Ethereum Whale’s $7.79M CryptoPunks Purchase May Signal NFT Market Recovery

Key Points

1. Wallet 0x1bb3's $7.79M CryptoPunks purchase led to a 20% increase in the NFT market cap, from $5.1B to $6.4B in a day, with CryptoPunks' floor price rising 15.9% to 47.5 ETH (~$179,000 per NFT).

2. The whale also acquired a Chromie Squiggle NFT for 60.5 ETH (~$227K), with its OpenSea portfolio now valued at over 1,700 ETH (~$6.5M), boosting Ethereum NFT trading volumes.

3. Ethereum's price surged nearly 50% from $2,525 to $3,730, driving renewed demand for NFTs, with Ethereum NFT trading volumes reaching their highest since mid-January.

4. Despite the recent surge, the NFT market faced challenges earlier in 2024, with a year-over-year sales decline of 18%, the steepest drop since 2021.

5. Bitcoin-based NFT volumes nearly doubled to $25.6M, while Polygon NFTs declined; total NFT trading volume across major blockchains reached $143.5M in the past week.