The value of Bored Apes and CryptoPunks has fallen below $100K as the momentum for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) seems to have stalled. NFTs, which are unique digital assets stored on blockchain technology, gained significant attention earlier this year as individuals and even major companies jumped on the trend. However, the market for NFTs has since cooled off, with some of the most popular collections seeing a significant drop in value. This highlights the volatility of the NFT market and the need for caution when investing in digital art and collectibles.
NFT Blue Chips CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) Experience a Price Drop
The prices of “blue chip” NFT collections CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) have fallen below $100,000 worth of ETH this week for the first time in months due to the NFT market slump. Although both NFTs have rebounded somewhat, the current cost of acquiring a CryptoPunk is 49.8 ETH ($93,692 at writing) compared to over $128,000 worth of ETH just a month ago. It costs at least 49 ETH, or about $92,200, to purchase a Bored Ape.
Fewer and fewer trades are taking place across the entire NFT market, and daily trades across all NFT marketplaces have decreased by 71% since mid-April, according to Dune Analytics. The recent drop-off remains unclear, but activity on Blur, a relatively new NFT trading platform, has been disproportionately responsible for rosy headlines about the enduring strength of the NFT marketplace. However, Blur’s strategy of luring customers from other platforms and encouraging them to make meaningless trades for financial rewards has begun to dampen genuine NFT marketplace activity.
Some have pointed to recent spikes in gas fees as potential explainers for the phenomenon, while others have pointed to the dismal figures as an indication that the long-awaited “bottom” of the crypto and NFT bear market could be in sight. However, as the last year has shown, there is sometimes even lower to go.
Title 1: Slump in NFT Market Affects Prices of CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club
Title 2: Activity on Blur Impacts Genuine NFT Marketplace Activity