The ‘State of Crypto’ Report Unpacked & Can NFT’s Hold Their Value in a Down Market?

In this episode of Crypto Curious, your hosts Tracey, Blake, and Craig discuss all the exciting crypto and NFT-related news that made headlines over the past week. Kicking off, the recent Terra (LUNA) crash and resultant investor losses have catapulted crypto regulation and consumer protection back into the spotlight. As Craig notes, algorithmic stablecoins like Terra’s UST are still experimental, so consumers need to understand the risks they are taking when investing in them. It’s critical that regulation doesn’t stifle progress in the crypto space, but rather promotes transparency and educates consumers to take personal responsibility.

Venture capitalist firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) have released their annual ‘State of Crypto’ report and announced their 4th crypto fund of $4.5 billion - the largest crypto fund ever. The report surmises that we’re in the fourth ‘price innovation’ cycle, where startups and projects are actively building in the background while markets remain down. It also notes how the nascent DeFi sector has risen to a massive $100 billion of Total Value Locked in under two years and NFT creators made an average of $174,000 last year, far higher than other creator platforms like Youtube. On that note, we briefly discuss the strength of the NTF market, floor price, price denomination, utility, and how the space is progressing.

In closing, major US bank JPMorgan has announced that not only is Bitcoin undervalued by around 30%, but it’s now removing real estate from its preferred alternative asset class and replacing it with crypto. That’s massive news from a bank that entirely denounced the crypto sector only a few years ago.