In a crafty move, a trader capitalized on a bot’s mimicry to pocket nearly $1.5 million. NFT trader Hanwe Chang ingeniously deceived a rival bot into purchasing his own inflated NFTs, accumulating 800 Ether in the process. Chang’s strategy involved manipulating bids on the NFT platform Blur, outsmarting the imitating bot and profiting from the price disparity.
NFT Volume Dips in July
The NFT market continued to grapple with a bearish trend, as July witnessed a 42% decline in NFT sales volume. According to CryptoSlam data, the U.S. dollar sales plummeted from $22 million at the start of the month to $12.8 million by July 31. Despite a previous surge in late June, where daily volumes hit $58.5 million, July’s decrease indicated the ongoing volatility of the market.
Context on how @HanweChang executed a plan to perfection and made 800e by selling "Off White A – Background color" azuki at 50e each and azuki elementals at 15e each.
This is an epic case of PvP in the current NFT trading market ⚔️
Hanwe has been coasting at the top spot of… pic.twitter.com/M8Ujm8CquJ
— A-Raving-Ape.eth 🍌 (@a_raving_ape) August 5, 2023
NFT Royalties Suffer Decline
NFT creators faced diminishing returns from royalties, as a Nansen report revealed a substantial drop in effective fee rates. The report disclosed that out of the 699,816 ETH paid as royalties to NFT projects, a mere 9.4% was distributed in the first half of 2023. The average royalty rate dipped from 2.5% in 2022 to 0.6% by July 2023, marking a staggering 98%. % reduction.
Sluggish Month for NFT Thefts
Contrastingly, NFT-related thefts observed a sluggish pace in 2023. Security firm PeckShield reported a 31% decrease in stolen NFTs during July, amounting to approximately $1.7 million. Notably, half of the pilfered NFTs were rapidly sold within a short span of three hours on platforms like Blur and OpenSea. While Blur saw the highest proportion of stolen NFTs sold (67%), OpenSea trailed with just under 20% sold on its platform. Overall, 2023’s total NFT thefts reached around $41.5 million by the end of July, with the peak in February at $16.2 million.
