that went up for auction was a video (with audio) that included an accompanying NFT, which went for $420,000.
Beeple (Michael Winkelmann) made waves in March of this year when he sold his NFT “Everydays: The First 5,000 Days” for 69.3 million in an online-only sale that saw some 22 million website visitors who witnessed the end of the sale. This piece was a collage of every image Beeple posted online daily since 2007, and this lofty time componentwas citedby the winner of the auction as a primary motivation for the purchase. This was arguably a watershed moment in NFT, art history that set the stage for the NFT Summer craze.
Beeple received payment for that sale in Ethereum (42,329.453 ETH), and if he had not sold it for U.S. dollars, it would be worth roughly 2.5 times more today than in March. In speaking of NFTs more generally, Beeple told Christie’s, “It feels like genuinely new work is being birthed through this technology, through this movement.”
Beepleshould appearon Jimmy Fallon Wednesday night, and he seemedhappy tohave his parents at the live auction event last night to support him.
Disclaimer: At the time of writing, the author of this feature held BTC, ETH, and several other cryptocurrencies.
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