For the Love of the Game (Market Commentary) |
If you’re shocked by the wild swings we’ve seen in the market over the past week, don’t worry, you’re
not alone. Compared to this year, last year’s market volatility was pretty smooth sailing. Despite great news across crypto, the market is finding itself in a pretty precarious situation. Yes, we have the promise that the US will be the crypto capital of the world, but the road to get there is where the
uncertainty comes from.
This week we saw major tariffs threatened against Canada, Mexico, and China, with retaliatory tariffs threatened right back. This sent the market plummeting with Bitcoin falling over 10% to as low as $91k. But as quickly as we fell, the tariffs were quickly rescinded and the market bounced back to its prior levels of over $100k. We’re a wee bit reactionary here in crypto, but this incredibly volatile market is a gift to traders.
Remember, there’s a whole other type of traders who make their living day trading, so this period is about the best conditions they could ask for. Clearly, there are special times ahead for crypto, with many now predicting a change to the typical 4-year cycle. (That doesn’t mean cycles are over, just that they will be different.) Fueling this uncharted territory will be state-level crypto strategic reserves, and now the new US Sovereign Wealth Fund that will likely include crypto. It’s safe to say the future for crypto is incredibly bright, but right here, right now, the same can’t be said for NFTs. In fact, the past week in the NFT market capped off the worst January we’ve seen in 4 years. This speaks volumes about the lack of confidence traders have in what NFT teams are building, and how they’ll drive value back to the NFT collections, but it also reflects what we see in the crypto markets--people just don’t know when the real market move up will begin. Until we get more certainty about that, expect NFT
sales to suffer.
Last week the market finished with just $111.85m in sales, a new 12-week low, while trade profits fell to their lowest level in 25 weeks at -$8.7m. The market is going through a period of reset, but all it will take is a return of confidence for traders to flock right back to NFTs. - Pudgy Penguins are the top NFT collection in the past week, though sales fell -9.73% to $11.18m. Buyers actually saw a +6.83% increase as many Pudgy
Penguins NFTs traded hands during the slower week.
- DMarket sales are up +6.11% to $8.48m, with buyers up +7.53%. The top sale was a CounterStrike Sports Gloves
Vice skin which sold for $16k.
- Azuki sales are down -79.83% with sellers also down -53.96%. Azuki floor prices are in free fall following their Anime Coin TGE and now sits at 2.89 ETH
(-22.2%).
- Doodles saw $2.68m in sales in the past 7d, down -11.59% from the prior week. They had announced that their old CEO is out, and artist Burnt Toast will now be the CEO going forward. It’s a move towards the degen ahead of their upcoming token TGE.
- Ethereum sales fell -38.35% to $63.03m though buyers saw a +20.15%
increase. The top sale was CryptoPunk #5473 which sold for 162 ETH ($547k)
- Mythos Chain saw a +3.47% increase in sales to $13.84m and was the #2 ranked blockchain by NFT sales volume
- Bitcoin ordinals sales fell -55.16% to $10.83m while top collections like NodeMonkes and Bitcoin Puppets prices fell to as low as .055
BTC.
- Pudgy Penguins had a massive week of news and announcements starting with the launch of their Abstract blockchain. A big announcement arrived that will see the lovable penguins partner with the PEZ candy brand. They also teased that Igloo Inc would be working towards institutional adoption for $Pengu. Many are speculating that we
might see a $Pengu ETF. The Pudgy Penguins also announced a partnership with Basic Fun to bring their plushies to amusement parks around the world. We’ll also see the massive Web3 ip partner with Line Friends’ Minini, and a $PENGU token burn today. Safe to say that Pudgy Penguins are dominating headlines across crypto.
- Yuga Labs welcomed the community back to the Otherside Metaverse for a fresh session of Project Dragon (their new third-person shooter game). This time around they were aiming to set a world record for the most players in a single gaming instance, and while they didn’t break the record this time, they got within just
200 players of that goal. We’ll be back in the Otherside Metaverse next month and will try to break the record then.
- OpenSea is inching closer to their token TGE, but first has traders busy farming XP during their OS2 beta period. Once live, it appears that OpenSea’s marketplace will now include some fungible token trading for coins attached to NFT projects. NFT marketplaces evolving into DEXs, it’s coming.
The CryptoSlam 500 NFT Index is down -5.54% in the past 7 days. The value of the NFT market continues to take a hit as crypto volatility from the current trade wars rocks the crypto and NFT markets. But even without the wild price swings in
crypto, NFT traders were starting to unwind from their positions as collectors felt let down by projects like Azuki after their Anime Coin TGE.
New chains launching this month like Monad, Berachain, and MegaETH give hope to NFT traders that some excitement is still on the horizon, and Abstract Chain is gearing up to take NFTs by storm. We’ll see if it’s enough to return value back to the market, or if we’ll see the typical pattern of selling top
NFTs to get into the new shiny thing. 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 Nat Sarkissian - Never the Same
Date - Feb 4
Blockchain - Ethereum
Price - 0.068 ETH Sterling Mallory - The History of Cryptocurrency
Date - Feb 4
Blockchain - Bitcoin
Price - Free
Operation Safe Place Universe - Lucille Packs
Date - Jan 31
Blockchain - Sei
Price - 7 SEI Bert
Date - Feb 5
Blockchain - Solana
Price - 0.1 SOL TAKEI
Date - Feb 5
Blockchain - Ethereum
Price - 0.01 ETH Traitify Founders Pass
Date - Feb
27
Blockchain - Abstract
Price - 0.044 ETH |
Tokenomics is the study of the economics behind cryptocurrencies and digital tokens. It refers to how a token is structured, distributed, and utilized within its ecosystem, covering factors like supply, demand, inflation rates, utility, and
governance mechanisms. Strong tokenomics can drive adoption and long-term value, while poor tokenomics often leads to rapid declines after initial hype. In volatile markets like today’s, understanding tokenomics is key to spotting projects with lasting potential. Received this from a friend? Sign up for this CryptoSlam VIP newsletter. |
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