Even amid explosive growth and record-breaking sales, one transaction of CryptoPunks NFTs totally monopolized the imagination of the digital art and cryptocurrency world. One whale address, known as “0x1bb351…72d6,” bought 45 CryptoPunks in one transaction.
The acquisition, which is equivalent to about $7.8 million, was carried out through a transfer of 2,080 ETH. This substantial investment has sparked discussions about the current state and future potential of the NFT market, particularly for legacy collections like CryptoPunks.
According to Nick Ruck, director of LVRG Research, that could be a big part of why there’s suddenly more interest in it. Ruck noticed that crypto traders are starting to see CryptoPunks as strong Buy low/sell high options. This newfound understanding is fueling renewed interest for these fungible NFTs. He had reason to think that CryptoPunks was about to enter its own second wave of expansion, though. That new market wave could be driven by their estimated undervaluation and a renewed bullishness from the markets.
She has one foot planted in the real world—Min Jung, a researcher at Presto Research, provides a more sober view on the overall NFT scene. As Jung noted, the work that is being done now only focuses within these legacy collections. For all the headlines that might grab attention, we’re a long way from an NFT season that could be called anything approaching full-bore.
As Vincent Liu, CIO of Kronos Research, points out, this shows the power a specific large-scale investment can have. Liu stated that this substantial liquidity injection into CryptoPunks indicates a growing appetite among high-conviction players in the NFT space. Institutional investors have once again discovered a taste for high-end NFTs such as CryptoPunks. This unprecedented wave of demand has the potential to cement their future as highly sought after digital assets.
The effects of this one purchase are demonstrably evident in the overall market statistics. Per CryptoSlam data, the global NFT sales volume already increased and now sits at $41.4 million over the last 24 hours. This is a very impressive 154% increase indicating a renewed, though focused, enthusiasm for digital collectibles.
