Crypto Punks gets lifeline as NFT sales pick up

Journalist

Posted: November 12, 2023

• Crypto Punks’ trading volume jumped 15x, leaving BAYC behind.
• The average floor price increased from 49.85 ETH to 59.40 ETH.

The Crypto Punks NFT collection was handed a boost in the last seven days as its trading volume skyrocketed from $200,000 to $3 million. 

In the NFT market, trading volume is an indicator of the health of a collection. Low trading volumes imply a drop in interest and a substantial decrease in liquidity. On the flip side, high trading volumes suggest increasing liquidity and solid demand for assets in a collection.

Punks are no longer unwanted

Therefore, the surge in Crypto Punks’ volume meant that there was an increase in demand for the collection. As a result, the rotation of ownership hit a point that it hadn’t neared in months.

Furthermore, the hike in the volume made it the collection with the highest sales on the Ethereum [ETH] blockchain. According to CryptoSlam, Crypto Punks’ sales in the last seven days amounted to $20.26 million.

This value represented a 924% increase when compared to the previous seven days.

However, being the top earner on Ethereum did not mean that Punks had the highest volume and sales in the broader NFT market.

AMBCrypto’s analysis of the market activity showed that $SATS BRC-20 NFTs, a collection operating via the Bitcoin Ordinals network, had the highest transactions and sales.

Source: CryptoSlam

Ordinals top, but Punks thump BAYC

At the time of writing, the sales for $SATS BRC-20 NFTs were over $32 million. The surge is a testament to the renewed interest in Bitcoin Ordinals after a period of downturn. For Crypto Punks, it was a similar situation. 

This was because, four months ago, AMBCrypto made an in-depth report of the NFT winter. An NFT winter is described as a period when prices, market cap, and volumes of collections decrease at a faster rate than normal.

At that time, the floor price of Crypto Punks plunged by 60%. This nosedive brought up discussions, with many saying that the collection may be unable to revive. With the recent increase in trading, it seemed that Punks were no longer programmed to fail.

A look at CoinStats data showed that the trading volume of Crypto Punks was not the only metric positively affected. At press time, the floor price of the collection was 59.40 ETH.

As of the 5th of November, the average value was 49.85 ETH, indicating how valuable the asset has become in just a few days.

Source: CoinStats

Realistic or not, here’s ETH’s market cap in BTC’s terms

AMBCrypto also found out that Punks exchanged ownership 163 times in the last seven days. When compared with Bored Ape Yacht Club [BAYC], Crypto Punks were far ahead, as BAYC sales were $7 million less than its blue-chip counterpart.

While the surge indicates returning optimism to the NFT market, it may be dicey to say if this is one step ahead in the bull market direction. For now, traders can only watch and observe how things unfold.