Are NFTs dead?

It’s time to throw out the ramen noodles, we’re eating steak tonight baby!

In a sigh of relief for bulls, Bitcoin surged to nearly $27K today and is looking to break out of the range it’s found itself in for the past five days. This is despite the recent claims of Binance’s insolvency.

We’re not out of the woods yet though folks, although there are a trail of crumbs pointing towards crypto’s mass adoption in the coming months. As always, we’re going to be breaking down today’s top stories and letting you know what’s fire and what’s dire.

WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY

• Vitalik Buterin cashes out over $1 million in ETH before ‘anticipated dip to $1,000

• Are NFTs dead?

• Solana's payment platform integrated with Shopify

• What are the bullish factors driving Bitcoin’s price surge?

ETH to $1000?

According to market analyst Ali Matinez, Ethereum is at a crucial point where it must maintain support within the $1600-$1550 range otherwise we could see a price correction towards the $1000 mark.

This comes after Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, recently moved more than 600 ETH, valued at more than $1 million to Coinbase. Was this perhaps a sign that Buterin is cashing out before the potential dip?

At the time of writing, ETH is sitting at around $1675, so for the meantime it’s not looking too bad. This slight bit of reprieve comes after a ~8.45% drop last week that saw many bulls liquidated.

Who knows what the future holds? If we knew, we wouldn’t be writing this newsletter. We’d probably be off in the Bahamas somewhere, living in a $300 million mansion popping adderall and playing League of Legends.

Are NFTs dead?

It seems like only yesterday that Paris Hilton and Jimmy Fallon were comparing their Bored Apes…

Ah… The good old days.

Believe it or not the Bored Ape Yacht Club’s (BAYC) floor price is 92% down from it’s all time high price of $450K. Now sitting at around $38K, it’s a far cry from the days when Eminem and Snoop Dogg were leading the NFT craze.

It’s no secret that there’s a large group of haters out there saying, “I told you so!”

Despite the huge price decline of “blue chip” NFT projects like BAYC, some punters believe now might be the time to get involved in these projects. BAYC raised $450 million in a seed round to build the community. That’s right, $450 million dollary-doos! You can’t argue that there’s a bunch of intelligent and committed people dedicated to this project and others alike, destined to provide value to the members holding their artworks.

But as we all know, the market will decide what something is worth. So tell us…

Shopify integrates Solana’s payment system

In an announcement made by Solana, the organisation’s decentralised payment system, Solana Pay, has been integrated with Shopify.

In a nutshell, this means that any business using Shopify can now accept payments through the Solan Pay platform. USDC will be the first payment option for the integration however it’s understood cryptocurrencies like SOL and BONK could be added in the future.

Despite the bullish news, the price of SOL did not explode like some people expected, instead following the general trend of the market.

Bullish factors driving Bitcoin’s price surge

Citibank has unveiled its latest “Securities Services Evolution” whitepaper, delving into the shifting landscape of securities services and the broader market.

Drawing insights from various players, including fintech firms and banks, the report highlights key factors shaping the global securities industry. Notably, Citibank outlined three bullish factors for crypto's growth, including the surging interest in Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), with 74% of respondents engaged in DLT and digital assets.

Furthermore, Citi emphasized growing confidence in digital money, including central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and stablecoins, to support securities settlement. Amid the positive outlook, the report also signaled challenges due to accelerated settlements, spurring innovation and efficiency efforts.

MOTD (Meme Of The Day)