Author: Nancy, PANews
Recently, with the substantial token issuance plans announced by leading projects such as Magic Eden and Pudgy Penguins, confidence in the NFT market has been effectively rekindled, driving strong recoveries in prices and trading volumes.
An airdrop wave is coming, with multiple leading projects announcing token issuance plans.
A new wave of token issuance is approaching, with the airdrop event at the NFT trading market Magic Eden igniting this wave of NFT enthusiasm.
A few days ago, Magic Eden officially launched its TGE (Token Generation Event) and quickly listed on major exchanges. The airdrop activity became a hot topic of discussion in the community. While attracting attention with the airdrop, Magic Eden also took the opportunity to frequently announce a series of product developments, including allowing users to trade Solana NFTs with ME tokens, the next version will allow users to trade all assets across all chains, and launching community-first features. According to recent comments from Magic Eden co-founder Jack Lu, the launch of ME tokens is just the beginning, with more plans to follow. These initiatives have further increased the attention on Magic Eden and the entire NFT market.
Meanwhile, as another major trading platform, OpenSea has also sparked speculation about airdrops. Recently, Mike Dudas, co-founder of The Block, disclosed on social media that OpenSea has registered a foundation in the Cayman Islands. Since foundations are typically non-profit organizations, they can effectively avoid tokens being classified as securities, and this registration is widely seen as a preparation for token issuance. It's worth mentioning that OpenSea announced last month that a new version would be launched in December, with early testing indicating the possible introduction of a loyalty program and retrospective rewards.
According to the latest data from nftpluse, in the past year, OpenSea ranks second in the NFT trading market with about 1.2 million users, achieving a market share of 23.5%, second only to Magic Eden. Once OpenSea initiates an airdrop, its large user base may reignite enthusiasm in the NFT market.
In addition, the leading NFT project Pudgy Penguins 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 airdrop of Pudgy Penguins' PENGU token could become one of the largest wealth creation events in 2024, with average airdrop earnings for holders expected to reach $31,000 to $61,000. Given that Pudgy Penguins CEO Luca Netz previously revealed that the PENGU token has not yet undergone a snapshot, this NFT has rapidly become one of the market's hot topics.
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 reaching $160 million. Currently, Pudgy Penguins' market capitalization is close to $1.2 billion, surpassing Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and second only to the highest market cap project, CryptoPunks.
Blue-chip projects become the main force behind the strong rebound of NFTs.
Currently, blue-chip NFT projects are showing strong increases in both price and trading volume, becoming the main driving force behind the market recovery.
Data from CryptoSlam shows that in the past 30 days, the total trading volume in 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 capitalization have completed a total trading volume of $470 million, accounting for about 64.9% of the overall market. Among them, Pudgy Penguins, Lil Pudgys, and Bored Ape Yacht Club have the highest trading volumes.
At the same time, the market recovery is also reflected in the price performance of blue-chip NFTs. Data from NFT Price Floor 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 significant increases. This further validates the substantial impact of airdrop activities on trading volumes and floor prices, showcasing the resilience of blue-chip projects.
From a more segmented market performance perspective, the upward momentum of utility NFTs and PFP/Avatar types is the most evident. Data from NFT Price Floor shows that the market cap of these two segments has increased by over 85%. In contrast, the performance of game NFTs and vintage NFTs has been relatively lackluster, failing to keep pace with the market recovery.
"The market is about to welcome the most prosperous NFT bull market in history. AI will become extremely wealthy; since it cannot purchase physical luxury goods, it will turn to buying NFTs," predicted Andrew Kang, a partner at Mechanism Capital, in a recent post.
Yat Siu, co-founder of Animoca Brands, also recently stated that the NFT market will experience a strong rebound. Although there have been some failures in this sector, NFTs will continue to rise as status symbols.
VanEck noted in its (Top 10 Cryptocurrency Predictions for 2025) that although NFTs face challenges, some outstanding projects have surpassed speculative value through strong community ties, successfully resisting downward trends. For example, Pudgy Penguins has successfully transformed into a consumer product through collectible toys, Miladys has gained cultural status in the realm of ironic internet culture, and Bored Ape Yacht Club has developed into a global cultural dominant force. VanEck believes that newly wealthy users will invest in NFTs, not just as speculative investments, but as assets of lasting cultural and historical significance, predicting that annual trading volume for NFTs could reach $30 billion, approximately 55% of the peak in 2021.
Overall, blue-chip projects are undoubtedly the core force in the recovery of the NFT market. Although the market still faces uncertainties despite a comprehensive rebound, the wave of airdrops has effectively stimulated market sentiment in the short term.