The Development of Ethereum NFTs and Bitcoin NFTs | Q&A

1. About Ethereum NFTs and Bitcoin NFTs

Currently, the profile NFTs in the Ethereum ecosystem are quite sluggish, with even the once-leading project, Bored Apes, dropping below 12 ETH, not to mention other NFTs (including Goblins).

The only standout project is Pudgy Penguins, which has a floor price exceeding 12 ETH, surpassing Bored Apes. Its ability to stand out is likely due to a period of time where it revitalized popularity through off-chain business strategies.

However, whether this off-chain business strategy can continuously feed back into and promote this on-chain new thing, NFT, still needs to be observed and tested over time, and I hold a relatively cautious attitude towards it.

Because this strategy follows the old path of traditional IP. I always believe that new things need new marketing methods and strategies to achieve breakthroughs.

Overall, if Ethereum's profile NFTs cannot find new paths and strategies, the overall sluggish trend is likely to continue, even if they can ride the coattails of the upcoming bull market, it will only be a brief resurgence.

In contrast, Bitcoin's NFT ecosystem has been much more lively recently.

Various NFTs related to runes have seen significant increases lately. Especially Runestone, which, after the founder announced that there would be three more airdrops, triggered a rush of buying, pushing its market value above that of Bored Apes.

Additionally, Bitcoin Puppets recently saw its floor price briefly exceed that of the previously dominant Node Monkeys due to market sentiment.

These two phenomena indicate that Bitcoin's NFT ecosystem is still in its early stages, and the price surges are largely driven by temporary sentiment, lacking the accumulation of value and consensus, and have not yet endured the bear market like those in the Ethereum ecosystem. It is very likely that the rankings of these NFTs will change in the upcoming bull market.

However, in the long run, a more concerning hidden worry is that most of these NFTs in the Bitcoin ecosystem are similar to Ethereum's profile NFTs or meme coins, where the emotional value is only temporary. If they cannot find a sustainable development path, their ultimate fate is also not optimistic.

2. What do you think about Merlin's TVL, is there a lot of risk involved?

Not just Merlin, but for almost all staking projects, once the TVL reaches a certain threshold, the risks definitely increase. Almost all projects in the Ethereum DeFi ecosystem have gone through countless hacker tests and market trials to reach where they are today.

Merlin will also encounter these issues and challenges. In addition, Merlin's method of asset preservation is a very traditional multi-signature wallet. Therefore, the safety of the assets staked in Merlin entirely depends on the management of the project team.

If managed well, the risks are controllable; but if not managed well, the risks become uncertain.

I have also participated in its asset collateralization. As a participant, it is difficult for us to assess the management level of the project team, so we can only start from ourselves and control the risks—still, as I have always emphasized: do not stake large amounts of assets, only stake what you can afford to lose.

3. How is the TAO project?

I'm not quite sure if the TAO referred to here is Bittensor? If so, I have shared this project in my previous series of articles on AI.

It targets a very niche field, presenting an innovation in application scenarios and making sense in its implementation. More importantly, it does not deliberately use seemingly grand but ultimately superficial scenarios to hype the project like many other projects do. So, although this project itself has many aspects worth scrutinizing and testing, I still believe it is worth continuing to observe and hold certain expectations for it.