NFT News: Azuki Founder Under Fire As CryptoPunk Sells For A Huge Loss 

NFT News – Azuki founder “Zagabond,” has come under fire as CryptoPunk sold for a huge loss 

Yesterday, the founder of the $723.5 million $723.5 million Azuki NFT project. Who goes under the internet handle “Zagabond.” Sparked a firestorm by revealing that they had previously worked on three unfinished NFT projects.

They have since apologized for their “shortcomings” after receiving considerable criticism from the NFT community.

Tendies and CryptoPunks clones CryptoPhunks and Cryptozunks are the three projects in discussion.

All three, according to Zagabond, failed due to a lack of community support. And other causes such as team members departing or expensive Ethereum gas expenses (ETH).

The majority of responses to Zagabond’s blog on the trial and error approach that led to Azuki NFTs were positive. But other members of the NFT community weren’t so enthusiastic.

“So does Web 3.0 Entail rugging three projects in less than a year?” wrote user zachxbt, without equivocation. before going through certain alleged wrongdoings involving Cryptozunks developers posing as ladies in order to advertise the project.

Other users, such as dxv eth, said that Zagabond agreed to develop a marketplace for the Cryptozunks project as well as purchase Metaverse in order to bolster the ecosystem, but that he never followed through, finally abandoning the community.

Zagabond made an apology earlier today after being blasted by the community and hosting a Twitter Spaces chat.

“I realized my shortcomings in how I handled the prior projects which I started. To the communities I walked away from, to Azuki holders, and to those who believed in me — I’m truly sorry.” Madonna x Beeple

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What You Need To Know About Beeple and Madonna

Madonna and NFT heavyweight Beeple have collaborated to release a tokenized art collection depicting the singer as the mother of creation, evolution, and technology.

In total, three NFT art pieces depict Madonna giving birth to various trees, butterflies, or mechanical centipedes.

The NFTs are set to go up for auction via SuperRare on May 11 and Madonna stated that all of the proceeds will go towards three different non-profit organizations called National Bail Out, V-Day and Voices of Children.

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Instagram To Support Dapper Labs Flow NFTs

Dapper Labs has announced a partnership with Instagram to enable Flow-based NFTs, following the announcement of a $725 million ecosystem fund to boost growth on its Flow blockchain this week.

The move, according to Dapper Labs CEO Roham Gharegozlou, will be “game-changers” for NFT products on Flow including NBA Top Shot, NFL All Day, and UFC Strike since it will provide them tremendous exposure to a global audience.

It is also one of Instagram’s first significant blockchain collaborations. Support for NFTs on Ethereum and Solana will also be added by the social media company.

The $725 million in funding will be “primarily investment capital,” according to the CEO, rather than grants to projects that wish to improve the ecosystem.

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Cryptopunk Sells For 86% Loss

On May 8, an NFT from one of the first NFT projects, CryptoPunks, was sold for an 86 percent loss.

CryptoPunk #273 sold for a handsome $1.003 million in October, valued at 265 ETH at the time, but has since fallen out of favor amid a rocky moment for the crypto and blockchain sectors, selling for just $139,836 on Sunday morning.

CryptoPunks by Larva Labs grew in popularity during 2021, and the project was recently acquired by Yuga Labs, the firm behind the wildly successful Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs, in March. However, the change does not appear to have had much of an immediate impact on the market.

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Other NFT News:

This week, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the firm will begin testing digital collectibles on the photo and video sharing network Instagram, indicating a shift toward NFTs.

Mark Cuban, a billionaire investor, has predicted that commercial smart contract adoption will be the next catalyst for the crypto and blockchain industries, arguing that networks that merely offer NFTs and DeFi for the sake of it will eventually collapse.

The Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has stated that Web3-related growth – including metaverse and non-fungible token (NFT)-related developments – will be part of the nation’s growth strategy going forward, and called on British business leaders to back his project. Read More.