CryptoPunks and BAYC Drive NFT Market Recovery

Resurgence in the NFT Market

The NFT market is showing signs of revival.The industry has accelerated following a November recovery in the broader crypto market. According to CoinGecko‘s December data, the market value has increased to $8.8 billion, a 17.3% gain in just one week. With daily volume increasing by almost 48% over the last day across all chains, trading activity is also increasing.

This comes after a robust November with NFT sales of $562 million, the most since May’s $600 million. However, the number of unique buyers has declined. November saw just 662,000 buyers compared to over a million in May.

Blue-chip NFT collections are still the market leaders. These premium collections have a floor price of 42.99 ETH, or about $159,000, according to data from CoinGecko’s NFT Heatmap. This value has risen by more than 14% in a week and by almost 5% in a day.

CryptoPunks played a significant role in November’s recovery. The collection recorded $49 million in trading volume, up by 392% from October, across just 388 transactions. A popular choice for investors and collectors, CryptoPunks has a 40% market share and a median trade value of $114,131.

Notable progress is also being made by the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC). With a weekly growth of 75.79%, its floor price is currently 21.27 ETH, or $79,727. In the past day, BAYC moved 1,486 ETH in volume, signaling strong interest from whales and collectors.

Other collections are also making waves. Pudgy Penguins, a rising contender in the blue-chip space, has a 14.869 ETH floor price, equivalent to $55,758, with a nearly 30% weekly appreciation. Azuki, priced at a more accessible 5.799 ETH, saw an 8.61% floor price increase in a single day.

Three collections- CryptoPunks, BAYC, and Pudgy Penguins- now dominate 73% of market activity. Ethereum continues to lead with $216 million in November sales. However, Bitcoin is gaining traction, posting a 99.44% monthly increase to $186 million.

There have also been notable changes in marketplaces. According to data compiled by Hilldobby, an analyst at Dragonfly Capital, from Dune Analytics, Blur has surpassed all other platforms on EVM chains in terms of processing $271 million in trades, followed by OpenSea with $161 million.

With over 2 million trades and 188,000 active traders, OpenSea continues to be the most popular marketplace. Blur, on the other hand, draws a smaller but more active population of roughly 38,000 traders.

Even with its recent expansion, the NFT market is still far from reaching its zenith. The CryptoSlam 500 NFT Index, which tracks 500 smart contracts across 11 blockchains, sits at 1,135.04. This represents a 53.77% drop from its high of 2,494.74.

Although platform innovations and growing institutional interest hint at a brighter future, the market is still finding its footing. The days of explosive growth and widespread attention are yet to return, but recent data shows there’s still room for optimism.