Top NFT News Today – 11 January, 2024

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are making (yet another) comeback.

Over the last 24 hours, the NFT sales volume went up more than 30% to $50.5 million, according to CryptoSlam.

That said, transactions have seen a small drop of less than 0.5%, recording 313,887 at the time of writing.

Among the top 5 collections, Saga Monkes has seen the highest rise in sales, percentage-wise. Its 369% is followed by Bored Ape Yacht Club’s 145%.

Source: CryptoSlam

But there is far more happening in the space than just numbers.

Check out the most important NFT-related news discussed today in crypto circles and beyond.

Elon Musk Removes NFT PFPs from Twitter, Making This the Top NFT News Today

Unsurprisingly, this has been the biggest news today.

The Social media giant, now called X, has removed support for NFTs from its premium subscription page.

On January 9, the option was still available. The ‘Create a Community’ section still stated that: “As a Premium subscriber, you can create and customize your profile so you can show off the NFTs you own in a hex-shaped profile picture on your account.”

It continued: “After a temporary connection to your crypto wallet that allows you to set up an NFT as your profile picture, your digital asset displays in a special hexagon shape that identifies you as the owner of that NFT.”

Its FAQ page also contained a number of NFT-related questions, answers, and explanations.

As of January 10, the ‘Create a Community’ section simply states: “As a Premium subscriber, you can create a community on X to connect with people who share similar interests.” Rather vague and obvious.

There are currently no mentions of NFTs anywhere on the premium support page.

Many argued that this was a relevant tool that helped strengthen security in the space.

why did elon remove the hexagon nft pfp from x?

this was an important feature for subscribed users to help identify owners of the nft apart from scammers

i do not support this decision

— drone (@dronerogan) January 10, 2024

Some, however, opined that Twitter may be gearing up to offer its own, exclusive NFTs. This possibility encountered mostly criticism, as it would be yet another centralized entity trying to profit from its users via potentially useless tokens.

Are NFT ETFs Next?

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has finally approved the first spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the US.

But NFT platform Epik Prime asked: “Next up, NFT ETFs?”

The platform argued that, “Compared to traditional ETFs that often cater to stocks or commodities, we envision that an NFT ETF would allow investors to have a diversified portfolio of NFTs such as collectibles, digital art, and virtual real estate, enabling you to invest in these assets in a simple to access security.”

Some funds could also be developed to become select NFT baskets to mitigate individual NFTs’ volatility.

We got the green light! SEC approved 11 Spot #BitcoinETF

Next up, NFT ETFs?

Compared to traditional ETFs that often cater to stocks or commodities, we envision that an NFT ETF would allow investors to have a diversified portfolio of NFTs such as collectibles, digital art, and… pic.twitter.com/aoDYpLXX5F

— EPIK Prime (@EpikPrime) January 11, 2024

As the market grows, the possibility of an NFT ETF looks promising, Epik Prime argued.

With more capital coming into the sector, it could open many doors. This includes increased liquidity, lower fees, and specialized ETFs focusing on specific sectors like art, gaming, music, and IP-backed NFTs. Will the NFT news section feature an ETF announcement soon as well?

OpenSea Simplifies Wallet Creation: Only Email Needed

Dealing with NFTs can be daunting. Just setting up everything necessary to start an NFT journey can be complex. This is a well-known obstacle to the mainstream adoption.

Major NFT marketplace OpenSea stated that it launched “a new way to get started” on the platform. Users can create a wallet with just an email address.

It’s a self-custodied wallet, so users keep control over their NFTs.

They can then buy, sell, and transfer the tokens with support for credit and debit card purchases.

NFTs just got a whole lot easier.

Introducing the new OpenSea onboarding experience, where you can sign up and create a self-custodied wallet with just an email address. pic.twitter.com/C4xjjKYg4k

— OpenSea (@opensea) January 9, 2024

Users can also manage funds and view transactions on the blockchain without a separate wallet extension.

It can be used across all nine EVM-based chains compatible with OpenSea.

we appreciate you saying so, Polygon! 🫡

— OpenSea (@opensea) January 10, 2024