Holy Cow Post (Issue #2)

HOLY COW POST

Open Editions Make Moves 

The Free NFT game is back in style. It seems many of the collections that have been trending as of late are free. Most collections over the years have had some sort of entry/mint fee to become a holder, but the new meta is here with a just pay gas fee. Many users in the space have found that this is what gets eyes on a project quickly. A few collections recently have gone with the open edition style mints as well. This is where users can mint as many as they would like. Now the catch to this is the mint is typically only open for a certain amount of time a window can range from a few hours to a few days, most landing with a 24 hour window.

While tons say this is pointless, we have seen collections follow this trend over the last few months with huge success. Not everyone in the markets like this new meta style of minting, but it has proven itself as a playmaker for certain collections. Some collections to note are the Jack Butcher collections Checks, Opepen, & Merge. It can go without saying that we will continue to see collections give away free mints, but long term we can say for sure that just a few of these projects will last.

Markets Dump & Pump

Silicon Valley Bank caused FUD… It is no secret that this recent news has had a major impact on both regulated and unregulated markets. The recent downfall of SVB has caused panic and fear across all markets. The idea that millions in $USDC was gone caused for a massive spike where even more users felt the ripple effect. At one point $USDC was down nearly 13%. This is something unheard of and has only happened a couple of times in the crypto space. It has a much larger impact than people think because investments sometimes use this currency as a peg for real USD.

There have been bank runs occurring and a capital crisis leading to what some are saying is the second largest failure of a financial institution in all of United States History. The US Federal Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has come in play likely to pay back the customers of the SVB. This will come with a hefty price though; most assets will likely be liquidated to pay back both depositors and creditors. The amount will cover all insured deposits but cannot guarantee more.

This is often why we all hear the saying do not put all of your eggs in one basket. While this may be the easy way of working, if something goes wrong odds are you will not get back everything you had in the original condition. There is so much that went wrong here which is why there was a domino like scenario that worsened the situation as a whole. Many things are to blame, Venture Capitals, interest rates, and loss on securities. One thing we know for sure is when someone says you can’t trust crypto, go ahead and remind them of SVB.

NFT Marketplaces Battling It Out

The three main marketplaces currently battling it out are OpenSea, Blur, and Magically. All three have made some moves recently to incentivize users that their marketplace is the one to use. With OpenSea we have seen the royalty fee update. OS for a limited time says that they are getting rid of the mandatory fee. This allows users to take advantage of a 0% marketplace fee plus a minimum .5% optional royalty. In addition to the fee update there was also and lifted block on the creator’s royalty fees.

While some say that this new feature on OS is game changing, we cannot forget about some of the other emerging marketplaces. They have been slowly taking users away from OS due to their newer reward/ incentive programs. The Blur marketplace has made some users a ton of money. People are asking how is it that buying, selling, or bidding on an NFT can make me more money? Well Blur came out with an answer that has shocked the NFT space as a whole.

Recently users on the Blur platform have been earing rewards for participating in the system. Users that bid are rewarded with Blur tokens. These tokens have been a part of seasonal rewards and will continue to go out to those who have loyalty to the marketplace. These Blur tokens in the last month have done around $500 million in transactions. This may be a small or large number depending how one looks at it, but many believe OS needs to act fast as it has a true competitor in the marketplace now.

Finally, we have Magically. The lesser-known platform of the three, but still making moves to break into the marketplace ecosystem. Magically has introduced a loyalty program as well where users who participate in the system earn rewards. The crate system they have hasn’t been fully released yet, but many are speculating that users will continue to jump ship from OS to earn these rewards.

Big Business in Web3

Companies want a piece of the pie. In the last year we have seen larger cap companies break into the Web3 space. Some of the more notable companies like Porsche, Lamborghini, and Starbucks have marched into the metaverse head on. Each of these companies have sold real world products for decades and have chosen to take a leap into the Web3 ecosystems to enjoy a slice of the pie. Porsche has taken an approach where users can customize their own digital 911 car. Starbucks took an approach where users can level up their tier in the program to gain benefits, trips, or merchandise. Lamborghini went with the basic approach of just collecting art but still a notable brand to see in the space. All together it is nice to see this happening. In a bearish type of market there is interest from large companies to be a part of the space which is wonderful.

Ordinal NFT’s

The latest and greatest thing in the NFT/Blockchain space has been ordinal (BTC) tokens. The social media platforms have been buzzing with ordinal posts as of late. What are ordinals you may ask? Well, they are basically an NFT that is found off of the Ethereum blockchain. Each bitcoin in existence is made up of Satoshis, for every bitcoin there is thousands of these. With the new ordinal protocol, we can now use Bitcoin nodes to save/inscribe data to each Satoshi within a Bitcoin. It appears that the older the Satoshi the older the ordinal, the more value the token will carry. A recent ordinal token sold for over $200 thousand. This is likely a phase that will pass, but many are speculating the early ordinals will be quite valuable in the future.

Taking a Breath in Web3

Breathing exercises are a very accessible way to balance the nervous system. Keeping your breath slow and steady helps to calm the body, stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system. The slowing down of the inhale, brings the body and mind into the present moment. The slowing down of the exhale calms the nervous system.

Balancing Breath (Sama Vritti Pranayam)

Steps to learn or practice:

- Begin to slowly count to four as you inhale - Take a moment at the top of your inhale with the lungs full of air - Then also count to four as you exhale - Again, take a moment to feel empty - Then inhale again to another count of four - Continue this pattern

Variations:  

• When you get more comfortable with this breath, one can hold the breath at the top of the inhale for the count of 4 as well. It is not recommended for people with inexperience to hold the breath at the bottom of the exhale as it might cause anxious feelings. However, breath retention at the bottom of the exhale can be appropriate and beneficial after some practice.

• If four seems too long, you can start with a smaller number and work your way up to 4.

• For people more experienced with yoga or breath work, you can play with increasing the number and see how it feels.

NOTE: You may experiment with increasing and decreasing the number you count to, just make sure your inhale and exhale stay the same length. You can practice for several minutes. You should never feel like you are forcing or straining the breath. You can do this breath sitting or lying down.

• Stay Holy Fam!