As CryptoSlam journeys deeper into Web3, we’d like to invite our earliest supporters, as readers of NFTs On Deck, to participate in our first ever Zealy Quest. We have big plans for 2024, and in many ways, that
starts today. Our Zealy Quest will reward your participation with XP. But what is the XP for? Stay tuned…
For the Love of the Game (Market Commentary) |
Ok, be honest. Which ones of you reading said that PFPs
were dead and would never come back? It was a narrative we heard throughout last year’s bear market, and while some did really believe it (I mean, it’s fair to have the thought cross your mind with as dark as things got), this past week has made it clear that PFPs will never go away. The CryptoPunks are once
again proving they’re the king of NFTs, with their sales bot going “brrrr" nonstop over the past week. If you’ve been in the NFT scene for a while, it gives you a big burst of nostalgia and early 2021/22 vibes
Like the prior week, grail punk after grail is trading hands, often from investors with plenty to spare to those who are hoping to grab their own slice of blockchain history for the first time. In the past seven days, over $17.23m worth of CryptoPunks have been sold, and massive offers are still rolling in for the
top-shelf grails.
In NFTs, sales beget sales, and now other PFPs are starting to see the tide lift their own ship. The CryptoUndeads, NodeMonkes, Gas Hero Common Heroes, Pudgy Penguins, Dokyo, Tensorians, and BAYC have all joined the CryptoPunks in the Top Ten this week. 8 PFPs in the Ten Ten? Again, PFPs will never
die.
The cycles in NFTs just keep getting more and more interesting. In the past, we only had to consider the cycle between PFPs, art, and meme coins. These days, those cycles still play out perfectly (we’re in the PFP cycle if that wasn’t obvious), but we have added more complexity with cycles between blockchains. The cycle from Solana and Bitcoin to Ethereum continues now for the third week. Remember four weeks ago Ethereum was the third-ranked blockchain in the 7d blockchain rankings, but since then has climbed this week to the number one ranked blockchain with over $109m in NFT sales. This is where the Forkast Indexes become useful for seeing what ecosystems traders are favoring. In the past seven days, it’s still Ethereum whose NFTs are gaining value, while Solana, who did have a hot new mint with the CryptoUndeads, isn’t seeing traders return to the established collections in a meaningful way.
But for now, instead of wondering where we’ll cycle next, let’s just hope that the cycle continues. NFT sales have now declined for the fifth week in a row, with sales coming in at just $292.28m last week.
For context, yes sales are down, but $292m would have been the sixth-best week of sales if we compare it to 2023's weekly sales.
Right now traders are pulling back from trading due to the instability
in crypto, but also as they await airdrops. $JUP, $FRAME, $NFT, and Blur’s $1.3b in locked-up funds (plus rewards) are all on their way into traders hands over the next couple of months, so traders are waiting to see how much of that liquidity goes into their hands, and where that money flows.
What, where, why and how are the questions on everyone’s mind? With the Bitcoin ETF approval still shaking out weak hands, and the SEC’s ongoing lawsuit against
Coinbase ramping up, we may be waiting a bit long to find the answer to those questions. Then again, this is Web3, the place where everything can change in an instant.
- CryptoUndeads was one of last week's hottest mints, and thanks to attention from across blockchains, they held off the CryptoPunks from the #1 spot with $21.27m in
sales.
- CryptoPunks, while not #1 on the week, have now been at the top spot in the 24-hour charts for most of the past week. Grail after grail, and sweep after sweep have
driven sales volume in the iconic collection up 111.62% in the past 7d.
- Ordinals have certainly seen a slowdown in sales, with just $10.75m in sales last week. The 42.39% decrease in sales from the prior week has the ordinals
falling to #3 this week.
- Pudgy Penguins continue their meteoric rise, with a floor price still near 20 ETH, and a tease of big info coming soon.
- MintID is a key of sorts to the new Mint L2 blockchain. Holders benefit from others who trade on the chain, and clearly, that has collectors excited. Last week MintID traded
for over $7.04m.
- Tensorians have returned to the Top Ten as PFPs have returned to being in fashion. The Tensor marketplace recently announced Price Lock and new NFT
options.
- Ethereum is now the top-selling blockchain by NFT sales volume, with $109.50m in
sales, up 19.92% this week.
- Solana saw a huge boost this week after falling to the #3 spot last week. 36% of Solanas sales come from the new CryptoUndeads collection, showing just how much a
new project can boost an ecosystem.
- Bitcoin ordinals sales have fallen 43.02% this week as $BTC price has fallen, and traders' appetite to trade along with it. Major sales are still taking place on
grail NFTs, and Bitcoin’s biggest mint is still ahead with Quantum Cats next week.
- Magic Eden is going full-on Web3. Yesterday they announced that their marketplace protocols and contracts would become open source to the Non-Fungible DAO. They also announced platform rewards, a new cross-chain wallet, and there’s maybe an $NFT token coming.
- Some major Bitcoin Ordinals sales took place at Sotheby’s over the past week.
The Quantum Cats Genesis Cat sold for $254k, Des Lucrece’s art sold for $96k, and a BitcoinShroom sold for $101k.
- Art Blocks' $1.99m in sales won’t put them near the Top Ten this week, but the sweep of their collections and grail sales are surely newsworthy. The FlamingoDAO
swept 17 Chromie Squiggles for 144 ETH ($357k), and grails like Fidenzas are selling for 98 ETH ($243,379.25), and 73.8 ETH ($183,279.4).
- Donald Trump’s Mugshot NFT collection is coming to Bitcoin, as the former
President announced that the 200 ed rare mugshot NFTs will be inscribed as Ordinals.
- The Cool Cats aren’t just cool again, they’re starting to get hot. Sales are up over 330% in the past seven days, following a
newly announced partnership with the Polygon-powered Immutable zkEVM. First up, a new questing mobile game that arrives in q2.
The Forkast 500 NFT Index has now declined for six weeks in a row, this week down -1.67%. The price of cryptos is down bringing down the value of NFTs, and lower trading volume factors in as well. But like last week, the Ethereum NFT Composite is actually up again, +3.12%.
For the broader market to recover, traders will need some confidence that crypto prices aren’t done falling, and maybe some reassurance that the NFT pump we’ve seen for the past few months was true collectors collecting instead of just FOMO.
Have a MEGA GM!
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ULTRAMAN! X Enders Gate - Ultraman Mint Pass Date - Jan 21 Blockchain - Polygon Price - 55 $MATIC
Zokio - Zokioverse Date - Jan
24 Blockchain - Ethereum Price .08 ETH Matt Gondek - Deconstructed Mega-Monsters Date - Jan 26 Blockchain - ImmutableX Price - TBA Taproot Wizards - Quantum Cats Date - Jan 29 Blockchain - Bitcoin Price - .01 BTC
Harto - Flora Forms Date - Feb 14 Blockchain - Bitcoin Price - Free |
Capitulation is defined as the action of surrendering or ceasing to resist an opponent or demand, and its use in financial markets just makes sense. Typically securities trade on news, but sometimes you’ll see a price remain mostly stable following big news, when volatility may have been expected. Then suddenly that
massive movement arrives in what is described as the market capitulating to the news. From traditional markets to crypto, you’ll find the term used nearly on a daily basis so it’s good to look for historical times when capitulation occurred.
Happy researching!
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