Who would have thought that former president Donald Trump will come up with his very own NFTs and also sell them out in under 24 hours? Not me certainly. However, truth is stranger than fiction and it looks like Trump has made a splash in the NFT market when nobody was seemingly interested in acquiring digital images. So is Donald Trump making NFTs great again? let’s find out
Donald Trump’s NFT collection
Trump’s NFT collection dropped at a time when the market volume of the tokens is down by 89% from its peak in January. Dune Analytics reports that the trading volume of NFTs on OpeanSea Marketplace is the lowest since June 2021. One of the most famous NFT projects, Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT can be acquired now just for $80,466 which is an 81% drop from its peak value. Thus, Donald Trump’s NFTs selling out in under 24 hours is a testament to his popularity among the red-hatters.
Despite the bad timing, Trump’s NFT collection easily shot up to the top of OpenSea’s marketplace ranking, raking over $1.4 million since its launch. The collection’s trading volume is 900 ETH whereas its floor price is about 0.19 ETH which is about $230. The price has currently surpassed the original ask of $99 which is rare in the current NFT market.
Trump digital trading cards are fantasy NFT cards based on the polygon blockchain. The trading cards portray an exaggerated version of Trump showing him as a super-human, an astronaut, and a boxer, among others. There is also a certain reward program attached to the trading cards as buying 45 Trump trading cards at one go gives users a ticket to a gala dinner with Trump himself. Many are suspecting that this proposition has led to Trump Trading Cards becoming a massive hit among his fanbase and crypto bros.
It looks like the crypto community cannot catch a break. With news ranging from crypto billionaires dying mysteriously to the coins’ plummeting rates, 2022 was not entirely the year for crypto investors and enthusiasts. Now, another big blow to crypto bros has come from Microsoft which has decided to enforce new restrictions on cryptocurrency mining.
Microsoft bans crypto mining
Microsoft, one of the biggest players in the cloud computing arena has decided to take drastic measures to increase the stability of its cloud services. As a result, crypto mining has been axed from Microsoft’s cloud platform. There was no official announcement of the same as Microsoft quietly decided to ban crypto mining from its online services in order to protect its customers and clouds. The Register, a British tech news agency was the first to crack this development on December 15, 2022.
Microsoft introduced the new restrictions as a part of its universal license terms of Microsoft Online Services. Microsoft’s updated acceptable policy clarifies that crypto mining is now ‘prohibited’ on its platform without prior approval. The latest policy states that users now require users to obtain a written pre-approval from the company in order to use any Microsoft Online Services for crypto mining.
As per reports, Microsoft said that the latest restrictions laid upon crypto mining aims to protect the online service from cyber risks like fraud, attacks, and unauthorized access to customer resources. Furthermore, the company stated that it may consider permissions to mine crypto only for testing and research purposes, thus crypto whales running big mining operations on Microsoft cloud will take a massive hit with this development. Microsoft won’t be the first company in recent times to adopt the new restrictions. Earlier, Google also restricted users from engaging in crypto mining without the company’s prior written approval. Besides this, platforms like Oracle have banned crypto mining entirely, whereas Digital Ocean also requires users to take written permission.
About a year ago, people were going crazy about NFTs, but where’s the buzz now? All the hype of NFT is gone with time, like the freshness of the new year dies after a few months. Take a look at the NFT market now, the same people who were crazy about it are making noise against it and crying out loud.
In January 2022, the NFT hype was at its peak, and people couldn’t stop investing their hard-earned money into it. Being on the same page was a need of an hour, and even we decided to dive into the pool of NFT by featuring one NFT-related special article in our magazine every month.
However, we had to wind up the plan because, in only 2-3 months, we realised the hype was not worth it, and we took a step back. In the meantime, over the last 6-7 months, we kept a close eye on the NFT updates, and here we are, back again with NFTs to keep you away from having grudges in the new year.
Humans are a fan of art, especially artefacts and paintings, and we always like to have at least one of the famous paintings in our houses. Back then, wealthy people preferred to buy such artefacts, and when modern artists launched their NFT paintings, the current set of rich people started investing in them.
Wealthy people invested their crypto into NFTs, and like always, others followed the path. However, they have yet to really talk about the real reason – the rich first invested a lot of money in the crypto market and were waiting to utilise it for a long time. Then NFT happened, and it was the only promising option they had at the time.
When things were going well, and artists were finally getting their due attention from the crowd through their NFTs, a few sets of money-hungry people started creating unwanted NFTs by downloading images or music from the internet to earn some quick money, which became a prime reason for the failure of NFTs.
Earlier, Jack Dorsey’s NFT of his first tweet was sold at the price of $2.9M, and today it is struggling to get a bid of $100. Logan Paul bought an NFT named Bumblebee last year for $623k; today, it is worth $10. Unbelievable, right? In the last few months, things didn’t exactly work out as we had hoped, and now NFT has become a passing trend.
Let’s see how it collapsed on the ground within a year.
NFTs formed in the realm of blockchain, the same platform that powers Bitcoin. When it was launched, it quickly attracted a lot of attention from the world. The early NFTs were artistic, no doubt about it, but later on, people began to use the platform to trade all kinds of artworks, from pictures to game assets.
When we were trying our hands at the NFT, we created several accounts on several NFT platforms, but soon we lost interest as the journey from creating an account to adding your NFT for sale took a bit of time and effort. Mostly due to the lack of support from the NFT marketplaces, which promised to help but didn’t even revert for weeks.
The worldwide media painted NFT as a future of both blockchain and the art world; even a guy like Elon Musk joined the NFT party announcing a plan to sell one of his tweets as an NFT. Along with Musk, there were a number of celebrities who created their own NFTs as well as invested a huge amount of money into NFTs.
One can’t stay away from online fraud when dealing with something that totally relies on it. The popularity of NFTs has resulted in significant cybersecurity and fraud issues. For example, people started mimicking well-known NFT artists and selling counterfeit NFTs in their names.
Due to anonymity and instability, NFTs are excellent avenues for money laundering as they can be exchanged anonymously, and their selling implies price volatility. Countries like Italy, UAE, Germany, and China restricted the use of NFTs and cryptocurrencies, while countries like India have clear guidelines on the trading of NFTs.
Along with all the reasons mentioned above, there are various other reasons behind the downfall of NFTs, like new-age scams, theft, and new tax regulations. Whatever the reason is, we experienced the rise and downfall of NFT in the same year. We hope the NFT market will rise again with the new year, and we’ll see something new.
It felt like for a while, everywhere you looked you were bombarded with metaverse-related content on the internet. Be it social media, digital news outlets, or your ‘Crypto-Bro’ friend, you could not miss out on the metaverse and everything around it even if you tried. So, what’s happening with the digital revolution which was touted to change the world as we experience it? Well, nothing much! One might ask what is happening with the metaverse these days only to find articles and discourse on the internet which do not lean towards the positive side. Now, it has been revealed that one of the high-budgeted metaverses, Decentraland, only had 38 daily active users!
Decentraland’s active users
I’ll come off clean here, I too had bought Decentraland’s crypto token, MANA, during its peak hype. I quickly sold the tokens off to shift to SHIBA INU and have been a SHIB loyalist ever since. Though I was skeptical about Decentraland’s ambitious metaverse ever becoming mainstream, this was not expected! DappRadar data aggregator recently released data that the Ethereum-based Decentraland only had 38 ‘active users’ over a period of 24 hours. This is a shockingly low number given the company’s market cap of a whopping $1.2 billion.
It is important to note that according to DappRadar, active users are counted based on unique wallet address’ interaction with Decentraland’s smart contract. This means that users making any purchase using SAND or MANA tokens in the platform only are counted as active users. People simply logging in to the metaverse to communicate with one another or roaming around the metaverse are not counted as active users. CoinDesk reached out to Sam Hamilton, the Creative Director at Decentraland, who clarified that DappRadar does not track the users in its entirety but only people who interact with their contracts. Sam added furthermore that there are currently 8,000 people on average in the Decentraland metaverse daily.
8,000 daily users off a $1.2 billion investment sounds…. tragic? This certainly does not prove whether or not the metaverse is the future. But we surely are off to a rocky start.
Back then, investing money in the stock market was everyone’s dream, but people were unsure about the outcomes and kept themselves away from investing in stocks. They say movies have always been a mirror reflecting the actual image of our society, and people started believing it when they watched Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street.”
However, it wasn’t enough for a large population of our country and to conquer that, Hansal Mehta came up with a web series called “Scam 1992”, which showcased the story of Indian stockbroker Harshad Mehta. The series not only changed the life of an actor Pratik Gandhi who starred as Harshad Mehta but also changed the perception of people about the stock market.
Today, we’re walking on the same lines, but the place of investment has changed, at least for some. In the last few years, we have moved from traditional investments to mutual funds, SIPs and the stock market, but not many of us are taking risks to invest in a real player, the cryptocurrency, which is taking the world by storm and creating new benchmarks every day.
Even though the finance department of India said, “cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum would never become legal tender across India”, we have about 20-million people who have invested in cryptocurrencies. Then, who’s stopping you? The fear of where to invest or the complex process of investing in crypto? Whatever it is, we’re going to take care of it, especially if you’re a first-time crypto investor.
Top 7 pieces of advice for first time Crypto Investors
Stay alert and listen to the inner voice
The cryptocurrency was invented in 2008 by a person or maybe a group of people with the pseudo name Satoshi Nakamoto. Over the last decade, it has become the first investment choice for many people, but many media personalities and financial advisors have said it’s an over-hyped sector due to its volatile nature. Well, I would say – start small and invest a little, but don’t dare to ignore the hype.
Do a little homework before investing your hard-earned money
Scammers are everywhere, and with the help of advanced technologies, they’ll easily fool you, especially in the field of crypto investments, as it runs on digital platforms. Also, cryptocurrencies are not regulated and backed by any government authority, making it impossible to recover your investments in case of any fraudulent activities. Hence, play safe and do the homework first.
Look for a trusted and genuine trading platform
One should always do a background check of the place where they’re about to invest their money, and the same rule applies when you’re looking for a genuine trading platform for cryptocurrency exchanges. When looking for a trusted trading platform in India as a first-time crypto investor, one should always go with platforms such as Coin DCX, CoinSwitch Kuber, or WazirX.
Top 7 pieces of advice for first time Crypto Investors
The importance of KYC and documentation in crypto
KYC is a need of the hour, be it in bank accounts, cryptocurrencies, or any platform where you’re worried about theft, scam, and frauds. The KYC process saves you from fraudulent activities by taking and verifying your details, such as identity proof, address proof, PAN card, and driver’s licence. KYC offers improved customer transparency and trust, keeping you away from scams and frauds.
Don’t expect miracles and go in for a long term investment
Cryptocurrencies are here to stay, but they keep fluctuating day by day due to their volatile nature. Hence, being a first-time investor, don’t expect miracles and go in only for a long-term investment. The more you’ll wait and adhere with your patience, the more benefits you could have in the future. Thus, invest in crypto as soon as possible and wait for the right time to come.
Don’t listen to the social media and follow the 5-per cent rule
Be wise, and don’t fall for the social media trap where most influencers urge you to invest a massive amount of money in cryptocurrencies. Well, one should not invest more than 3 to 5-percent of their monthly or annual income in the crypto market, at least when you’re a newbie in the crypto world, as most of the coins have dropped by 60-70 per cent overnight in the past.
Invest in multiple cryptocurrencies instead of one
While investing in platforms like the stock market or cryptocurrencies, one should never invest a considerable percentage of their money in one share or coin. Being a newbie in the world of cryptocurrency, one should always prefer to invest in multiple cryptocurrencies as it’s more beneficial than investing in one sole type of crypto. The moral of the story – if you lose in one, you might gain in another.
Everyone wants to join the NFT parade, including you. However, the struggle to understand the process kicks most of us out of the race right away. NFTs are already over the moon and have the capability to make you a millionaire in a quick time. I hope you’ve heard the story of an Indonesian student who sold his years of selfies as NFTs as a joke and accidentally became a millionaire.
Currently, the NFT market stacks about $17 billion as the transactions worldwide jumped 21,350% from $82.5 million in 2020. A number of investors are looking at NFT as a side-hustle and a source of a second income but are not aware of where to start and how to indulge in an NFT drama? No worries, we have your back and it’s high time to take a look at the 5 ways to make money with NFTs.
Digital Artforms
Are you an artist who’s interested in auctioning or monetising your fully digital artwork? Well, if you’re an artist, then the NFT ride would be pleasurable for you as we have witnessed people who sold their digital artforms on NFTs and earned millions. You can create anything and mint money with it through NFT platforms but make sure you’re creating something practical and no more farts, please.
Trade NFTs
Everyone can’t be an artist, but you can always play your business card and trade NFTs. Some NFTs are worth millions, while some are damn worthless, and if you’re one of those people who understand the value of the art and are good at predicting the fate of the art, then start trading NFTs. Start buying less valued but potentially worth NFTs and make profits during resale.
Licensed Collectibles
We all were, and some of us still are, huge fans of trading cards. Owning a rare type of trading card, exchanging a trading card and buying a newly launched limited edition trading card was just another stupid habit we had during our younger days. Well, you can turn this tradition into a money-making machine now as the price of a digital trading card is unbelievable, particularly when you have a rare one.
NFT Gaming
We live in a time where people even earn through playing games, reviewing games and whatnot. Also, we at least have one friend in our group who can spend enormously on virtual items. In future, gaming companies (which are already worth billions) might offer in-game items as NFTs, and it might push the development of Non-Fungible Technology forward. Be quick, and get your kitty while it is free.
NFT Royalties
Back in the 20th century, wise men used to invest in real estate and rent it out to people, which provided them with a constant flow of income every month or on an annual basis. Now, in a tech-advanced world, you can create or purchase someone else’s NFT and set a 10% or 20% royalty on your NFTs, which will help you earn money every time someone buys your NFT.
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. today announced its entry into the NFT (non-fungible token) universe, with the release of its first tranche of tokens, becoming the first Indian automotive OEM to enter this space. NFTs are at the forefront of blockchain technology and have captured the interest of the digitally savvy and constantly connected generation. The entry of Mahindra into the NFT universe is yet another testimony of their continued focus on digital initiatives in the country.
The first NFT offerings from Mahindra will be based on the iconic Thar and will be released in collaboration with Tech Mahindra. Thar exemplifies the Mahindra promise of ‘Explore the Impossible’. Additionally, its larger-than-life imagery is suited to the futuristic, socially wired landscape of NFTs. This first-ever series comprises four NFTs that will be put up for sale via an auction starting the 29th of March 2022, on Tech Mahindra’s NFT marketplace christened ‘Mahindra Gallery’.
All proceeds from the auction will go towards Project Nanhi Kali, to support the education of underprivileged girls in India. Access to education helps the girl child in fulfilling her dreams and lays the foundation for an equal society. The Thar experience doesn’t end with buying an NFT. The winners of the auction will be invited to the Mahindra Adventure Off-road Driver Training Academy (Igatpuri, Maharashtra) or to the new state-of-the-art Mahindra SUV Proving Track (MSPT, Chennai), to experience the thrill of 4×4 motoring.
Commenting on the launch, Veejay Nakra, Chief Executive Officer, Automotive Division, M&M Ltd said, “Mahindra & Mahindra has always been a pioneer in adopting new-age digital innovations to enhance customer experience. The launch of NFTs is another exciting step for us to leverage the next frontier of digital marketing.We will be able to offer a whole new set of experiences to our customers, build communities for our brands, and also increase brand awareness and loyalty. With our entry into the NFT space, we are all set to harness the countless possibilities of interacting and adding to the Mahindra brand and all our nameplates, and there is no better brand for this debut than the Thar.”
CP Gurnani, MD & CEO, Tech Mahindra, said, “At Tech Mahindra, we believe in innovating for the future. As an industry front runner, we have significantly contributed to digital transformational strategies and solutions. In line with our aim to reimagine the customer experience, engagement, and brand equity through digital transformation, we are launching an NFT marketplace in collaboration with Mahindra Group. This market place titled ‘Mahindra Gallery’, is a one-stop-digital assets and collectibles marketplace for all patrons of the Mahindra Group, and this platform-of-the-future will emerge as a key lever to showcase the rich archives and history of the Group that everyone can own in the form of NFTs, ushering in the next wave of digital ownership.”
Here are some fascinating facts about which you may be unaware. People are learning how to buy a cryptocurrency and looking for easy ways to buy Bitcoin as interest in cryptocurrency grows. It’s not surprising that some prospective investors want to learn more about how digital assets work. However, in the world of cryptocurrency, the truth can sometimes be stranger than fiction. It’s been a wild ride, and we still don’t know where cryptocurrencies will go in the future, but here are some equally crazy facts about cryptocurrencies and other digital assets.
1)Gas is the term used to describe Ethereum fees.
When completing transactions on the Ethereum blockchain, you must pay for “gas.” The computational effort required to complete the transaction is represented by gas on the Ethereum network. Using the network for apps or transactions, even converting another coin to ether, necessitates the payment of gas. Gas fees can feel quite high in some cases, depending on the transaction and traffic on the blockchain.
2) One of the first blockchain games was CryptoKitties.CryptoKitties, one of the first blockchain games, allows you to breed one-of-a-kind digital cats. CryptoKitties are not a currency; rather, they are a type of non-fungible token (NFT). Because each kitty is unique and cannot be replicated, they have a one-of-a-kind value, similar to artwork. CryptoKitties, by the way, is built on the Ethereum blockchain.
3) The most expensive CryptoKitty was purchased for 600 ETH.
Someone paid 600 ETH for a CryptoKitty Dragon in 2018. At the time of the transaction, 600 ETH was worth approximately $170,000. Today, however, with the price of one ether exceeding $2,700, that 600 ETH would be worth more than $1.6 million. That is one pricey digital cat!
4)NFTs are not currency.
NFTs are not cryptocurrencies, despite their growing popularity and status as digital assets. They are tokens that do not serve as a medium of exchange. Furthermore, NFTs cannot be divided or replicated.NFTs are becoming increasingly popular as alternative investments, similar to artwork or collectibles. In fact, some people see them as digital collectibles and artwork with the potential to appreciate in value. There are even NFTs, such as those provided by NBA TopShot, that function in a manner similar to digital sports trading cards.
5)Cryptocurrencies are prohibited in some countries.
Cryptocurrencies are not legal in every country. Some countries, such as Turkey, prohibit cryptocurrency payments, while others, such as Nigeria, prohibit cryptocurrency exchanges. However, one of the most significant recent bans is China’s prohibition on financial institutions providing services related to cryptocurrency transactions.
Even though countries can regulate access to service providers and shut down exchanges, it is nearly impossible to outright prohibit the use of cryptocurrencies. But, with one of the world’s largest economies opposing cryptocurrencies, it’s difficult to predict how things will play out in the future.
Bottomline
Cryptocurrencies offer a number of interesting opportunities for investing, as well as possibilities for the future. However, it’s essential to be careful about how you invest, especially with a new asset class. Carefully consider your risk tolerance before moving forward and make sure investing in digital assets is appropriate for your investment strategy.
We cannot delve into the world in one article, but here you will find some of the most amazing facts about cryptocurrencies that you may never have heard of. Even after ten years, most cryptocurrency enthusiasts are not familiar with interesting facts about Bitcoin. Here are some interesting facts about Bitcoin that every Bitcoin holder should know, let us see.
1) However, it may surprise you that the current inventor of bitcoin is accordingly anonymous. We all know that the creation of Bitcoin is attributed to Satoshi Nakamoto, although we have no idea if a single person or a whole group of people is behind the alias. This is the most popular and surprising fact about the world of cryptocurrencies, the person or organization that created Bitcoin is unknown. Many people came forward and stated that they were the ones who started it, but none of them were reliable sources.
2) We think it should start with “Once Upon a Time” … In short, on May 22, 2010, a Bitcoin developer paid 10,000 BTC for two pizzas he ordered from Papa Jones. It’s hard to believe how far Bitcoin and the market, in general, have come. At the time, 10,000 bitcoin was worth about $40, so one bitcoin was “worth” slightly less than half a cent. If you had that much money in bitcoin today, it would be worth more than $350 million.
3) Cryptocurrencies offer a range of attractive investment opportunities as well as opportunities for the future. As the authors of NerdWallet pointed out, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin may not be as secure, and some prominent voices in the investment community have advised budding investors to avoid them.
4) There were over 7,300 cryptocurrencies in circulation as of November 2021. While you won’t be able to buy them all on an exchange, they are available, with some requiring their own wallets.
There are so many coins available because it is relatively simple to create and distribute a coin. However, as of November 2021, the top 20 coins control approximately 86 percent of the cryptocurrency market.
5) One man wishes to excavate a landfill in order to reclaim his digital wallet.
In 2013, James Howells, a Welshman, threw away a hard drive containing 7,500 bitcoins. When he realized how much Bitcoin’s value had risen in recent years, he went in search of the drive. He is now attempting to persuade his local city council to allow him to excavate the landfill in order to locate the drive. He claims to be offering a portion of the proceeds in exchange for the city allowing him to search through the trash.
At first, cryptocurrency terminology may seem confusing, but do not worry, it gets simpler and will soon make sense. Many words of cryptocurrency originate from software development that’s been around for a lot longer. These more recent terms for cryptocurrencies emerge from slang words or phrases that are now common in the culture of cryptocurrencies.
We will look at the top most popular cryptocurrency terms throughout this article, which you’ll need to know and describe what they imply.
DDoS Attack
When several parties work together to overload a device by burdening that with both requests for data, malicious activity, a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack place.[4] The malicious involved parties in an attack action to avoid a resource, including a server, from becoming able to provide a specific service, like hosting a web page.
FUD
This refers to “fear, uncertainty, and doubt.” This is a marketplace scenario where a group of individuals creates misinformation data about a given cryptocurrency that induce others’ mind emotions of fear, uncertainty. Individuals do this to drop down a cryptocurrency’s price and instead benefit from it by buying at a convenient price.
Fiat Money
Fiat money is a legal currency’s value, as the US dollar, is supported by the government which released it.
Fork
A fork produces alternative blockchain variants but then the split blockchain operates on various parts of the system simultaneously. A “hard fork” makes legitimate previous transactions null, and inversely; a “soft fork” makes fraudulent transactions formerly valid, but invalid.
Hardware Wallet
A physical device intended to securely store any cryptocurrency, practically like the most simple USB drive, from the device.
Hashing
The method through which you mine bitcoin or related cryptocurrency, leveraging cryptographic algorithms while helping to address the differential equation inside it.
BIP (Bitcoin Improvement Proposal)
BIP is the abbreviation of ‘Bitcoin Improvement Proposal’. This is a standardized way to introduce functions and other issues, such as design issues. Because of the decentralized nature of Bitcoin and therefore the lack of a formal structure, this system is used to improve Bitcoin in a well-founded and consensus-driven way.
Block Reward
The block reward is the payment that is offered to the node that is securing the blockchain. In the case of Bitcoin, which is has a Proof-of-Work consensus algorithm, these would be the miners. The payment is in the form of the native cryptocurrency of that blockchain. The amount is a predetermined reward per block, but often that is supplemented with the fees that are paid for the transactions that block contains. For Bitcoin, the current block rewards are cut in half every four years. This is called the ‘halving’.
Block Size
The block size represents the size of each block in a blockchain. Transactions are stored in a blockchain block. For Bitcoin, this is limited to 1MB per block. More transactions can be stored when the blocks are larger. This is the case with many altcoins. There are also disadvantages to large blocks, such as the required storage space. Also, it can become less attractive for miners if the transaction fees become too low as a result of large blocks.
