Author: Vince Dioquino
Translation: Colloquial Blockchain
After the overall cryptocurrency market warmed up in November, the NFT market is heating up again.
According to CoinGecko’s December data, the market capitalization in this field has reached $8.8 billion, a 17.3% increase from last week. The same data shows that trading volume has also surged: the daily trading volume across all chains skyrocketed by nearly 48% in the past 24 hours.
This trend continued the momentum from November. According to CryptoSlam data, NFT sales in November reached $562 million. This figure is the highest level since sales approached $600 million in May of this year.
It is noteworthy that the number of independent buyers in November dropped to just 662,000, while this figure exceeded 1 million in May.
1. Overview of blue-chip NFT data
Blue-chip NFT collections still hold a dominant position in the market across all blockchains (including non-EVM chains). CoinGecko's NFT heatmap shows that its current lowest price is 42.99 ETH, approximately $159,000. This price has increased by nearly 5% in the past 24 hours and by over 14% in a week.
CryptoPunks also led the rebound in November, with trading volume reaching $49 million, a 392% increase from October, achieved through only 388 transactions.
Despite the emergence of new NFT collections, CryptoPunks still holds a 40% market share, with a median transaction value of $114,131, indicating that this pioneering collectible still retains its appeal among serious collectors and investors.
Similarly undeterred, the price of Bored Ape Yacht Club remains strong at 21.27 ETH ($79,727), achieving an impressive 75.79% increase in a week, attracting attention from major trading platforms. In the past day, the total trading volume of this series reached 1486 ETH, showing that whales and collectors are making significant bets.
Market growth is not limited to traditional hot projects. As a dark horse in the blue-chip NFT space, Pudgy Penguins currently maintains a healthy floor price of 14.869 ETH (approximately $55,758) and has achieved nearly a 30% increase in a week. Even the more accessible Azuki, with a floor price of 5.799 ETH, saw a single-day increase of 8.61%.
Currently, the three major series of CryptoPunks, BAYC, and Pudgy Penguins account for 73% of market activity. Meanwhile, Ethereum remains the leader, with November sales reaching $216 million, while Bitcoin also made significant gains, growing by 99.44% that month to reach $186 million.
According to data organized by Dragonfly Capital analyst Hilldobby through Dune Analytics, in the NFT market on EVM chains, Blur leads with a trading volume of $271 million, followed closely by OpenSea with a trading volume of $161 million.
As for user habits, OpenSea remains the preferred marketplace for most people, with about 188,000 active traders completing over 2 million transactions. It is worth noting that although Blur has a smaller user base, with only about 38,000 active traders, its user trading activity is higher.
2. No longer at its peak
Although recent NFT trading volumes show some signs of recovery, the CryptoSlam 500 NFT index tells a more realistic story, revealing the overall trend of the market. Currently, the index stands at 1,135.04, down 53.77% from its peak, indicating that we are still far from the heyday when NFTs dominated cryptocurrency headlines and garnered mainstream attention.
This index tracks 500 smart contracts across 11 major blockchains, including Ethereum, Solana, and Polygon, and has significantly retreated from its peak of 2,494.74, depicting a market still searching for a new balance.
Despite recent platform innovations and institutional interest bringing a glimmer of hope to the market, data indicates that the NFT market is still struggling to regain the explosive growth that once defined the space.
