CoinGecko, a crypto price-tracking platform, purchases Zash, an NFT analytics company.
CoinGecko, a crypto data aggregator, is making a strategic move to expand its API offering by acquiring Zash, an infrastructure company focused on non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The aim of the acquisition is to provide users with more NFT-related metrics, including metadata, historical trades, and lending data. CoinGecko plans to introduce these new services by Q2, 2024, and users will have access to data across various platforms such as Ethereum, Polygon, BNB Chain, Bitcoin Ordinals, and Solana. Additionally, users will be able to gather NFT lending information from marketplaces like Blend, X2Y2, and NFTfi. One notable feature of Zash is its capability to monitor wash trading, an illegal practice that has been a concern in the NFT market. However, this feature will only be available for “major collections” minted on Ethereum. Wash trading involves buying and selling assets simultaneously to manipulate prices. It has been blamed as one of the main factors behind the NFT bubble in 2022. According to Chainalysis, a blockchain forensic firm, some wash traders collectively made nearly $9 million in profit, although most wash traders have been unprofitable, resulting in significant losses. As of now, the total sales in the NFT market amount to $80.8 million, a significant decline from its peak in August 2021 when the market generated over $2 billion in daily sales. CoinGecko, founded in 2014 in Singapore by TM Lee and Bobby Ong, operates as a platform that provides data and information on digital currencies, offering tools for users to assess and rank their cryptocurrency holdings quantitatively.
