Are CryptoPunk’s NFTs Losing Steam? Sales fall below $100 million for the seventh consecutive month
CryptoPunks remains one of the most talked about NFT collections in the space. Sales of the 10,000 pixelated cartoon heads still generate tens of millions of dollars in monthly volume.
Unfortunately, the peaks that Larva Labs (developers behind CryptoPunks) reached in 2021 have not been replicated in 2022.
On May 8, CryptoPunk #273 changed hands for about $139,000 after selling for $1.03 million in October 2021. The seller of NFT lost about 80% of his investment.
After reaching an all-time high (ATH) of approximately $680 million in August 2021, sales of CryptoPunks began to stall during the final months of that year.
CryptoPunks began the year with a monthly sales volume of around $124 million in January. A general slowdown in all facets of the crypto industry saw sales drop to just $25 million in August.
This was the seventh consecutive month that sales fell below $100 million. Other than that, this was the lowest sales since June 2021’s $19 million – a 14-month low.
While several analysts attributed the decline in sales to the shift from highly volatile assets to non-volatile assets such as bonds and bills, the consistent plunge in the number of unique buyers and total transactions confirmed a serious downward trend.
Unique buyers hit a 20-month low
The total number of unique buyers for CryptoPunks fell to just 103 in August 2022. This was a 92% drop from the peak of 1,215 from the same time last August. The last time the number of unique buyers was less than this was in December 2020 with 96.
Average sales were at a four-month high
Despite a drop in unique buyers and total transactions, CryptoPunks’ average sale value rose to a four-month high to reach $158,649. This was down 68% and 55% from sales values of $493,066 in November 2021 and year highs of $353,145 in February, respectively.
The average sales value in August was also 82% over June’s figure of $86,930.
CryptoPunks surpassed several NFT projects in monthly sales
Despite hitting new lows, sales of CryptoPunks still surpassed Axie Infinity ($6 million), Otherdeed for Otherside ($23 million), NBA Top Shot ($7 million), Azuki ($9 million), CloneX ( $12 million), Moonbirds ($19 million), and Art Blocks ($10 million).
On the other hand, the collection followed Bored Ape Yacht Club and Mutant Ape Yacht Club which generated $58 million and $26 million respectively.
CryptoPunks still a top NFT after weekly sales
The digital collectibles remain a top-selling collectible after weekly sales. It trailed only Loot and Bored Ape Yacht Club and was followed by Doodles, Ethereum Name Service and Otherside in the ranks.
Are CryptoPunks Dead?
The drop in sales has led to several stakeholders in the digital collecting industry asking whether CryptoPunks will gradually begin to be overtaken by other NFT collections.
In August, Bored Ape Yacht Club flipped CryptoPunks, and this has become a reference point for many analysts.
Be[In]Crypto reached out to mainstream experts to get their views on the subject.
Oliver Mann, founder and CEO of trustINwine.com, a marketplace for high-end wines sold as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), lent his voice on the subject.
“The idea that a blue-chip NFT collection is dead due to a few months of lower than $100 million in monthly sales needs to be put into a larger context. In general, sales of non-utility NFTs have been in decline, both in floor prices and volume, except for a few exceptions. CryptoPunk’s Intellectual Property (IP) was recently acquired by Yuga Labs, where there is still no clarity on what it means in practical use cases. In fact, the entire IP is for NFTs something that’s up in the air, which means there’s a level of uncertainty around the value, Mann said.
He added “In an even bigger picture, with the merger upon us, a bear market and general financial turmoil in real life, it is too early to tell if a rally is over. We’ve seen revivals of old projects before, and as with all things, these things come in waves. We’re still in the early stages of NFTs, and early adopters like CryptoPunks will continue to have value.”
“As some have said, CryptoPunks are like the Mona Lisa and will have real long-term value. Strong projects survive, maybe even thrive, in bear markets,” he concluded.
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