Author: Nancy, PANews
Recently, with the significant token issuance plans from major projects like Magic Eden and Pudgy Penguins being announced, confidence in the NFT market has been effectively rekindled, boosting prices and trading volumes.
The NFT airdrop wave is coming, with multiple leading projects announcing token issuance plans.
A new wave of token issuance is coming, and the airdrop event at the NFT trading market Magic Eden has ignited this wave of NFT enthusiasm.
A few days ago, Magic Eden officially launched its TGE (Token Generation Event) and quickly listed on major exchanges, with the widespread airdrop becoming a hot topic in the community. While drawing attention with the airdrop activity, Magic Eden also took the opportunity to frequently announce a series of product developments, including allowing users to trade Solana NFTs using ME tokens, the next version allowing users to trade all assets across all chains, and introducing community-first features. According to Magic Eden co-founder Jack Lu, the launch of the ME token is just the beginning, with more plans to come. These measures have further increased the attention on Magic Eden and the entire NFT market.
At the same time, as another major trading platform, OpenSea has also sparked speculation about airdrops. According to a recent social media post by Mike Dudas, co-founder of The Block, OpenSea has registered a foundation in the Cayman Islands. Since foundations are typically non-profit organizations, this can effectively prevent tokens from being classified as securities, so this registration is widely viewed as preparation for token issuance. It is worth mentioning that OpenSea announced last month that a new version would be launched in December, and the beta version showed plans for a loyalty program and retroactive rewards.
According to the latest data from nftpluse, in the past year, OpenSea ranked second in the NFT trading market with approximately 1.2 million users, achieving a market share of 23.5%, second only to Magic Eden. Once OpenSea launches its airdrop, its large user base may reignite enthusiasm for the NFT market.
In addition, the leading NFT project Pudgy Penguins has announced its TGE plan during this period, allocating about a quarter of the total token supply to the community. According to analysis by X user @BTCThinker88, the PENGU token airdrop from Pudgy Penguins may become one of the largest wealth creation events in 2024, with expected average airdrop earnings per holder reaching $31,000 to $61,000. Given that Pudgy Penguins CEO Luca Netz previously revealed that the PENGU token has not yet had a snapshot, this NFT has quickly become one of the hot topics in the market.
According to NFT Price Floor data, as of December 16, the floor price of Pudgy Penguins has skyrocketed to 33.7 ETH, with an increase of over 236.9% in the past 30 days, and a monthly trading volume of as high as $160 million. Currently, Pudgy Penguins' market cap is nearly $1.2 billion, surpassing that of Bored Ape BAYC, only second to the highest market cap of CryptoPunks.
Blue-chip projects become the driving force behind the strong rebound in NFTs.
Currently, blue-chip NFT projects are showing strong increases and trading volumes, becoming the main driving force behind the market recovery.
CryptoSlam data shows that in the past 30 days, the total trading volume of the NFT market was approximately $720 million, with transactions on Ethereum, Bitcoin, and Immutable all achieving double-digit increases, demonstrating strong market recovery momentum.
During the market recovery process, the main contribution to trading volume comes from blue-chip NFT projects. According to NFT Price Floor statistics, in the past 30 days, the top ten NFT projects by market cap completed a total trading volume of $470 million, accounting for about 64.9% of the overall market, with Pudgy Penguins, Lil Pudgys, and Bored Ape Yacht Club leading in trading volume.
At the same time, the market recovery is also reflected in the price performance of blue-chip NFTs. NFT Price Floor data shows that in the past 30 days, the average floor price of the Top 10 NFTs has increased by 91.7% (calculated in coin terms), with Pudgy Penguins, Lil Pudgys, and Azuki showing particularly prominent increases. This further validates the significant impact of airdrop activities on trading volume and floor prices, showcasing the strong resilience of blue-chip projects.
From a more segmented market performance perspective, the rise of utility NFTs and PFP/Avatar NFTs is the most pronounced, with NFT Price Floor data showing that the market cap of these two sectors has increased by more than 85%. In contrast, the performance of gaming NFTs and vintage NFTs has been relatively flat, failing to keep pace with the market's recovery.
"The market is about to welcome the most prosperous NFT bull market in history. AI will become extremely wealthy, and due to the inability to purchase physical luxury goods, AI will turn to buying NFTs," predicted Andrew Kang, partner at Mechanism Capital, in a recent post.
Animoca Brands co-founder Yat Siu also recently stated that the NFT market is set to experience a strong rebound. Despite some failures in the field, NFTs will continue to rise as status symbols.
VanEck pointed out in its (Top 10 Cryptocurrency Predictions for 2025) that despite challenges for NFTs, some excellent projects have transcended speculative value through strong community ties and successfully resisted downward trends. For example, Pudgy Penguins has successfully transformed from collectible toys to consumer goods, Miladys has gained cultural status in the ironic internet culture field, and Bored Ape Yacht Club has developed into a global cultural dominant force. VanEck believes that new affluent users will invest in NFTs not just as speculative investments but as assets with lasting cultural and historical significance, predicting that annual trading volume for NFTs could reach $30 billion, accounting for about 55% of the 2021 peak.
Overall, blue-chip projects are undoubtedly the core strength in the recovery of the NFT market. Although the overall market recovery still faces uncertainties, the influx of airdrops has effectively stimulated market sentiment in the short term.