CryptoPunks once again dominate sales

Sales of the famous CryptoPunks are returning to dominate the NFT scene in 2023 that has just begun. In the last 24 hours, CryptoPunk #9788 was sold for 90 ETH, the equivalent of nearly $147,000.

CryptoPunks dominate the NFT scene, along with Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC)

According to data from NFTGo, the famous CryptoPunk collection is dominating the NFT market scene, with a total market cap that, at the time of writing, stands at nearly 825 ETH, the equivalent of more than $1.7 billion. 

And indeed, precisely in the last 24 hours, CryptoPunk #9788 was sold at 90 ETH, nearly $147,000, while CryptoPunk #2595 was sold at 66.69 ETH. 

Next in the ranking by market capitalization is Yuga Labs’ NFT collection, Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), with a total market cap of 801 ETH, the equivalent of $1.6 billion. 

Here too, in the last 24 hours, there have been mind-boggling sales such as BAYC #1556 for 145 ETH, the equivalent of nearly $237,000, and BAYC #2526 for 120 ETH, the equivalent of $204,250. 

Speaking of which, if we look at the rankings by sales volume (as opposed to market cap), at the time of writing it is the BAYC collection that is in first place, followed by CryptoPunks. 

CryptoPunks: the NFT market begins 2023 in the green thanks in part to Blur

The NFT market, captained by CryptoPunks, has definitely decided to start 2023 in green, with increases in sales compared to December 2022.

https://twitter.com/Delphi_Digital/status/1615046230131806214

As Delphi Daily points out with its tweet, the Dune Analytics data also mention increases in sales volume in 2023 by one particular NFT marketplace: Blur. 

In fact, as of 2 January 2023, Blur reported a total sales volume of more than $98 million, even surpassing OpenSea’s $97 million. 

Blur was launched on 19 October 2022 and is an NFT aggregator, where users can compare NFTs across marketplaces and manage portfolios with advanced analytics and purchase their NFTs. Compared to GEM’s marketplace, on Blur, users can sweep and snipe NFTs 10 times faster. 

The renewed interest in Profile Picture (PFP) NFTs

What is happening in this newly started year appears to be a renewed interest in Profile Picture NFTs (or PFPs) with Ethereum-based ones such as CryptoPunks gaining the most traction. 

CryptoPunks are the unique 24×24 pixel, 8-bit style avatar and represent a tokenized image. They are regarded as a work of art and a new form of asset tokenization that has become invaluable in the NFT market. 

The collection features 10,000 pixelated, punk-looking images depicting male and female characters, as well as those imitating zombies, monkeys, and aliens. Each punk is one-of-a-kind and is sold either by individual owners on the secondary market or on auction houses such as Christie’s and Sotheby’s. 

In 2021, the year of the NFT explosion, there are many new entrants to the industry who have procured a CryptoPunk. Among the many was the electronic payments giant, VISA, which had purchased the NFT CryptoPunk 7610 at 49.50 ETH, which at the time was the equivalent of $150,000.