MARKETS IN AN NFT-FALL
Once-hot collections sink worse than crypto
Once-hot NFT collections, including the celebrity-backed Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunk series, have tanked alongside cryptocurrencies and the stock market, leaving many digital collectible investors deep in the hole.
The Bored Ape Yacht Club series — endorsed by VIPs including Tom Brady, Madonna, Jimmy Fallon and Future — has seen its value crumble in recent months as the Federal Reserve hikes interest rates and the economy is squeezed by inflation.
The “price floor” for Bored Apes — a measure of the collection’s lowest NFT asking price — has collapsed 75% from more than $400,000 as recently as April to less than $100,000 on Tuesday, according to data from tracker NFTpricefloor.com.
That’s a greater decline than for bitcoin, the world’s most popular cryptocurrency, which has tumbled by around 55% since April 1.
CryptoPunks NFTs, meanwhile, fell 66% from $230,000 at some points in April to less than $78,000 as of Tuesday, according to the site.
Overall transaction volume in the NFT market has likewise collapsed. There have been $650 million in NFT sales so far in June, compared with $3.7 billion in April and $3 billion in May, data from industry site CryptoSlam show.
Despite the bleak market, throngs of NFT fanatics are descending on Manhattan this week for a massive event series celebrating the digital collectibles.
The NFT.NYC conference, which kicked off Tuesday and runs through Thursday, has seen NFT fans put on brave faces as they shuttle between networking sessions and panels at venues like Radio City Music Hall.
Fewer celebs
Last year’s event in November 2021 came as Ethereum and Solana — the primary cryptocurrencies used to trade NFTs — hit all-time highs. It also attracted celebrities like Quentin Tarantino and Logan Paul. Musical acts included charttopping rapper Lil Baby and New York rock legends The Strokes.
In contrast, the biggest names announced this year are rappers French Montana and Jim Jones, who spoke alongside record industry executives at Radio City on Tuesday. Dance DJ Deadmau5 was set to perform at a NFT event in Bushwick, Brooklyn, Tuesday night.
In May, The Post reported that high-profile NFT auctions were increasingly flopping. An auction of three works by Madonna and Beeple — who auctioned off an NFT for a record $69 million in 2021 — sold for just $135,000, $146,000 and $346,000.
In addition, plans to sell an NFT of Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s first tweet that had previously sold for $2.9 million were scrapped in April after the highest bid came in below $14,000
Nick Rose, founder and CEO of NFT platform Ethernity Chain, told The Post at the time that NFTs were selling for “unexpectedly low” prices. “NFTs blew up when stimulus checks were coming in but they grew too fast,” Rose said