Two CryptoPunks NFTs sold for more than $16 million within a few days of each other in March 2024. Could this be a sign of a strong comeback for NFTs? Far from there.
16.42 million dollars: this is the price at which a CryptoPunks NFT was sold on March 20, 2024. If the sum in itself is impressive, it is not a record: in 2021, another NFT in the collection called CryptoPunks sold for $23 million, and the most expensive NFT in history, a work by artist Beeple, went for $69 million.
However, this sale is notable in several respects. First of all, this is the second CryptoPunks NFT to be sold for several million dollars this month: a first NFT went for 16.03 million on March 3, showing that the collection is still as popular as ever. Finally, these two sales in a row are all the more impressive as they occur while the NFT market has been in free fall since 2021, and many thought the hype non-fungible tokens completed. Do these sales mean that the bear market is over and that NFT sales could start to rise again? Not so fast.
This is not the return of NFTs
It is not because two NFTs were sold at a high price that we can say that the market has returned to form. A quick glance is enough to see that the number of sales is still very low, far from the records reached in 2021 and 2022 – despite a slight improvement since the start of 2024 compared to the end of 2023.
It’s not just the number of sales that is at half mast: on average, the sums invested are also much lower on the market at the start of 2024 than they were at the start of 2023. The two recent sales of CryptoPunks therefore seem to be more of “ anomalies » of the market as an indicator of the return to power of NFTs.
How can we explain the success of CryptoPunks? First of all, you should know that this collection of NFTs has always been extremely popular, and is among the most recognizable, along with the Bored Apes Yacht Club. Although their floor price has fallen in recent years, along with the broader market, CryptoPunks have always been considered a “luxury” collection. Their price has therefore remained relatively stable, while the vast majority of other NFTs have lost value: 95% of projects are no longer worth anything today. The large number of failed projects and scams has also damaged the industry’s reputation: there are far fewer potential buyers than before.
CryptoPunks have been popular enough to thrive and remain relevant during the bear market. Today, while the cryptocurrency industry is recovering and prices are on the rise again, CryptoPunks are mechanically increasing in value.
The recent impressive rise in the price of bitcoin has driven the entire cryptocurrency sector upwards. Ethereum, the blockchain that hosts most NFT projects (including CryptoPunks), has seen its value explode. The success of CryptoPunks therefore does not predict a strong comeback for NFTs – but that does not mean that there will not be new records.
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