Author: Time Magazine
What do CryptoPunks, Stoner Cats, and an animated flying cat with a Pop-Tart body have in common? They’re all NFTs — or non-fungible tokens. NFTs are like the new, cool kids on the block in crypto, representing digital ownership of a wide range of irreplicable intangible items. While they’ve been around since 2014, 2021 was the first year that this novel technology broke through into the mainstream. Total NFT sales hit $25 billion in 2021, compared to $94.9 million the year before, according to data collected by DappRadar, an app store for decentralized applications. They’ve drawn the attention of celebrities and big companies…
Amid a sharp plunge for Bitcoin and other top tokens like Ethereum and Solana, some cryptocurrency investors say they’re taking a long-term view of the market to weather the storm. Following a rough week, Bitcoin’s price climbed back up to hover in the $38,000-39,000 at last check on Tuesday morning, according to CoinDesk. This latest gain comes in the wake of a downward slump that’s seen the world’s largest digital currency sink below $33,000 for the first time since July, more than halving in value since peaking at a record high of nearly $69,000 in November. Ethereum, the second-largest digital currency by market cap, has…
Ethereum’s price dropped below $3,100 Saturday, extending a slide that started Wednesday afternoon. Ethereum had been hovering around $3,200 in recent days. Big drops this week to Ethereum and Bitcoin followed a disappointing December jobs report and the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve Board’s December meeting, which signaled the central bank would begin slowing down measures to prop up the economy as it continues to improve. After topping $4,100 on Dec. 27, Ethereum has ranged between $3,000 and $4,000 in the days since. It’s been between $3,000 and $3,900 so far this week. Despite the recent slump, Ethereum still had a relatively strong…
Last December, I downloaded a new-ish app called Clubhouse to learn more about a phenomenon that I had started to hear a lot about but barely understood: NFTs. On the app, I found a community of enthusiasts who believed that NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, would be a transformative force for culture, commerce and technology. Their community was passionate but small and insular; most people outside of their bubble assumed that their rise would be short-lived, if they had heard about NFTs at all. What a difference a year makes. As we wind up 2021, NFTs were one of the year’s breakout…
Ethereum’s price dropped back below $4,000 Wednesday morning after staying above that threshold most of the day Tuesday. Despite the drop Wednesday morning, Ethereum is still above where it was to start the week, when it went below $3,800 Monday morning. After entering the month just shy of $4,800, Ethereum has mostly hovered around or below $4,000 — close to where it was in October before a November rise that saw it hit a new all-time high over $4,850 on Nov. 10. The volatility and slumping prices comes as the U.S. navigates new economic uncertainty over the Omicron COVID-19 variant, new comments…