Key Takeaways

• Market value of NFTs has fallen by 40% to $2.3 billion in a month
• Investors are selling their blue-chip NFTs such as BAYC and Azuki
• Prices for all risky assets, including NFTs, are under pressure as the Federal Reserve raises interest rates

According to the most recent data on falling blue chip NFT prices (e.g., Bored Apes, Azuki), traders and investors are transferring their money away from NFTs and into safer investments.

The market value of all NFTs has decreased  by 40% to $2.3 billion over the last 30 days. That represents a significant amount—even more than the market capitalization of Tilray Brands (TLRY) or JetBlue Airways (JBLU).

However, the 25% growth in NFT sales volume is what is really worth taking note of.

Simply put, investors are selling their NFTs as a result of rising trading volume and declining prices. The market’s entire worth has significantly decreased  as a result.

What’s Causing All the Bloodshed?

Although NFTs use cutting-edge technology, their long-term potential is currently unimportant, given that the Federal Reserve is raising interest rates and pressuring the prices of all risky assets.

Investors find secure assets (like short-term bonds) more alluring when interest rates are higher. The end consequence is that riskier investments (including equities, cryptocurrencies, and NFTs) are losing money.

By the end of the year, the Fed intends to raise interest rates to over 4%. NFT prices would probably continue to decline as long as interest rates are rising.

BAYC Price Has Fallen on Average

During the weekend, the floor price of the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFT collection fell below 30 ETH (at the time of writing, it stood at around $58,128).

Following events like the Azuki Elementals reveal (and the falling prices), the average price of Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs has probably declined as a result of a general fall in the broader NFT market. The BAYC floor price is currently trading at 30.78 ETH, having since recaptured the 30 ETH barrier.

Since the beginning of April, when the collection was trading at 64 ETH, or about $124,000, the floor price has more than halved. With 1.4 million ETH traded, BAYC is one of the greatest NFT collections by sales volume.

Famous BAYC owners like Franklin sold 27 of his Bored Apes, and Machi Big Brother, a contentious figure, sold 50 Apes in a single weekend last month, including 19 Apes that were sold on the marketplace Blur for 651 ETH, or about $1.26 million.

Azuki’s Elementals Mint Fiasco Makes NFT Market Rebound

After a horrific week of falls, the market has recovered over the past 24 hours, but this new phase of NFTs feels different. The lack of liquidity and the lack of any intentions to profit from historically low prices across blockchains are topics of open discussion among traders.

Instead of being the boom for NFTs that Azuki’s new Elementals mint was supposed to be, it was a bust that caused falling prices and NFT collections to reach record lows.

The 10K Elementals NFTs sale generated almost $37 million for the Azuki team in under 15 minutes (10,000 tokens were airdropped to holders). As soon as the public and many Beanz holders were unable to mint, and the collection’s artwork was found to be low effort, the prices of their existing collections fell.

Collectors who purchased an Azuki or Beanz NFT to qualify for a free Elementals airdrop and other people who lost hope in the project’s future sold their assets while they were still valuable. The floor price of Azuki decreased by 57% in just seven days to as little as 5.8 ETH. The Azuki Beanz dropped 68% to 0.33 ETH, and Elementals sank 78% from its initial price of 2 ETH to.87 ETH.

Also, users and fans began to notice the startling similarities between the Elementals collection and the original Azuki collection, though once the initial frenzy had subsided.

The Macroclimate of NFTs – Is It Time To Buy?

Of course, it’s impossible to predict where the NFT market will be in even a year. In light of this, we must consider the blockchain macroclimate when analyzing the collector speculative activity involving both BAYC and Azuki’s changing status, aka falling prices.

Web3 has recently experienced a noticeable increase in uncertainty as a result of the volatile cryptocurrency price movement and increasing regulation of the crypto and NFT market. These factors undoubtedly influence consumer behavior and contribute to market swings more than many others. Tension is inevitable when the Yuga Labs ecosystem of the BAYC is also seen to be transitioning.

It’s entirely feasible that the famous NFTs’ slump we’re presently experiencing is not a singular occurrence but rather a portent of more significant changes to the macroclimate of the crypto and NFT industries. However, many BAYC collectors would dispute such an inference and instead make the prediction that “Yuga season” is just around the corner in response to this dip.