Whether it is the cobalt of Melania Trump’s eyes or the vivid cerulean of Crazy Frog’s exposed loins, this week on crypto Twitter was defined by NFT blues.
A week has passed since our previous meme roundup, but the situation on the markets remains more or less unchanged. After a major crash of between 10-20% on Dec. 3-4, almost all top cryptocurrencies are still following the downward trend, albeit with differing degrees of momentum.
Bitcoin (BTC) is down around 5% on the 7-day timescale, Ethereum (ETH) has lost 2% over that same time period and Binance Coin (BNB) is down 5% as well The total capitalization of the cryptocurrency market is down from about $2.32 trillion a week ago to around $2.20 trillion, a fall of 6%.
According to a market analysis by crypto rating firm TokenInsight published earlier this week, crypto markets are displaying increased volatility amid the “central bank super week,” during which major European central banks are publishing their new interest rate resolutions.
Despite the prices so far remaining relatively level, if slightly downtrending, the medium-term performance of the cryptocurrency market remains uncertain according to TokenInsight, which advises retail investors to hedge their bets and avoid risky moves while we are still in what it has dubbed “the eye of the storm” — not the most reassuring prognosis by any account.
In order to fight off the dread of the unknown and warm up our souls amid this crypto winter, let us take a look at this week’s best Twitter memes, starting off with the usual suspects — which are, of course, price memes.
One user has poignantly encapsulated the ongoing volatility through the visual medium:
At the same time, others find the strength to celebrate their gains, no matter how little:
However, the real star of crypto Twitter this week were not the minutiae of price upswings and downfalls. Rather, it was the phenomenon of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which came under meme fire from multiple directions even as it is seemingly approaching the peak of its popularity with several major players deciding to enter the scene.
Multi-national footwear and apparel giant Nike acquired an NFT start-up RTFKT for an undisclosed sum this Tuesday in an attempt to increase the brand's “digital footprint and capabilities.”
Another major foray into the NFT scene came from the soft drink producer Pepsi, which, just a week ago, announced the release of a collection of almost 1,900 non-fungible tokens.
Appropriately called the “Pepsi Mic Drop,” this true pinnacle of creative originality consists of nothing else but nigh-identical 600x600 pixel images of microphones, differentiated only by items of clothing and/or styles of hair/mustache; any one of these could be yours for a measly sum of about $600.
Pepsi’s announcement has prompted the blockchain platform Solana to snap back with a witty one-liner:
In a display of admirable moral consistency, Solana has similarly chosen not to endorse the launch of an NFT collection by Melania Trump — wife of former President of the United States Donald Trump — for which Solana’s blockchain has been chosen as the platform.
Designed to provide the buyers with an “amulet to inspire,” the collection is called “Melania’s Vision” and each lot consists of a digital copy of a watercolor painting of the former First Lady’s “cobalt blue eyes” by artist Marc-Antoine Coulon, as well as an audio message of hope from Mrs. Trump herself.
Each pair of eyes is priced at 1 Solana (SOL), which is almost $90 per eye, as of Dec. 17 prices. An undisclosed “portion” of the proceeds generated by the NFT sales will be donated to help children that are aging out of the U.S. foster care system.
While in no way detracting from the charitable cause of the new initiative, some users have suggested alternative artwork to be used in Melania Trump’s future NFT collections:
The NFT obsession reached such high proportions this week that it has managed to attract negative attention from people outside (or mostly outside) the crypto industry.
Entrepreneur, multi-billionaire and frequent commenter on blockchain matters Elon Musk had this to post:
Meanwhile, actor Keanu Reeves, when asked about his opinion on NFTs during a recent interview in relation to his role in the upcoming Matrix Resurrections, had produced a meme-worthy laugh as his only response, all while his co-star Carrie-Anne Moss sat beside him in total silence, withholding any commentary:
Although the exchange between Reeves and the host did inspire several memes from the community:
In a sure sign that NFTs are hitting the mainstream, the phenomenon was heavily satirized by the animated TV series South Park in its most recent episode:
And to round out this week’s collection of memes, here is a truly bizarre story. Crazy Frog, a Swedish CGI character and musician who was created in 2003 by Erik Wernquist, took the world by storm with his hit song “Axel F,” and then disappeared for more than a decade, has returned with a new single “Tricky,” as well as an NFT drop.
The song was warmly welcomed by the long-time fans of the blue frog, who was believed all but gone forever until this week’s triumphant return; on the other hand, the NFT announcement was met with quite the opposite reaction, which apparently included death threats and other “nasty things.”
Despite the backlash, however, the people behind Crazy Frog chose not to cancel the NFT launch — albeit, it turns out, not of their own volition. It appears that they are placed in an unwinnable position by their producer, who is forcing them to proceed, which was all but confirmed by this image:
Well, that does it for this week. We will see you next Friday when the world will hopefully have become a better place — one where singing cartoon frogs are not forced to publish NFTs against their will.
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