Welcome, this is the Netcoins weekly crypto news update!

This week has seen some exciting stories from the crypto and NFT world – some good and some bad. 

Walmart prepares to enter the metaverse, OpenSea hits a new all-time monthly trading volume in Ethereum, Gucci announces an NFT collection, Twitter rolls out their NFT profile picture feature, and Bitcoin and other crypto assets see significant drops.  

All of that and more on this edition of the weekly crypto news update. 

Walmart Plans to Enter the Metaverse with Collection of NFTs & Digital Assets

Walmart, the superstore giant, appears to be making plans to enter the metaverse and create its own cryptocurrency and collection of NFTs.

In December, the retail giant filed new trademarks, indicating its intent to make and sell virtual goods, stating plans to offer users digital currency and NFTs.

Some of the other trademarks filed were for virtual goods, including electronics, home decorations, toys, sporting goods, and personal care products. 

OpenSea Hits Record of Almost $4.4B in Monthly Ethereum Volume

The NFT marketplace OpenSea hits a new all-time monthly trading volume in Ethereum, almost surpassing $4.4 billion Canadian with over a week to go until the end of the month

OpenSea’s previous monthly trading volume was almost $4.3 billion Canadian back in August and over $4 billion Canadian in sales in December.

The platform’s January trading volume has topped $210 million Canadian each day so far, with the largest single-day volume of over $325 Canadian million recorded on January 9.

Gucci & Superplastic Brand to Launch NFT collection

Luxury fashion company Gucci has partnered with digital character brand Superplastic to launch a SuperGucci NFT collection. The collection’s theme is centred around classic Gucci motifs and designs with SuperPlastic digital characters Janky & Guggimon.

The NFTs were designed by Gucci’s head of design Alessandro Michele in collaboration with Superplastic. There will only be 250 NFTs minted that will be released on three separate dates. The first drop of ten items will be launching on February 1st. 

Each NFT will come with an exclusive ceramic sculpture handcrafted by Gucci’s ceramicists in Italy. 

On February 1st, the day of the first launch, Superplastic and Gucci will be promoting its digital Vault, an experimental area that blends a historic digital vault with lab-like creativity. 

Twitter Launching Verified NFT Profile Pictures

On Thursday, Twitter began releasing a feature that allows some users to set NFTs as their profile pictures. These NFT profile pictures will signal their investment in the emerging digital art space. 

The feature will only be available to users who pay for Twitter’s subscription service. The profile pictures will verify someone’s ownership of the NFT by linking the user’s digital wallet where the NFTs are stored to their Twitter account.

The NFT will also look different on Twitter than typical profile pictures, showing up as a hexagon instead of a circle. Users can click on the images to get more information about the artwork, including its creator and where it’s listed.

Bitcoin Sinks to a Six-Month Low of $47,000

Bitcoin sank due to an extended selloff for cryptocurrencies, falling just over $47,000 Canadian to its lowest level in six months.

The popular cryptocurrency sank as much as 8.7% on Friday, marking a three-day downturn. Other major cryptocurrencies have seen similar drops in price as investors offloaded risky bets in a volatile week for global markets. Ethereum fell below $3,700 Canadian, dropping as much as 11%, while Solana, Cardano and Binance Coin also slumped.

2022 has not been kind to Bitcoin, with prices are down roughly 40% from the early November peak. Cryptocurrency, in general, plummeted in recent days due to a tech selloff, rising regulatory threats, and concerns around tightening U.S. monetary policy.

That’s it for this week’s edition of the news. Don’t forget to sign up for a free account with Netcoins!

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