This may be the boost that the metaverse needs right now and the non-fungible tokens, which seem to be on their last legs after starting the year off with a bang. The two buzzwords at the start of the year seem to have lost their luster.
The euphoria surrounding them has died down.
But by announcing her arrival in the metaverse, Madonna can undoubtedly revive interest in this concept at the heart of the future of Facebook, now known as Meta Platforms (FB). Moreover, it is on one of the platforms of the giant of social networks that the pop star announced to the world that she was now part of the very select Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT (BAYC).
"I finally entered the MetaVerse," the 'Like A Virgin' singer wrote on her Instagram account." My very own Ape!"
"What should I name her?" The Material Girl asked below the image of her Ape. This Bored Ape, which is No #4988, features the sleeveless logo T-shirt, S&M hat and eyes on its magenta body.
The artist then thanked the startup MoonPay, no doubt the firm through which she acquired her Bored Ape.
"Thanks @moonpay. We all need protection from Evil Eye."
NFTs are a way of owning a piece of digital content, be that a photo or a GIF.
The metaverse promises a virtual world in which we will interact socially with others through avatars.
To further mark her entry into the metaverse and the world of NFTs, Madonna is changing her Twitter profile picture. This one now represents the Bored Ape.
To get her Bored Ape, Madonna paid 180 ETH (ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency by market value), which converts to about $571,206 as of time of writing. According to NFT marketplace OpenSea the purchase was made on March 14 by MoonPay.
The Bored Ape Yacht Club is an NFT collection of 10,000 simian avatars created by Yuga Labs. Celebrities like Paris Hilton, Jimmy Fallon and Eminem all have their own special apes.
Yuga Labs also acquired the rights to the CryptoPunks and Meebits NFT collections from creator Larva Labs. Bored Apes and CryptoPunks are the two most valuable NFT collections by market cap, and hold a combined worth at a minimum of about $3.6 billion at current prices.
Bored Ape Yacht Club
Questions About The Usefulness of NFTs
However, the failure of an auction scheduled at the venerable house Sotheby's recently called into question the relevance of NFTs, and in this case Bored Ape and Cryptopunks whose prices are insane.
As evidence of investors' sudden distrust of NFTs, Apecoin, the token linked to the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection, has been having a rough time since it began trading in March.
The token, which was airdropped to the Bored Ape NFT owners, saw its price tumble from a high of $39.40 to $13.80 at last check, according to CoinGecko.
Some wonder what the use of NFTs really is.
However, many people think that music is the industry where digital collectibles or digital goods can find their place because fans of artists are already used to buying merchandise or t-shirts from their favorite stars. They will therefore not be opposed to buying unique digital goods from their favorite artists.
The NFT marketplace exploded in 2021, generating over $23 billion in trading volume last year, according to blockchain analytics company DappRadar. That total was up from less than $100 million the year prior.
However, the NFT market appears to losing momentum.
Sales have been dropping since a high of nearly $1 billion in weekly sales in January to about a few tens of millions dollars this week, according to NonFungible.com.
