BAYC Floor Price Plunges 90% From Historical High: Are Ethereum NFTs Losing Their Luster?

Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), once a flagship collection in the Ethereum non-fungible token (NFT) market, witnessed its floor price tumble to a new low. Recent data from Blur indicates that the BAYC’s floor price momentarily dipped below 11 Ethereum (ETH), settling at 10.89 ETH.

This dip signifies a steep decline of 12.08% in just one day. Furthermore, it represents a staggering drop of 90% from its peak, marking the lowest valuation since August 2021.

Ethereum NFTs Lose Ground as Bitcoin Ordinals Dominate

Despite this, a slight rebound occurred at the time of writing, with Blur reporting a recovery of 11.12 ETH.

However, data from OpenSea shows that BAYC has a floor price of 11.99 ETH. Based on Ethereum’s current price, the number is approximately $36,893.

Such fluctuations highlight the volatile nature of the NFT market, particularly within Ethereum-based collections.

In a broader context, the decline in BAYC’s valuation reflects a general downturn in the Ethereum NFT sector. Data from CryptoSlam reveals a noticeable drop in BAYC’s sales performance over the last 30 days.

The ape-themed collectible only records a total sales of $28,933,804. This number represents a decline of 28.23%, placing it sixth in sales value.

The shift in market dynamics is also highlighted by the increasing dominance of Bitcoin-based NFTs — the Bitcoin Ordinals. These collectibles have recorded a sales volume of $457.98 milion over the last 30 days, significantly outpacing the $299 million achieved by Ethereum NFTs.

The “Uncategorized Bitcoin Ordinals,” encompassing a diverse range of yet-to-be-categorized assets, lead the market in sales value.

However, despite the apparent waning enthusiasm for Ethereum NFTs, investors continue to pour significant sums into select collectibles.

After relative inactivity, buyers purchased two extremely scarce CryptoPunks of extraterrestrial origin for over $16 million each last month.

The first one was CryptoPunk #3100, sold for 4,500 ETH ($16.03 million) on March 11. Meanwhile, the second one was CryptoPunk #7804, which was sold for 4,850 ETH ($16.42 million) on March 20. 

These sales were the first involving alien Punks since early 2022 and breathed some life into the lagging Ethereum NFT market.

Speculation regarding the buyers’ identities ran rampant, especially after LVMH’s Alexandre Arnault hinted at being the buyer of CryptoPunk #3100 before retracting the claim. Nft Now revealed that the collector Artudito purchased CryptoPunk #7804.

Artudito, known for their significant acquisition of a complete Autoglyphs set for 5,000 ETH ($14.536 million) in February, shared their vision for the purchase:

“Integral to this portrait of the future is the CryptoPunk artwork ‘Alien with Pipe,’ which is poised to become as iconic as, if not more than, the Mona Lisa…The alienness of this CryptoPunk resonates deeply with the outsider status that many digital artists and enthusiasts…initially encountered.”