Musk’s Milady Meme, Opening Up Ordinals

Miladys NFTs saw a brief pump after Elon Musk tweeted about them and Binance is making it easier for people to buy Bitcoin NFTs.

AccessTimeIconMay 12, 2023 at 4:05 p.m. UTC
10 Years of Decentralizing the Future
May 29-31, 2024 - Austin, TexasThe biggest and most established global hub for everything crypto, blockchain and Web3.Register Now

This week, Ordinals moved further into the mainstream after leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced that it would soon add support for the Bitcoin-based non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in its marketplace. Meanwhile, Miladys, the eerie, wide-eyed NFT project that has spawned a cult following, saw a brief spike in its floor price after Elon Musk tweeted out a meme featuring an avatar from the collection.

Plus, digital asset custodian Aegis Custody is offering free custodial services to women for six months, worth a total of $28,000, in order to make it easier for women to join Web3.

You’re reading The Airdrop, our weekly newsletter where we discuss the biggest stories across Web3. Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Friday.

This Week's Alpha

Binance dives into Bitcoin NFTs: Leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance will soon add support for Ordinals on its NFT marketplace, highlighting the growing demand for Bitcoin NFTs. The platform already offers support for NFTs built on Ethereum, Polygon and its native BNB Chain. To simplify the process, Binance will allow traders to buy Ordinals through their Binance accounts without having to set up a taproot-compatible Bitcoin wallet.

  • Bitcoin NFTs are going mainstream: Popular NFT marketplace Magic Eden recently expanded support for Bitcoin NFTs, while platform Gamma.io has made minting and buying Ordinals easier. Yuga Labs recently released its own Bitcoin NFT collection called TwelveFold, which generated $16.5 million from its auction.

A Milady from the Dogefather: Twitter CEO Elon Musk tweeted a meme featuring a Milady NFT, causing the floor price of the wide-eyed avatars to soar on OpenSea. The project, which has seen a resurgence amongst the NFT community for several weeks, saw its floor price briefly hit an all-time high of 7.3 ETH (approximately $13,700) before dipping back down to about 4.25 ETH as of writing.

  • Pumping power: Historically, when Musk tweets about a crypto project, that project sees a temporary spike in value. He’s long been a vocal advocate for Dogecoin, which surged after he briefly replaced Twitter’s logo with the Shiba Inu mascot. The coin dropped back down once he restored Twitter’s blue bird.

Crypto women supporting women: Digital asset custodian Aegis Custody is offering 6 months of free services to crypto companies founded or led by women. Serra Wei, CEO and founder of Aegis Custody, told CoinDesk that she was inspired to provide end-to-end custody and security services to other women after reflecting on the challenges she faced when entering Web3.

  • Lowering barriers to entry: Wei said that the initiative was aimed at making it easier for women to enter Web3 by freeing up resources so they can focus on growth and building. “Women in the crypto industry often face an uphill battle to receive the same level of support and respect as their male counterparts," she said.

Projects on the Rise

Pudgy Penguin NFT (Via Pudgy Penguin Meme Generator, modified by CoinDesk)
Pudgy Penguin NFT (Via Pudgy Penguin Meme Generator, modified by CoinDesk)

What: Pudgy Penguins, a collection of 8,888 cute penguin characters, has experienced a boost in popularity in recent days following a $9 million seed funding round led by 1kx. Over the past seven days, the project’s trading volume has increased by 39%, with the number of sales jumping by 34%.

Why: The project, which initially launched in July 2021, changed hands in January 2022 after the community voted to oust the founding team for failing to deliver on their promises. Entrepreneur Luca Netz snapped up the project in April 2022 for $2.5 million. Since the takeover, the project has expanded its licensing deals and saw a jolly Christmastime rally.

In Other News

Boss Barbie: NFT project Boss Beauties teamed up with Mattel to release a 250-edition collection celebrating Barbie and her multitude of careers.

Unstoppable alliance: Digital identity provider Unstoppable Domains has joined the board of directors of the Open Metaverse Alliance for Web3, which is creating standards for a decentralized metaverse.

World of Women spoke to The Block about its expansion into becoming a global brand, including coming out with a custom Monopoly board and their collaboration with House of Harlow.

Jumping for JOMO: Digital mental health collective Peace Inside Live is releasing a wellness-inspired NFT collection to raise funds for mental health in Web3.

Non-Fungible Toolkit

The launch of Blend, Blur’s peer-to-peer NFT lending platform, has brought renewed interest – and money – into loaning or leasing NFTs to turn a profit. It’s also brought fresh concerns about the health of the ecosystem’s liquidity as millions pour into a kind of financial instrument that was previously used by relatively few in the space.

So before you get involved in financing the purchase of an NFT or lending your NFT out for quick liquidity, make sure you understand you know how it works and the risks involved.

Edited by Toby Leah Bochan.

Disclosure

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.

Rosie Perper

Rosie Perper was the Deputy Managing Editor for Web3 and Learn, focusing on the metaverse, NFTs, DAOs and emerging technology like VR/AR. She has previously worked across breaking news, global finance, tech, culture and business. She holds a small amount of BTC and ETH and several NFTs. Subscribe to her weekly newsletter, The Airdrop.


Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk's longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.