Blue-Chip NFTs Tumble as ETH Retreats From All-Time Highs

Blue-chip non-fungible token (NFT) collections had steep weekly declines as Ether pulled back from all-time highs. 

Data from decentralized finance aggregator DefiLlama showed that top projects saw their floor prices sink by double digits in the last seven days. Blue-chip NFT collections like Pudgy Penguins, Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and Doodles were among the hardest hit.

Pudgy Penguins, the top NFT collection by 24-hour and 7-day volume, saw a 17.3% drop to a 10.32 Ether (ETH) floor price. BAYC shed 14.7% to 9.59 ETH, while Doodles recorded one of the sharpest corrections, dropping 18.9% to 0.73 ETH. Other major collections like Moonbirds and Lil Pudgys dropped 10.5% and 14.6%, respectively.

The NFT floor price drop followed a sharp ETH retracement after hitting new all-time highs. On Monday, CoinGecko data showed that ETH reached a new all-time high of $4,946. ETH dropped 12% on Tuesday to $4,342 before recovering slightly. At the time of writing, the crypto asset traded at $4,433.

CryptoPunks remain resilient despite the market crash

While many collections suffered heavy losses, not all NFT projects were in retreat. CryptoPunks, which remained the top NFT collection by market cap, showed relative resilience, dropping only 1.35% over the week. 

Despite the top collections showing floor price declines, trading volumes remained high. Throughout the week, Pudgy Penguins led the market with about 2,112 ETH (about $9.36 million) in trading volume. The collection was followed by Moonbirds, with 1,979 ETH ($8.77 million). 

CryptoPunks followed closely with 1,879 ETH (about $8.33 million) in volume, while BAYC had 809 ETH ($3.59 million). 

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NFT market capitalization drops to $7.7 billion

While blue-chip NFTs suffered double-digit declines, the broader NFT space also dropped almost 5% to $7.7 billion, according to data aggregator NFT Price Floor. 

On Aug. 13, NFT Price Floor showed that the overall NFT market capitalization peaked at $9.3 billion, up 40% from July’s $6.6 billion. The surge was fueled by an increase in NFT activity following an ETH surge. 

On Aug. 18, the NFT market cap dropped further to $8.1 billion, wiping out $1.2 billion from digital collectible valuations. 

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