Can the Recent Interest in CryptoPunks Impact the Health of the NFT Market

On Oct 18, 2022

One NFT market analyst discovered that in recent weeks, the interest in CryptoPunks has surged higher than ever. What does this mean for the NFT market as a whole?

You’ve heard it from everyone – well, except us – the NFT market is doomed. Prices, investors, and overall hype have all dwindled down in 2022 due to several factors. Are NFTs just a fad? From the interest in CryptoPunks, it seems people are still interested in NFTs.

There’s More Interest In CryptoPunks

If you’re not aware of it, CryptoPunks is one of the first popular NFTs. They were created in 2017, and there are 10,000 of them. Regarding market cap, the collection still ranks second in the NFT world. It has been popular for years.

And it seems that it’s only growing, seemingly. According to a Twitter user and an NFT market analyst, Punk9059, the number of unique addresses holding Punks has surpassed 3,600 for the first time.

Total unique CryptoPunk owners has passed 3600 for the first time.
I thought perhaps Yuga was selling some of their punks but the Yuga wallet has been inactive since the day they received the 423 punks in their treasury. Not a sale or listing. pic.twitter.com/063ka5x5nl
— NFTstatistics.eth (@punk9059) October 7, 2022

And that’s not all. The number of unique holders has positively impacted the floor price of CryptoPunks, it seems. According to NFT Floor Price, a site that tracks the average price of an NFT, the average price for a Punk has increased by more than 6% over the last seven days.

On the other hand, there doesn’t seem to be much trading. CryptoPunk’s volume has remained flat since November, with no indication that it will pick up soon.

What’s the Reason Behind the Sudden Interest?

While it might be tempting to see this increase as a sign of continued growth and momentum for the NFT space, some analysts argue that this could signal an impending downturn.

We know one thing for sure – people are talking. As Punk9059 pointed out, the number of CryptoPunk social mentions skyrocketed in early October. One possible reason for this could be that people are cashing out their ETH before the hard fork.

Some believe that it could be due to a positive shift in public perception of blockchain technology. In contrast, others point to new use cases for NFTs like CryptoPunk and its ability to serve as a digital collectible or form of investment.

However, despite these possible explanations, many have expressed concerns that the recent uptick in interest in CryptoPunk could be a sign that investors are becoming overly optimistic about the future of NFTs.

After all, there are still many challenges facing the NFT market, including legal uncertainty around ownership rights, issues with scalability and interoperability, and high barriers to entry for new players looking to enter the space.

Will This Have a Positive Impact on the NFT Market?

Overall, while it remains unclear exactly what is driving this renewed interest in CryptoPunk specifically and NFTs more generally, it is clear that this development has sparked much debate within the crypto community.

NFTs, in general, have been down more than 90% since the beginning of the year. While we can’t hope that the market cap will return to its all-time high, it is still good to see some movement in the market.