This edition of Netcoins news features a slew of NFT news and some hopeful signs regarding cryptocurrency prices. To kick-off, we go over the new NFT marketplace started by Andre Cronje, creator of Yearn.Finance.

Founder of the legendary video game company Atari, Nolan Bushnell is launching an augmented reality NFT collection and Dapper Labs teams up with the NFL to create NFTs of the best plays from the past and present of football. 

Also, the President of El Salvador posts a video on his Twitter displaying a crypto mining project powered by a local volcano, and cryptocurrency prices see a significant increase, shooting the total market value to over $2.5 Trillion Canadian. 

All of that and more in this week’s edition of the weekly news.

Andre Cronje Launches Open Source NFT Marketplace

Andre Cronje, creator of Yearn.Finance, is launching a new open-source NFT marketplace in beta on the Fantom blockchain.

Cronje’s NFT marketplace, Artion, does not take commission and plans to support the same ERC-721 tokens as OpenSea in the future. However, the distinction between OpenSea and Artion comes with the cost attached with minting an NFT. On the Fantom blockchain, the minting of an NFT costs about one Fantom (FTM) or about $1.64 Canadian but can cost several hundred dollars on Ethereum. 

Trading on Fantom is also faster and cheaper than on Ethereum-based platforms, possibly filling the vacancy in the NFT marketplace that OpenSea once held. With Artion being open source, many other developers can create a direct competitor with OpenSea, with additional incentives not found on the Ethereum-based platform. 

The Founder of Video Game Atari is Launching an A.R. NFT Collection

Nolan Bushnell, the founder of video game company Atari, an NFT marketplace “MakersPlace”, is announcing the launch of The Arcade OG Series; a set of Ethereum-based collectibles. 

The collectibles are video clips of 3D renderings of classic Atari arcade cabinets, such as Pong, Computer Space, and Syzygy, with an additional augmented reality feature that allows you to view them within a real-world space. 

This is not Atari’s first project within the crypto space. Last year, they launched numerous initiatives like the Ethereum-based Atari Token and various other NFT collectibles. The video game titan has also announced plans to launch an online crypto casino and new versions of their classic games, with crypto involved in varying capacities.

Bushnell has reportedly stated that he plans to explore the NFT in the future, though his exact plans have yet to be revealed. 

Dapper Labs Teams Up with NFL to Create NFTs for Digital Highlights

Vancouver-based Dapper Labs has teamed up with the National Football League (NFL) to create digital video highlights as NFTs.

The NFTs will be available on a marketplace, similar to the one used on their previous sports-related project, NBA Top Shot. The marketplace will run on the Flow blockchain and is expected to release during the current NFL season, which will be wrapping up on January 9th.

Video content will be at the forefront of this new project by Dapper, just as it was with their NBA project, which has already traded over $990 million Canadian worth of collectibles in 2021 alone.  

These collectibles will give fans of the NFL a chance to collect and own some of the most notable highlights, which will extend beyond current events and provide opportunities to own some of the greatest plays from NFL history.

El Salvador Mining Crypto Via Power from a Volcano 

Nayib Bukele, President of El Salvador, posted a video on his Twitter displaying a crypto mining project powered by a local volcano with the text “First steps…” included. 

The video included in the Tweet details how the nation has started a project to utilize renewable energy, which will power Bitcoin miners. This Tweet links back to a prior promise made by El Salvador’s President to explore volcano energy as a source of renewable power.

This renewable energy source will combat the massive amount of electricity used in bitcoin mining, which is said to consume about 80 terawatt-hours of electricity annually or almost as much consumed by the nation of Finland, according to the University of Cambridge Bitcoin 

Electricity Consumption Index.

Crypto Prices See Significant Increase, Amounting to the Market Hitting Over $2.5 Trillion 

Cryptocurrency prices are seeing a significant increase, with Bitcoin nearly hitting $65,000 Canadian for the first time since early September. 

Over the last 24 hours, Bitcoin’s price has increased by 10%, adding almost $6,500 Canadian to its total value within a single hour this morning. On top of that, other major cryptocurrency prices have also jumped in value, with Ethereum seeing a 9% increase, climbing back to almost $4,000 Canadian per Ether.  

Also, other cryptocurrencies have seen an increase, such as Ripple’s XRP, Binance’s BNB, Cardano, Solana, and more. All of these increases together have pushed the combined cryptocurrency market to over $2.5 trillion Canadian.

That’s it for this week’s edition of the news. Don’t forget to sign up for a free account with Netcoins, Canada’s most trusted cryptocurrency exchange.

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