The Ethereum-based NFT market is experiencing a notable uptick in sales activity, with weekly volumes witnessing a staggering 99% increase, fueled by growing interest in collections such as Pudgy Penguins and Nobody. Recent data indicates a resurgence in Ethereum-native nonfungible tokens (NFTs), marking a potential turnaround for the sector.
A significant highlight in the recent sales surge includes the transactions of Wrapped Ether Rock #46 and Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) #1726, fetching $496,658 and $668,297 respectively. These sales rank among the highest recorded this month, following a notable $1.53 million sale of CryptoPunk #5363 on January 31.
According to industry expert Anndy Lian, NFTs like Wrapped Ether Rock and BAYC carry more than just monetary value; they symbolize prestige within the NFT community, reflecting social and cultural capital.
While the sale of BAYC #1726 appears strategic, the sale of Wrapped Ether Rock suggests a different trend, as noted by Ilan Rakhmanov, CEO of ChainGPT. Rakhmanov views the Ether Rock sale as a price pump aimed at garnering attention to the collection.
Ethereum’s NFT sales volume has surged by a remarkable 99.42% over seven days, totaling $159.5 million. This increase is attributed to a 25% rise in sales from the Nobody collection, amounting to $8.76 million weekly. In contrast, Bitcoin’s NFT sales experienced a 25% decline to $47.5 million during the same period.
Yehudah Petscher, an NFT strategist at CryptoSlam, suggests a shift back to Ethereum among NFT traders, citing renewed interest in Ethereum-based projects over Bitcoin Ordinals and Solana-native NFTs.
Contributing to Ethereum’s sales surge, the Pudgy Penguins collection witnessed its floor price reaching a new peak of 21.5 ETH on February 10, subsequently settling at 20.28 ETH. This places Pudgy Penguins in close proximity to Bored Ape Yacht Club’s floor price, reflecting the growing prominence of the former.
The seven-day sales volume of Pudgy Penguins also saw a substantial increase, climbing 143% to $6.8 million. This positions Pudgy Penguins as the fourth-largest NFT collection by weekly sales volume across all blockchains, according to CryptoSlam.
Interest in Pudgy Penguins surged following the announcement of Pudgy World Alpha, an upcoming blockchain-based gaming experience set for release in Q1 2024.
Despite the recent resurgence, the NFT market has endured a downtrend since May 2022, with floor prices of leading collections like CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club witnessing significant declines from their all-time highs.
