CryptoPunk NFTs Floor Price Flips Bored Apes for First Time in 5 Months

Today’s morning, for a brief moment, the floor price for CryptoPunk's non-fungible tokens (NFT) momentarily flipped that of Bored Ape Yacht Club, a veteran blue-chip collection, exposing the competition for dominance in the sluggish NFT market.

The Bored Apes quickly reclaimed the top spot, which they've mostly kept the entire year; nevertheless, since June, CryptoPunks has been gaining ground on the Bored Ape Yacht Club, and if the pattern holds, CryptoPunks may soon retake the lead.

In June 2017, Canadian software engineers Matt Hall and John Watkinson of Larva Labs created CryptoPunks. The Ethereum blockchain collection of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) is primarily recognized for sparking the NFT craze, inspiring the ERC-721 standard as well as famous collections that followed—including the Bored Ape Yacht Club, which launched in April 2021.

The Apes quickly gained celebrity notice, making ownership an A-List status symbol. By the end of the year, the floor price for a BAYC NFT had flipped that of the CryptoPunks, giving them the upper hand for almost the whole year of 2022. And, as creator Yuga Labs prepared to debut its Otherside metaverse, Bored Apes prices reached new highs in April, with a floor price of $429,000.

Furthermore, the most recent flip was not caused by growing CryptoPunks prices. Everything fell apart due to the bear market cryptocurrencies are experiencing. According to NFT Price Floor, both Apes and Punks have actually lost value in the previous 30 days. When measured in USD, Apes are just depreciating quicker, falling 28% vs 16% for Punks.

In fact, compared to 24% for punks, the price of the Apes floor plunged 33% in the last week alone, reaching an 8-month low yesterday.

CryptoPunks have nevertheless gained some momentum. Earlier this month, Yuga Labs officially granted commercial rights to CryptoPunks holders after hiring Noah Davis, formerly Christie's NFT Specialist, to manage the collection. Additionally, the cryptocurrency collapse pushed some investors to purchase more renowned, "blue chip" NFTs like CryptoPunks.

At the end of June, CryptoPunks had a significant floor price increase while the Bored Apes barely moved. The gap has been closing over the past few weeks, which has resulted in a quick flip this morning.

Over the coming weeks, it's probable that the two major NFT collections will alternately hold the top spots in the rankings. However, some users of the crypto Twitter claim that the Bored Ape Yacht Club peaked with the introduction of Otherside in April, but CryptoPunks' future currently could have greater potential given their background and the recent transfer of intellectual property rights.