Highlights
- Ethereum completes its Merge to Proof of Stake, but $ETH down 14.4% for the month
- NFT global sales slide, as alternate chains picks up the slack, and a rise in numbers of wallets holding NFTs
- Metaverse land caps will be on their way up again, if Otherside and Decentraland have anything to do with it… &
- Wanna know how deep the rabbit hole of GameFi & interoperability can go? Find out in our Special Monthly Topic.
Macro View
- Ethereum rides The Merge, but no joy for investors as $ETH tumbles 14%
- Crypto market cap down again, -5.3%, to remain trapped beneath $1 trillion
Two words on the lips of everyone in the crypto world in September were ‘The Merge’. Crypto and financial, including social, media were awash with reports and conjecture on Ethereum’s switch to Proof of Stake and how it will impact everything from Bitcoin, to energy, the environment, NFTs, blockchain gaming, regulation and, of course, the price of ETH.
ETH’s price failed to rally in the days prior to The Merge on Sep 15 and, in fact, fell for a week in its aftermath, likely due to a cash-in from those who rode the excitement in its run-up. It invited a huge rally from mid-July through August, and a smaller one in early Sep, but reversed, then leveled off to end the month down 14.4% at $1.328, about 20% above what it was when the Merge date was first announced.
Crypto’s market cap fell another 5.3% in September to $0.94 trillion. BTC rounded out the month down 3.1% at $19,400, Polygon’s MATIC slid 7.5% and Solana fell 4.87%, while XRP rose 45% on hopeful news of a resolution to SEC litigation.
With regulation beckoning, some ETH bulls may have smiled at a White House warning to ban mining if not “climate-friendly”. Ironically, within hours of The Merge, the SEC chair pointed out Bitcoin was one of a very few non-security tokens. There were reports Russia might formalize Bitcoin for cross-border trade, while Iran became the first country to do so.
Bad inflation figures on Sep 14 crashed the markets — Wall Street suffered its biggest single-day loss since June 2020 (S&P500 -4.3%, Nasdaq -5.1%, BTC -9%). The Fed and ECB are not the only central banks hiking interest rates (both up another 75bp) as they ramp up talk of a CBDC, US Federal Reserve chair Powell making it clear identification will be one of its core components.
In other news, market maker Wintermute suffered a hack for $160m. $30m (of the $600m) stolen in March’s Ronin Bridge hack was recovered, with Chainalysis estimating that hackers linked to North Korea have stolen $1bn in crypto from DeFi already in 2022. Meanwhile, SWIFT began a pilot to implement the blockchain, and Coinbase added a crypto-friendly scorecard for politicians in its app.
NFTs
- NFT global sales down 13%, other chains increase their traffic
- Bear-market blues, but some fundamentals strong — transaction numbers, wallets holding NFTs on the rise
Last month’s uptick in sales did not last long, as global NFT sales dropped another 13.3% in September, as the macro-economy weighs down on the appetite for speculative assets of all kinds. Zoom out, however, and it is clear NFTs as an emerging asset are on their way up YoY (100x from 2017).
Also, most of that 30% came from Ethereum (-35%), as several other chains had increasing trading volumes. Solana had a busy September, sales rising 113% and transaction numbers up 70%.
Seller-to-buyer ratios expanded slightly to the sellers’ side. Transaction numbers were up 33.7%, prices plunged. The average price of an NFT in September fell 40% to just $74.42 in the metric’s biggest fall since June.
The capitulation in prices can have a two-pronged effect. Firstly, cheaper prices will encourage many who have been watching on the sidelines to enter the market. And as more brands and NFTs emerge, the number of wallets holding at least one of them has surged past 6 million from just 3 million in January.
Secondly, other chains are able to receive some spotlight. Immutable X followed up a great August with a better September. Flow’s sales rose 18.2%. Buyer numbers and average prices on both chains have been going up since July, as those on Ethereum stumble, The Merge having no effect on NFT sales, especially with gas fees as we know them here to stay for the medium term.
The Metaverse Market
- Are Metaverse land caps on the rise again for the first time since May? Otherside and Decentraland solidify gains.
Good results from Decentraland and Otherside helped see OneLand’s aggregate Metaverse land cap cross back over the 1 million ETH mark, which it last fell below back in August.
The aggregate market cap of The Sandbox, Decentraland, Voxels, Somnium Space, WorldwideWebb, NFT Worlds, Otherside, BYOPills, Arcade Land and Treeverse combined ended the month up 11.5% to just short of 1.018 million ETH, which is the first monthly rise since the market highs of May.
Increased trading activity combined with better pricing action saw the land caps of Decentraland and Otherside increase 37% and 13.5% respectively, pushing Decentraland’s back above 250k ETH, while Otherside now flirts with 500k ETH for the first time since August.
Trading volume was up for both The Sandbox (+36%) and Decentraland (39%). The Sandbox is finally seeing some ROI after its second month of AlphaSeason3, with sales up 67% in September. Decentraland is on a sixth week of recovering land cap, even with trading activity far below that of The Sandbox.
There were monthly spikes in average prices in Decentraland (+45%), Otherside (+26.5%), and Somnium Space (+155%). Somnium Space saw a few better sales nearing the end of the month, and once it announced its upcoming Quarternary Land Offering. Besides the above three metaverse projects and The Sandbox, there were downturns in trade volume across the board.
It comes after a second month of depreciating ETH prices, down 14.4% (see NFTs, above). The Metaverse Index mirrored ETH, seeing a similar monthly decline (-13.5%) to end the month at $29.31, and below $30 for its first time in 15 months.
In other news, the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen included “virtual worlds and the metaverse” in a speech to the European Parliament, outlining new initiatives for 2023. And Seongnam, South Korea revealed plans to recreate a virtual copy of its city and issue NFT citizenship to residents.
Fundraising
- Smobler Studios closed a $1.2 million round from The Sandbox, Brinc and Enjinstarter
- Hypersonic Labs, creators of the Helix metaverse, raised $3.5 million
- Dubai-based MetaFi raised $3 million to bring social trading to the Metaverse
- Spot raised $5.5 million to build virtual offices in the Metaverse
- Random Games raised $7.6 million to launch Unioverse, a games franchise which distributes free game-building digital assets
- Dropp Group acquired metaverse platform Phly for $25 million to build a physical digital twin metaverse
Metaverse Projects
The Sandbox
It took an offer of 3 million $SAND as part of a new LANDholder-exclusive staking program to rejuvenate trading activity in The Sandbox as it ended its second month of a 10-week long AlphaSeason3.
Trading volume in The Sandbox was up 36.3% MoM. A rare 20 ETH sale on Sep 3, only the second sale above 10 ETH in 4 months, no doubt helped. However, no more big sales followed, pushing average prices down (-18.6%) for a second month, and relying on a new staking program, low prices and a cheaper $ETH to keep the trades bubbling.
Following the staking program’s launch on Sep 22, volumes and traders spiked. On the same day, unique holders also began to fall, suggesting more existing holders picking up LAND, and not necessarily due to any broader appeal of AlphaSeason3. Holders of LAND in The Sandbox ended the month down 4.2%. Besides, The Sandbox’s land cap continues to slide, down 11% more to 171k ETH — now 32% less than Decentraland’s, which it flipped in July and remained higher than until Sep 4.
As usual, The Sandbox announced a bunch of new partnerships — notable among them, South Korean broadcasting network MBC, DBS Bank, esports group Faze Clan, PC gaming brand Softstar, and CyberKongz. Both Faze Clan and Softstar will offer virtual experiences in The Sandbox.
Decentraland
Decentraland’s land cap ended the month where it began it — with rising land caps, up 37% MoM to 251,551 ETH — and ended with a first monthly increase since May.
Following a quieter August, some more expensive sales entered the skyline on Decentraland’s Trade Plots chart in September, while average prices (+45%) have been rising ever since mid-August.
NFT Worlds
The best we might say for NFT Worlds’ VRE economy in September is that things seem at least to be leveling out after the collapse that followed Microsoft’s decision in July to ban NFTs from Minecraft. NFT Worlds’ land cap fell just 2.4% for the month to 33,361 ETH and average prices, while down badly, at least came back amid more signs of life appearing towards the end of the month, with 65 ETH in Worlds sold across one 4-day period.
There is one main goal now though, as the team prepares to launch their new game, and with a playable Alpha earmarked for next Q1. On Sep 30, NFT Worlds announced an integration with blockchain gaming API MetaFab. The $WRLD token will also have default support in MetaFab and NFT Worlds anticipate use cases for the $WRLD token (+16%) beyond NFT Worlds.
WorldwideWebb
WorldwideWebb doesn’t stop integrating more NFT collections into its metaverse. September alone saw them bring in NFT collections from Fancy Bears, Grillz Gang, SuperNormal, Moonbirds Oddities, Bitlectro Labs, Rekt Wold and Chimpers. It was not enough to reinvigorate purchases of Apartments however, with WorldwideWebb’s market cap, trading volume and average price all slumping in September.
Two good trading days, one at the start and one at the end of the month, could not disguise that the bear market simply rolls on for WorldwideWebb. Signs in August of a turnaround were short-lived, with trading volume, land cap and average price all down MoM. WorldwideWebb’s VRE market has been on a downhill slope since March, the average price hitting just 0.496 ETH in September. Prices have not been this low in fact since Jan 2021.
Otherside
Otherside kicked off September with a slew of top sales, buoyed by Yuga Labs’ exciting new trailer video for its signature metaverse. A bumper day of sales on Thursday the 8th, led by the sale of Otherdeed #12 for 279 ETH (then followed up by sales of 250, 229, 140, 110, 93, 75 and 72 ETH), propelled its land market cap northwards 20%.
From that point, it flirted with the half-a-million-ETH mark for the rest of the month, rounding out September at 494,613 ETH, up 13.5%.
BYOPills
September was a quieter month than August for land sales in the BYOVERSE, though total land cap still rose 8.1% for the month.
There was a slight surge in trading in the days after BYOPills and Legends of Vennari kicked off their cross-world event and another one when BYOPills did the same with Galaxy Fight Club on the 27th. However, besides two sales for 6.0 and 5.35 ETH, no others in the month topped 1.5 ETH, and trading volume was down 23% MoM.
In September, OneLand integrated BYOPills and its BYOVERSE, the metaverse of consumable BYOPill, Apostle, BYOCraft, BYOVape, BYOKey and BYOLand NFTs. And so excited were we at integrating this very exciting interoperable metaverse project that we got to work on turning it into our Special Monthly Topic. Enjoy.
Other Project News
- Axie Infinity rebranded to Axie Origins. Season 1 launched Sep 14, though a mid-season balancing patch brought in other changes to items including cards, runes, status effects and charms.
- Live-to-earn AR/VR platform Your Earth DAO kicked off its Land sale on the DAPPX NFT Marketplace via Immutable X
- Green Land Metaverse launched its avatar mint.
- Dogami kicked off official testing for a tech launch of the world’s first Pet-averse.
- Fortnite developer Epic Games listed its first blockchain-based game ‘Mythical Games’ Blankos Block Party’.
- Illuvium went live with its new updated IlluviDex marketplace.
Special Monthly Topic
For this month’s Special Topic, we hone in on BYOPills, a project that imbues one of the most exciting principles that will define, and accelerate the pervasiveness of the Metaverse in the years ahead — interoperability.
BYOPills to the Metaverse!
A truly interoperable Meta-experience.
BYOPills gives you a choice.
You don’t take a pill… the story ends. You return to your individual, disconnected worlds, separated communities, suspended on the surface of all that is… or could be.
Or you take the BYOPill… you enter the true Metaverse. You access adventures across multiple worlds. You become part of a special cohort, dispersing across space and time, enabled to encounter and experience things that others cannot. You party like hell. You see under, and beyond the surface. After this, there is no turning back. The trip never ends.
Wanna see how deep the rabbit hole goes?
Welcome to BYOPills
Blue, Yellow and Orange Pills (BYOPills) are a collection of 10,000 unique NFT pills in 3D, stored on the Ethereum blockchain and hosted on iPFS. These pills are the core of the whole project.
Each BYOPill comprises a Pill Cap, Pill Bottom, Pill Ingredient, Pill Background, Pill Aura and Pill Trip. Together they combine to realize 17 different trip effects. These effects include, amongst others, heightened senses, altered time perception or the ability to encounter dead spirits — and all can be viewed on the Pill Replicator app.
The first usage of BYOPills is that they act as consumables across various external blockchain games and virtual worlds. Use your BYOPill in, and across, any of these projects and worlds to unlock: special experiences, boosts, visual effects in AR/VR, power-ups… the only limits belong to those of the world’s creator.
Interoperability
In a space where every project seemingly competes to be «the next big thing», BYOPills is creating a cross-world experience. Pack your BYOPill, and take it with you as you trek across the Metaverse, to experience it in different ways — truly a Meta-experience.
And this all becomes possible thanks to their list of partners: WonderQuest and Decentraland, Galaxy Fight Club, Legends of Venari, Chibi Legends, The Red Village…
This constantly growing list (and the growing number of experiences Pills holders are gaining access to) will be the key to unleash and boost these Pills’ utility and value.
This interoperable functionality and its exponential potential is a game-changer. Yet, remarkable as it is, there is much more to BYOPills. Because if you want to conquer the Metaverse, to join in the fun of its underground, or embark on a fantastical trip traversing it, you need to prep up.
You need a base to establish, and sustain your ambitions.
And that’s exactly what BYOVERSE is…
BYOVERSE is a virtual world.
In this world, you are an Apostle. A full-body, rigged avatar. In it, you roam and probe the BYOVERSE, gather up resources, forge in-VERSE NFTs, interact with NPCs, and engage in PvP.
Your Apostle is an interoperable, metaversal projection of your digital self, in which you can also cross over from the BYOVERSE into other virtual worlds and projects.
But for now, the BYOVERSE beckons. As your Apostle, with Pills in pocket, explore the BYOVERSE. Or to be more precise, “survive” in the BYOVERSE, for this world is full of perils.
The BYOVERSE comprises 16 biomes: Desolate Dunes, Amazonia, Radioactive Swamp, Oblivion Void, Bone Valley… each of them with their different rarities, environmental parameters, flora, fauna, resources.
To explore this world, you’d better take your preparations seriously. Spend time in towns — they are safe havens where you can prepare for expeditions, connect with other Apostles and form fellowships, trade resources, stock up on your equipment for the Lands you’re about to explore.
Then set out into the BYOVERSE. On foot, in your BYOCraft, or as part of a convoy, you’ll want to find the best pathways to accomplish your goals — move from one town to another, discover the best lands to harvest and mine, while avoiding succumbing to the biome hazards.
And on each trip, remember — not only the nature of the biomes will be your threat. Player Vs Player will be opt-in across the vast majority of the BYOVERSE, while the increase in activity throughout the BYOVERSE may well cause Anomalies to spawn, ranging from tides of monsters, to environmental hazards… and BYOPills knows what!
But don’t fret, since you can have your own personal safe zone within this world of turmoil. Don’t just be another scavenger …
Buy your very own BYOLand.
The BYOVERSE is divided into 10,056 parcels called BYOLands. They are a finite resource, and one of the key components of the economy and experience.
Mine and harvest your BYOLands to reap its resources. The BYOPill initially used to mint the Land determines its biome, meaning that each Land comes with its specific biome which dictates the type and abundance of resources it can harvest. Use them to craft new items for the journey ahead. Gear up!
You can own one or many of these Lands. If you own a BYOLand, you can:
- Stake it, interact with it, build on it, tend to it… to earn currency.
- Mine and gather its resources.
- Earn a fee from resources mined and harvested by Apostles on your Land.
- Build your own base (including a safe storage zone), and improve your Land for more efficient harvesting and mining.
- Teleport back to your Land anytime
BYOLands thus offer you a dual business model:
- Actively work on your land.
- Passively earn income — by waiting for other players to work on it. But remember, making active improvements to your land will improve your passive results.
Right now, there are 2,689 unique holders, with a floor price at 0.238 ETH and a total BYOLand market capitalization of $7,289,488 (9.29.2022: oneland.world).
Now that you know a bit more about all those wonders awaiting you… are you ready to take some $TRYP?
What’s $TRYP, you ask?
Well, remember that everything here is for the pleasure of exploring the Metaverse. Embarking on missions, encountering hostile in-VERSE characters, discovering new worlds, building empires — all under the effect of your strange and magical NFT Pills.
Then let me tell you — you need money to do that!
And that money is $TRYP.
Tryptamine, or $TRYP, is the most sought after commodity in the BYOVERSE. Use it to craft and forge, or upgrade, your NFTs — notably your BYOCraft, but your Apostle too — but also increase your stake in governing the BYOVERSE ecosystem.
$TRYP will be required to participate in events in the BYOVERSE, and will be used for future in-game drops. A finite supply of 270 million $TRYP will be unlocked over a predetermined schedule of approximately 72 months from launch.
But for now, earn $TRYP by staking your Apostle or BYOLands. At the same time, your BYOPills act as a multiplier for the amount of $TRYP you receive for staking your Apostle.
Once the BYOVERSE launches, you can earn $TRYP by competing in tournaments, reaching in-game milestones, or staking your $TRYP…
Conclusion
BYOPills is a real trip. An underground, futuristic and treacherous trip, that might spawn an archetype of interoperability across virtual worlds, defining the true Meta-experience we are all yearning for.
The survival-centred BYOVERSE provides a new level of difficulty in virtual worlds, and an interesting way to utilize in-VERSE NFTs, and to create new interactions between them.
It’s a rare and special trip, indeed.
But if you’re up for it… this is your chance. Procure yourself a BYOLand, start up your BYOCraft, and of course, wherever you go…
Don’t forget to Bring Your Own Pills to the Metaverse.
Still want to know more about the project? I find your lack of faith disturbing. But well, here are the links you need:
BYOPills website: https://byopills.com/
BYODocs: https://docs.byopills.com/
BYOLand Data: https://oneland.world/#/main/byopills
Launched in July 2021, BYOPills is directed by CEO & Creative Director «George the Cook», Lead Software Engineer «Dr Ether Jay» and Head of Strategy «P.ether». Together they run a professional technology and art studio.
This article was written in partnership with virtualrealestate.tech, creator of the Virtual Real Estate Comparator:
Final Conclusions — September 2022
- Crypto market cap trapped under $1 trillion, as ETH price reacts badly to The Merge.
- NFT sales volumes sink, but transaction numbers, wallets holding NFTs and younger chains are on the rise.
- There are positive signs of enduring strength in virtual economies, as Otherside and Decentraland solidify gains.
- The BYOPills project is living proof — interoperability has come to GameFi and the Metaverse.
To keep up to date with the Metaverse (including Market Data, Market News, Sales & Mints, Events & Contests, Project Updates & Partnerships), check our Metaverse Weekly Wrap-ups.
Don’t forget — to access the most comprehensive, in-depth and up-to-date aggregated VRE market and project data, check out OneLand:
Twitter: @OneLand_World
Discord: OneLand
