Welcome to the latest edition of This Week in Crypto, your source for staying updated on the most significant developments in the world of cryptocurrency. In this week’s roundup, we’ll dive into a range of stories, including the meteoric rise and subsequent challenges faced by the decentralized social media app Friend.Tech. We’ll also explore how NFL Rivals, an officially licensed mobile football game, is embracing NFT player cards, reshaping the gaming industry’s landscape. Additionally, we’ll delve into Solana Pay’s integration with Shopify, which marks a notable step towards mainstream adoption. Join us as we unravel these compelling narratives and keep you informed about the evolving crypto landscape!
Viral Crypto Project Friend.Tech Network Activity Declines
In recent weeks, decentralized social media app Friend.tech gained massive popularity for its fusion of crypto trading and social networking. Within ten days of launch, the platform secured the position of the third-largest cryptocurrency protocol by fee volume. Operating on Ethereum’s layer-2 Base, Friend.tech introduced the novel concept of users buying and selling shares of their friends’ social media profiles. This model led to the accumulation of over $1 million in fees within 24 hours and a substantial total protocol fee close to $6 million. Its transaction volumes reached 36,260 Ethereum (approximately $60.6 million) through 1.4 million transactions, making a big splash in the crypto world.
However, this meteoric trajectory took a downward turn within weeks. Despite an initial surge in activity and transactions, Friend.tech has experienced a notable decline in the last week. Daily fees plummeted from a peak of $1.7 million to around $215,000, with transactions dropping over 90%. This decline extended to buyer and seller activity as well as inflows, which shrunk by nearly 90.5%. These setbacks have raised questions among the crypto community about the platform’s sustainability and long-term viability.
Mythical Games’ NFL Rivals Brings NFT Card Purchases to iOS and Android
Mythical Games’ NFL Rivals mobile football game has brought NFT player card purchases to its iOS and Android apps, expanding from its web-based marketplace. This move follows Google’s policy update enabling NFT transactions. Though the current marketplace experience is currently confined to suggested cards, Mythical Games intends to introduce broader in-game marketplace features for buying and selling NFTs in the near future.
NFTs purchased within the app are stored in users’ Mythical accounts and require integration with NFL Rivals for activation. Players use the new in-game currency, Credits, to buy suggested NFTs, available in various bundles through the App Store or Play Store. Notably, Mythical Games confirms consistent NFT prices regardless of purchase method, distinguishing it from other platforms with inflated in-game NFT prices due to platform fees. The game has garnered 2 million downloads since its April soft launch, officially launching worldwide in anticipation of the 2023 NFL season.
Solana Pay Joins Forces with Shopify, Enabling Millions of Businesses to Accept USDC
Decentralized payment app Solana Pay has integrated with popular e-commerce platform Shopify, allowing millions of businesses using Shopify to offer Solana Pay as a payment option to customers. The initial integration will support USDC, the second-largest stablecoin with a market capitalization of $25.9 billion.
According to Josh Fried from the Solana Foundation, “Some people argue the killer app for crypto hasn’t arrived, but it has: it’s payments”. Solana Pay’s fee-free nature makes it an attractive choice compared to traditional credit card processing fees that can be as high as 3.5% per transaction.
USDC’s close tie to the US dollar and its regulatory compliance make it an appealing option for merchants and consumers. The integration not only enables transactions, but also allows merchants to create innovative loyalty programs, including systems involving NFT loyalty tokens. Overall, Shopify’s adoption of Solana Pay brings the worlds of traditional finance and crypto even closer in one practical integration.
