Highlights:
- NFT Worlds collapses after Microsoft bans all NFTs on Minecraft, sales skyrocket 2631%
- Voxels announces staff layoff and dev slowdown to counter crypto winter, sales up near 300%
- Dubai to create an additional 40,000 jobs in the Metaverse in 5 years
- The Sandbox wins Binance’s ‘Launchpad Project of the Year’ Award
- Somnium Space holds pitches for its Creators Fund 2022 &
- Metaverse expert Matthew Ball releases his new book on the Metaverse!
1. Market Data & Analysis
OneLand data shows 7-day aggregate land caps for the 7 metaverses steady, down just 0.73%, with volumes dipping 1.73% and holders down 0.3%. With Decentraland once again taking a bear market hit (-6.3%) and NFT Worlds collapsing (-7.03%) on the news out of Microsoft banning NFTs from Minecraft, weekly upticks in land caps from The Sandbox (+1.1%) and Otherside (+1.67%) were the balance that led to the appearance of stable weekly data.
At 7:44 pm UTC on July 20, Minecraft announced its update of usage guidelines banning the use of all blockchain technologies including NFTs in its game. It caused the price of $WRLD, the native token of NFT Worlds whose gaming platform is built on Minecraft, to crash 58%. Traders quickly rushed to sell, while eager risk-takers scooped up massive discounts, NFT Worlds’ volume rocketing from 36.27 to 449.89 ETH, while its floor price plummeted to as low as 0.63 ETH within 24 hours of the announcement.
For the week, NFT Worlds’ trading volume skyrocketed a giant 855%, its sales an incredible 2631%. Meanwhile, its average price ended a remarkable week down 65% at 1.07 ETH. Compare this to back in November when it peaked at 8.71 ETH, eclipsing all other projects, even Otherside.
While it seemed like everyone was trying to flee NFT Worlds in the aftermath of Minecraft’s announcement, holder numbers of Worlds notably shot up from 4503 on Tuesday to 4527 by Thursday, before restoring to fewer than 4510 by the week’s end.
Despite not being a victim of the Minecraft announcement, Voxels also witnessed a similar, though by no means as catastrophic, trend to the one experienced by NFT Worlds. 7-day sales (+287.5%) and volumes (+170%) rocketed, while its average price dived 33.59%. It coincided with Voxels announcing layoffs and a slowdown in development as a survival stroke to counter a crypto winter. It may have been the trigger that finally took its toll on investors’ belief, following some good results in pricing and volumes over the recent few weeks compared to other projects.
All 5 other metaverses experienced significant 7-day declines in trading volume and sales.
Interestingly, from Tuesday to Thursday, just like NFT Worlds, Worldwide Webb experienced a sudden upsurge in activity, including the majority of the week’s sales and a jump in holders from 4543 to 4563, before correcting to under 4560. Worldwide Webb’s top weekly sale was a mere 1.10 ETH, lagging considerably behind top sales in the past 2 months, while its average price fell 27.94% following a near 5% increase last week.
The Sandbox continued its upward trend in market cap since May (+1.1%) with the help of LAND #48361 selling for 7.77 ETH, its highest sale since July 10, despite a second consecutive week of 20+% drops in sales and volume. With prices down across the board, The Sandbox fared best, its average price down only 3.49%, followed by Otherside (-10.98%) and Decentraland (-12.56%).
Top Sales by metaverse (7D):
Otherside Otherdeed #59243: 75 ETH (7.23)
The Sandbox LAND (13, -86): 7.77 ETH (7.21)
Decentraland LAND (-31, 140): 6.69K MANA / 4.01 ETH (7.21)
NFT World #157: 4.00 ETH (7.20) / NFT World #8148: 4.00 ETH (7.20)
Somnium Space LAND (480.66, -1.69): 3.5 ETH (7.20)
Voxels LAND (-53.6, 21.875): 2.5 ETH (7.22)
Worldwide Webb Apartment #8921: 1.11 ETH (7.20)
Metaverse Tokens
#SAND $1.346 +13.94%
#MANA $0.964 +14.89%
#CUBE $1.559 -0.55%
#WRLD $0.0137 -59.06%
For comprehensive market and metaverse project data, check oneland.world.
2. Market News
Minecraft
- July 21
Mojang Studios (owned by Microsoft) announced an outright ban of all possible uses of NFTs and blockchain tech within the Minecraft game ecosystem.
The Sandbox
- July 20
The Sandbox announced that 3,333 Steve Aoki avatars will be available to mint from July 25.
The Aoki Avatars will be released in 3 waves — all from 2pm UTC:
July 25: Steve Aoki WL — up to 2 per wallet, 48 hrs before launch
July 26: The Sandbox WL — up to 2 per wallet, 24 hrs before launch
July 27: Public release — up to 4 avatars per wallet
- July 24
Landz brought their collection to The Sandbox metaverse, kicking off a public mint of 5,000 Mansions, 1500 Museums and 500 HQs.
OpenSea
- July 20
OpenSea announced the launch of its Solana Launchpad NFT Feature, enabling creators to take full control of the minting process, from pre-mint to post-mint and secondary sales, on their platform.
Etihad
- July 21
Etihad Airways launched a collection of 2,003 limited edition NFTs of 3D aircraft models of one of its Boeing 787s. NFT owners will get early access to Etihad’s future NFT collections and Metaverse experiences.
Dubai
- July 18
Dubai released a strategy to create 5 x the number of blockchain and Metaverse companies, creating an additional 40,000 jobs in the virtual world and adding $4 billion to the local economy, within 5 years.
Rags to Richie’s
- July 24
NFT project Rags to Richie’s mint kicked off Sunday, offering Alec Monopoly fans a collection of 6,500 NFTs generated from hand-drawn works of the well-known street artist.
The Metaverse in print
- July 19
Metaverse expert and former global head of strategy for Amazon Studios Matthew Ball released his new book The Metaverse: And How It Will Revolutionize Everything, followed up by an interview on CNN.
3. Events
The Sandbox
- July 18
The Sandbox takes out the Binance “Launchpad Project of the Year” award for 2022.
- July 20
@CryptoStache interviewed The Sandbox to talk about all things Season 3.
Voxels
- July 20
NFT rapper @LouieCRhymes held a party to celebrate the launch of his new single.
- July 23
iCash Loyalty and Art Tea Swap held “Metaverse Homies”, a concert with a massive lineup in Voxels.
Decentraland
- July 22
Startup Büro teamed up with Arrival Meta Agency to hold Fuckup Nights Tbilisi in Decentraland. Fuckup Nights is a global event series sharing stories of business and professional failure.
- July 24
MetaKey held Alpha Minds in Decentraland. Alpha Minds is an event that focuses on the sustainability of physical and mental wellness when interacting in the Web3 ecosystem.
Somnium Space
- July 19
Somnium Space held its Creators Fund 2022 pitches, in a ‘Shark Tank’ meets ‘Late Night Show’ where community members can pitch their start-up ideas to a jury of judges.
- July 22
iNFT Spaces held an awesome night of arts, NFTs and VR in Somnium Space.
Listen again to this week’s #Twitter Spaces:
Voxels: Twitter Spaces with Voxels team.
NFT Worlds: AMA of the states of the WRLD.
The Sandbox:Inside The Sandbox issued EP 8.
The Sandbox:The Next Hot Thing Or Simply Hot Air.
4. Contests & Giveaways
Decentraland
- July 22
DAPPCRAFT relaunched its updated version of QuizZone 2.0 in Decentraland, with collectible prizes awarded to attendees who asked the ‘smartest’ questions.
5. Project Updates
Decentraland
- July 19
Double Protocol launched a new DCL-customized LAND rental system.
- July 21
Decentraland launched the Beta version of its MAC desktop client.
NFT Worlds
- July 23
NFT Worlds responded to the Minecraft ban on NFTs. The metaverse project says they will create “a new game & platform based on many of the core mechanics of Minecraft, but with the modernization and active development Minecraft has been missing for years.”
Voxels
- July 20
Voxels announced a number of layoffs and a slowdown in development in response to the bear market. It includes a pause on minting any new islands or land parcels, as well as any new features or partnerships. Instead, Voxels will focus on improving its core product and solidifying its platform’s immersive experience.
- July 22
Voxels released 0.9.2 of Foxus with a fix for requesting camera permission.
Somnium Space
- July 23
Somnium Space announced the release of a new “Disconnect” feature. If a player’s network cuts out while in #VR or 2D client, they will no longer be dropped out of the experience and can seamlessly reconnect.
6. Partnerships
The Sandbox
- July 18
AdShares acquired LAND in The Sandbox with intentions to develop a virtual HQ in the Metaverse, enabling the monetisation of virtual lands and spaces.
- July 20
Agoria, the French electronic music producer, composer and DJ known for his ‘drift’ genre of music that encourages freedom and eclecticism, teamed up with The Sandbox to create a conceptual “Agoriaverse”.
Kucoin
- July 22
Crypto exchange Kucoin announced it will launch an immersive virtual office in NFT Metaverse Ertha on July 28. Players of Ertha Metaverse (which is still in beta) will be able to see live market information and trade cryptocurrency in the Metaverse.
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_World
