Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) creators Yuga Labs have announced a new NFT collection on Bitcoin dubbed “TwelveFold”.
The move was announced via Twitter on Feb. 28, with Yuga Labs unveiling 300 computer-generated artworks as part of the TwelveFold collection that will be auctioned later this week.
Introducing TwelveFold. A limited edition collection of 300 generative pieces, inscribed in satoshis on the Bitcoin blockchain.https://t.co/aFWEIhzqcI pic.twitter.com/PjWABKKBr4
— Yuga Labs (@yugalabs) February 27, 2023
In a blog post, Yuga Labs explained that the concept behind the collection is based on mathematics, time and the Bitcoin blockchain.
“TwelveFold is a base 12 art system located around a 12×12 grid, a visual allegory for the mapping of data on the Bitcoin blockchain,” reads the post, adding that:
“Satoshis are the smallest individually identifiable units of a Bitcoin. An inscribed satoshi can be located by tracking when that satoshi was minted in time through Ordinal Theory protocol.”
“Inspired by this, our collection explores the relationship between time, mathematics and variability”, he explained.
Yuga Labs cited the recent buzz about Bitcoin NFTs, or Ordinals, as the reason it chose to launch a collection on the network.
“Joining Ordinals Discord a month ago was like getting a glimpse into the 2017-era Ethereum NFT ecosystem. It’s the kind of energy and excitement we love about Yuga,” the company stated.
Yuga Labs is launching an Ordinal Inscription Collection on Bitcoin.
Instructions on how to acquire them involve running a self-custodial Bitcoin wallet, requires an empty Bitcoin address, and all bids will be in bitcoin.
They also provide a guide to Bitcoin UTXOs. pic.twitter.com/NQJeZQaagp
—Eric Wall | Major Root Assistant #2 (@ercwl) February 27, 2023
Search down, trade up
According to Google Trend data, search interest in NFTs has dropped to levels not seen since early 2021 – before the NFT boom – suggesting that interest may be waning for non-fungible tokens.
February NFT trading volume data, however, suggests otherwise.
Google Trends uses a metric from 0 to 100 to show interest in various keywords that people are looking for on their search engine. Between February 19th and 25th, the keyword “NFTs” scored just seven out of 100.
Such levels have not been seen since early to mid-January 2021, although there has been a sharp decline since the all-time high of 100 on January 23-29, 2022.
However, NFT trading volume in February paints a different picture.
According to data from CryptoSlam, there were US$997.14 million in global NFT sales in the month, following the US$1 billion recorded in January.
These levels bring the NFT market back to June 2022 and its $982 million worth of sales, before dropping to $460 million in October 2022.
More recently, sales volume has taken a significant slant, with the launch of the merchant-friendly market Blur being a major contributor behind this.
Twitch streamer sells Dookey Dash key for 1,000 ETH
The man who won the NFT Golden Key for posting the highest score on the BAYC-affiliated Dookey Dash game sold the token for 1,000 Ether (ETH), or approximately $1.63 million.
Twitch streamer Kyle Jackson, also known online by his pseudonym Mongraal, initially received the key on February 16 after scoring 928,522 points during the Dookey Dash competition hosted by Yuga Labs.
Wasting no time, Mongraal announced on February 27th that it had agreed to sell the key to Adam Weitsman, BAYC NFT hodler and CEO of scrap metal shredding company Upstate Shredding.
I agreed to sell the key for 1000 ETH to @AdamWeitsman. Super nice guy and thrilled with the sale made with him.
A special thanks to @yugalabs for hosting an incredible competition. I look forward to competing in future events. Royalties will be paid in full.
1/2— Mongraal (@Mongraal) February 27, 2023
The Golden Key is supposed to unlock something special from Yuga Labs, however the specific details are yet to be revealed.
Polygon signs another great partnership
The Polygon Foundation, the non-profit organization behind the Polygon Ethereum-layer 2 scaling network, has partnered with South Korean multinational conglomerate Lotte Group to host the company’s NFT projects.
According to a February 27 announcement by Lotte’s NFT and marketing hub Daehong Communications, the partnership will see Lotte’s avatar-based NFT project BellyGom moved to Klatyn network’s Polygon.
The project will be rebranded as BellyGom season 2, and the NFTs offer hodler benefits related to Lotte’s product and service lines, such as shopping discount coupons and hotel vouchers. Additional new benefits were hinted at in the future, but details were sparse in the announcement.
Lotte has almost 100 different business units in areas such as fast food, candy manufacturing, electronics and hotels. As of September 2022, the company is estimated to have around $15 billion in assets on its balance sheet.
Looking more broadly, the company has outlined intentions to develop its Web3 initiatives in partnership with Polygon, as Lotte looks to expand its NFTs to a global audience and develop “a new NFT business model rather than simply issuing NFTs”.
Related: Blur chasing market share from OpenSea, but its success depends on upcoming governance proposals
The move adds to Polygon’s growing list of partnerships with big brands like Startbucks, Adidas, Adobe and Prada.
Other cool news
According to research by metaverse platform Metajuice, nearly three out of four NFT collectors on their platform buy NFTs for status, exclusivity and aesthetics. On the other hand, 13% of survey respondents said they are buying NFTs to resell them in the future.
A group of well-known Japanese technology companies agreed on February 27 to push forward the creation of the “Japan Metaverse Economic Zone. Alongside the creation of Japan’s Metaverse Economic Zone, the agreement focuses on building an open metaverse infrastructure called “Ryugukoku”, which will trigger the next wave of metaverse development.