NFT investors are demanding that the marketplaces recognize and provide value to their users, prompting competitors like LOOKS, SOS, and WTF to launch ambitious vampire attacks on OpenSea .
Market analysis
The NFT continues to rise with what seems like no end in sight. As of January 14, 2022, OpenSea recorded a transaction volume of more than $1.03 billion and its newest competitor, LookRare, has eclipsed the platform according to data from DappRadar.
What is clear is that NFT collectors and traders seem to be shifting their sentiment towards where they are seeing value. Since the beginning of 2022, we have emphasized “community” with buzz and advocates of rewarding users for their participation.
OpenSea has generated over $3.2 billion in total volume even though many NFT traders feel that the market betrays Web3’s conception. These investors are voting with their feet and have a plan boycott the market by turning their attention to others “Web3 friendly. ”
The community-run NFT marketplace, lookingRare and other platforms successfully carried out a vampire attack, causing disgruntled OpenSea users to leave it for not appreciating and rewarding user participation. use.
Participants seemed to firmly support the value they created in the ecosystem and felt competitors were meeting their needs.
However, will OpenSea’s more competitors be able to sway users by claiming to appreciate and reward their participation? And can others exploit users who blindly follow these notions and protocols?
SOS: OpenDao receives mixed reviews
Since its launch, SOS has raked in 13.7 trillion SOS in staking ($45.6 million) and 50% of its 100 trillion total supply is distributed to the community. Until January 12, 2022, eligible users claim 145% APY for its veSOS governance token and this is equipped with voting rights for future projects and protocols.
SOS appears to have lit the match because of community activism but it has faced backlash after withdrawing its original plan to end the claim until June 30, 2022. voice their disappointment and confusion, knowing that in DAOs, decisions can be changed at the behest of a vote and participation is highly encouraged.
There are currently over 200,000 holders and over $2.5 billion traded, and future project launches plus the current NFT market could see more liquidity flowing into SOS.
SOS is down nearly 70.5% and is trading at $0.00000327 despite a looming market speculated to provide trading opportunity for NFTs.
The NFT continues to rise with what seems like no end in sight. As of January 14, 2022, OpenSea recorded a transaction volume of over $1.03 billion, while its newest competitor, LookRare, has reached over $1.79 billion ahead of the giant, according to data from DappRadar.
Is there more to look forward to than just wash trading?
Launched on January 10, 2022, LookRare takes aim at OpenSea’s – or rather lack of Web3 initiatives and incentives – and has attracted the attention of many who have discussed “The death of OpenSea.”
The token is a “free” rebate, but it comes with the price of a number of transaction fees, including placing NFTs for sale, airdrop requirements, and staking (optional).
Even with the cost, more than 110,000 wallets have claimed LOOKs, from about 60% of all eligible wallets, according to data from Dune Analytics.
LookRare has amassed a total volume of nearly $2.4 billion, but this metric only shows a fraction of the whole pie. A couple of red flags were given upon a closer look at the volume of transactions.
Comparing the number of transactions on LookRare with OpenSea shows that OpenSea has processed more than 50 times the number of transactions of LookRare.
LookRare has an estimated 17 times the number of users, but OpenSea’s number is only half that of the competition.
Immediately after the launch, investors suspected that traders were washing trades with the Larva Labs Meebits collection to take advantage of trading rewards.
While one group of individuals is championing its looks and finding its model promising, others are raising questions and concerns about the sustainability of the platform.
Fees.wtf lives up to its name
Many lucky people benefited from the SOS and LOOK airdrops but the Fees.wft airdrop is a different story. Initially, the project was a toll service on the Ethereum blockchain that calculates the total gas fees spent by users.
A user had to spend at least 0.05 Ether to qualify for the claim, and once notified, traders rushed to cash out only to find that the initial liquidity was too small, resulting in 58 Ether, ($188,036) drained by bot.
first / $ WTF: A service, a token and what everyone said five minutes after launch when a bot drained 58 ETH from the pool.
Let’s take a look at what happened.
– meows.eth (@cat5749) January 14, 2022
Cleverly named, it seems that users don’t have to shell out Fees.WTF NFT to feel rekt. Users unfamiliar with slippage noticed that their orders were executed significantly less than expected, leaving one user trading above $135,000.
Despite a drop of almost 84% since its initial post-launch spike, WTF seems to continue to attract the attention of new holders with its claim window still open and the number of holders increasing.
Programming the contract so that the team generates 4% per transfer, the team is said to have made more than $3 million and is continuing to grow. While the platform “intended” to reward users for the fees they spent, Fee.WTF still coerced users who paid more than they actually did.
According to the founder Rokitapp Lefteris Karapetsas, encrypted smart contract to suck Ether from anyone who interacts with the contract. Upon further examination, Karapetsas found contract encrypted a permanent whitelist of people who don’t need to pay remittance fees.
Oh hey, look @feeswtf the team posted the autopsy: https://t.co/8v1Ng3DupH
If that doesn’t tell you you need to know about the “project,” I don’t know.
– Lefteris Karapetsas | Recruiting for @rotkiapp (@LefterisJP) January 15, 2022
Despite the suspected washing trade and the controversial issues surrounding the association Cole, Pudgy Penguin, co-creator and investor in the project, looks like it gives OpenSea a competitive edge as it fits the current needs of Web3 users. OpenDAO and LookingRare are prime examples of what OpenSea’s competitors own and are waiting to exploit.
With an ever-increasing number of individuals entering the crypto ecosystem and many backing Web3’s offers, traders need to pay close attention and gauge whether they are placing their attention and value on them. value because there are platforms that focus on exploiting their needs.