NFTs are mainstream again?

The mainstream is ready to talk about non-fungible tokens (NFTs) again.

In the past week, Elon Musk, Joe Rogan, Mark Cuban, and now The Simpsons have all uttered the phrase “NFTs.” Each goes as far as discussing the technology, the market, or in the case of The Simpsons, dedicating its annual Halloween special to the topic.

While this might be a sign that NFTs are back, (and you could even back that up with some data), some bigger indicators show a true recovery is still a while off.

Looking at last week’s data we can see the continued uptrend that NFTs are undeniably in.

Other than trade profits, everything is up. Global NFT sales crossed the US$100 million threshold for the first time since mid-August, and wash sales are at nearly a four-month high. This was also the fourth consecutive week of increasing total NFT sales.

We should still be focused on the number of transactions and the lack of growth there. Those who are already in NFTs have newfound conviction to buy grails, but outside of those traders, we’re not seeing anyone spending their crypto on NFTs. This should be concerning or at the very least, tempering expectations.

For now, a certain set of traders are very active. Specifically, the ones who feed liquidity to the rest of the market. Right now they are buying grail NFTs like rare CryptoPunks and Bored Apes, and scooping up NFTs from iconic collections like Cryptoadz, Doodles, and even Supducks are seeing some life. Usually, these types of purchases trickle down the food chain to the broader NFT community and fuel prolonged mini-runs.

Soure: CoinMarketCap

Expect the current market trend to continue for at least the next 13 days before Blur’s season 2 ends on Nov 20. The $BLUR token these traders are farming has climbed up to US$0.36, putting the token firmly farming back on the menu for degens.

Last week, Memeland dropped millions of dollars worth of their new $MEME coin to their NFT holders and injected liquidity into the NFT market. Up next, we’ll have $BLUR and Friend.tech airdrops to serve more fuel on the fire that is priming the NFT market for its typical January liftoff.

Upwards and onwards, and above all else, have fun collecting. After all, that’s why we’re here.

Peep the charts

• Bitcoin’s $SATS BRC-20 collection is the top-selling blockchain collectible in the past week with over US$10.4 million in sales. Controversial? Yes. Still impressive and deserving of the attention? Yes.

• Bored Apes, The Captainz, CryptoPunks, Mutant Apes, and Potatoz together traded for over US$29 million, signaling that buyers armed with liquidity are back in the market for pure collectibles.

• Sorare’s huge Unique Victor Wembanyama NFT sale last week shows the demand behind fantasy sports that are powered by NFTs. The 1/1 player card sold for 61.18 ETH (US$110,000).

• Multiple CryptoPunks have had US$1 million bids over the past week. Expect to see this historic collection continue to rip.

• Ethereum NFTs have soared to over US$70 million in sales this week, up over 23% from last week. Wash sales are also on a tear as traders farm rewards points for $BLUR.

• Bitcoin is back in a big way, driven by BRC-20 swap platforms, and renewed interest in Ordinals. Sales are up 193%, and new art platforms featuring huge artists this week just might drive it even higher.

• Mythos Chain thrived in the bear market but now is showing it can hang with the pack in even bullish environments. DMarket’s Counterstrike gaming skins are still driving 99% of the blockchain’s sales with the collection’s US$7.6 million in sales volume.

• Don’t let Solana’s barely-down week fool you. They had a huge week of sales the prior week thanks to Backpack’s upcoming exchange in Dubai and maintained this week, with over US$7.3 million in sales.

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