The crypto bear market is hitting top-tier NFT collections hard.
Key Takeaways
- The NFT market is crashing alongside Bitcoin and Ethereum.
- An increase in wETH trades on OpenSea suggests owners of dominant NFT collections such as Bored Ape Yacht Club may have sold their assets in panic.
- The decline in the dollar value of ETH has heightened the decline in the NFT market.
The latest crypto market selloff was accompanied by a significant drop in floor prices for some of the biggest collections in the NFT market.
NFT Market Enters Panic Mode
The NFT market has taken a hit in the latest crypto selloff.
The floor prices for many of the most valuable NFT collections have tanked along with Bitcoin and Ethereum, with the entry price for some collections dropping by more than 17%.
The “floor price” refers to the cheapest piece available on the secondary market. It’s a popular metric for determining the value of NFT collections.
According to NFTGo data, the floor price for Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs is down 12.57% in the last 24 hours, falling from around 84 ETH to 73.43 ETH. Meanwhile, the floor price for Moonbirds, one of the standout collections of the year, has plummeted to 14.88 ETH, down 17.33%. Interestingly, CryptoPunks has come out relatively unscathed, with the price for the cheapest Punks falling only 2.67%.
Furthermore, as NFT specialist punk9058 pointed out on Twitter earlier today, OpenSea has seen its wrapped ETH (wETH) trading volume as a percentage of total volume reach a yearly record of 0.2%. wETH trades frequently occur when sellers accept low bids on their assets, indicating that holders may have sold in panic in search of liquidity during the weekend downturn.
The NFT market has suffered this year, thanks to the broader crypto market. While a handful of collections have defied the downward trend at different points, with Bored Ape Yacht Club leading after topping $430,000 on May 1, the market has struggled to hold up in the latest crash. At a 73.43 ETH floor price, with ETH trading at around $1,260, the cheapest apes are now going for about $92,450. That’s a 78.5% drop from the peak.