For the Love of the Game (Market Commentary) |
What a spicy week it has been in Web3, packed with drama, accusations, rugs, and thankfully some
massive NFT sales. Let’s start on a positive note. Once again, we had a week dominated by CryptoPunks, with some major sales setting the tone for where NFTs might be headed. There’s a twist: while these sales are impressive, they’re also signaling that Punk prices might be down this cycle. The biggest Punk sale of the week was an amazing Ape Punk (#6915), which sold for 620 ETH ($1.4M). That’s a big deal, but let’s put it in perspective—this same Punk had a 1200 ETH bid just two years ago. Things are clearly different this time around. Yesterday, we also saw a massive Zombie Punk sale, with Punk #9368, a hoodie Zombie, selling for 550 ETH
($1.2M). This very same punk traded just days ago for 475 ETH, giving the previous buyer a cool 75 ETH profit just this week. Add to this a 300 ETH hoodie/3D glasses Punk sale for Punk #6634, and another Zombie Punk #2967 for 240 ETH, and it’s clear that while prices are lower, traders still feel there’s life in the NFT market yet.
The Ordinals ecosystem, however, feels like it’s on the verge of a meltdown. From finger-pointing about who was paid to promote what, to one of the top native Web3 brands
throwing in the towel on Bitcoin, it’s been a memorable week, to say the least.
CyberKongz, one of Ethereum’s beloved projects, made waves in Bitcoin with their Decentralized Rune and Untitled collections earlier this year. But on Friday, the team announced they were stepping back from building on Bitcoin, leaving the community to take the reins of
their Bitcoin assets. As you’d expect, some investors felt burned. After initially stating they would release their Rune and be done, the Kongz ended up releasing a PFP collection to appease their community. As expectations for more ramped up, the team realized they should have stuck with their initial plans to end their involvement after the initial Rune drop. The week didn’t get much better over on Bitcoin as Rocktoshi, the founder of NodeMonkes, claimed he was a co-founder of Ordinals. The real founder, Casey Rodarmor, quickly denied this on X, and now the space feels divided, with accusations flying about supporters of either side being paid off. If you didn’t already know that this is very much what the NFT community is, well, here’s your peek behind the curtain. It’s a space that thrives on narratives and controversy more than tech and innovation.
There were some amazing moments in NFTs that deserved a spotlight,
perhaps the biggest being the Doodles’ Dullsville and the Doodleverse animation premiering at the Toronto Film Festival. This is a huge moment for Web3-native IP, with names like Pharell Williams, Lil Wayne, and Coi Leray all voicing characters in the animation.
Over in the NFT market, traders were largely absent, and we sure as heck missed them. The number of NFT transactions fell to its lowest total in over 3 years with just 1,003,283 transactions. The week of May 31 2021 was the last time we saw fewer transactions
in a weekly period, when 939,567 transactions were recorded. Global sales also fell to a 2024 low, while buyers and sellers each headed in the wrong direction. Buyers fell -16.38% while sellers climbed 18.69%, and average NFT sale prices increased 33.15% showing how the week’s massive CryptoPunk sales really impacted the market’s numbers. Regardless of how many people are active in Web3 right now, big sales and big drama show the passion that traders have for NFTs. Even in a quieter market, the drive to be part of the next big moment is exactly what will keep NFTs relevant
forever. - CryptoPunks continue to show why they are the king of NFTs. This week, buyers saw a 50% increase to go along with the massive individual NFT sales.
- NodeMonkes was caught up in major drama this week, but $2.04M in sales shows the strong support the collection has. Buyers saw a 36.30% increase and helped push the collection’s price back
above .12 BTC.
- Courtyard is back in the top ten, and the NFL season is back. Coincidence? Not when Courtyard added NFL Football Pro Packs to their NFT vending machine. Sales are up 46.05% this week, as traders
flock to the Polygon platform to collect digital and physical cards.
- Ethereum saw $31.9M in NFT sales this week even with buyers declining 57.79%. Big sales from CryptoPunks
and other top-tier collections helped pad the numbers, in what otherwise was a down week.
- Bitcoin sales were almost entirely flat with just a 0.89% decline from last week. Sales came in at $12.42M while sellers fell 88.77%. Remember, this is the slow time of year for
collectibles.
- Solana saw the biggest declines in both sales and buyers out of the top 5 blockchains. Sales fell 27.22% to $12.07M while buyers saw a 92.75% decrease. Is the bottom
in?
- Bored Ape Yacht Club is back on track, rolling out announcement after announcement last week, including a BMW partnership for a 1/1 ApeCar, their BAPE merch collab, $1M in prizes for their Dookie Dash game, BAYC beer, and an incentive program for ApeChain builders called BluePrint.
- STEPNGO on Polygon raced up the collection rankings to #17 with $935K in sales, as the move to earn platform has found some real product-market fit amongst the health enthusiasts. STEPN GO
is sponsoring one runner's journey to be the fastest person to run across America, with 73 miles per day for 42 days.
- While the CyberKongz had a difficult week on the Bitcoin side, their Ronin and Ethereum-facing Genkai collections found success with Manga Plus, where their new Manga came in as the #1 community voted for manga in August.
- $1.16M in sales is great for the Pudgy Penguins, but it’s their innovation that has me impressed this week. The team issued soulbound tokens to their NFT holders who have held onto their NFTs for 1,000 days, which could be rewarded with something, maybe even a token, in the future.
- The Grapes team had been silent over the past few weeks, and now have revealed that they are selling all of their NFTs, $Grape tokens, socials, and business to an anonymous buyer. Some in the community are calling this a rug, while others understand are being patient to receive more details.
The CryptoSlam 500 NFT Index fell just -0.85% in the past 7d, showing that the NFT market has found some stability amidst its slowdown. A slow news period, and down crypto prices didn’t stop the traders who are still engaged from picking up NFTs
that might have some pretty fantastic upside.
Today we’ll be watching to see if crypto is mentioned during Kamala Harris and Donald Trump’s first (and probably only) Presidential debate. This is still a hot topic that has largely been left unaddressed by either. We’re hoping for some clarity for crypto, and we’re hoping to get it sooner rather than later.
Be smart and keep your finger on the pulse of
this market, by keeping your eyes on CryptoSlam and the indexes. You can stay plugged in by fixing your vision on our new daily Web3 live show called Chain Reactor.
Have a MEGA GM! — Yehudah Petscher |
Alpha refers to insider or valuable information, usually about the value of digital assets like cryptocurrencies and NFTs. It’s what traders use to get a competitive edge, aiming for returns that beat the market or other benchmarks. Getting good
alpha could be the difference between just following the crowd or being ahead of the game. Received this from a friend? Sign up for this CryptoSlam VIP newsletter. |
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