Last month, the floor prices of “blue chip” CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs descended below $100,000 worth of ETH, marking the steepest decline in the broader NFT market in the last year according to Decrypt. According to NFT Price Floor, a CryptoPunk currently costs 49.8 ETH ($93,239.34 at the time of writing), while a Bored Ape costs at least 49 ETH, or about $92,200.
Drop in Daily NFT Trading
Dune Analytics reports that daily trading across all NFT markets has dropped by a staggering 71% since mid-April. The decrease in activity has been gradual and consistent across platforms, with just under 20,000 NFT trades taking place on Thursday – the lowest number since late 2021.
Yuga Labs Wins Ryder Ripps Lawsuit
In an article by The Verge, Yuga Labs registered a lawsuit against Ryder Ripps and its co-founder Jeremy Cahen for trademark violation, false advertisement, and unfair competition, among other allegations. During a pretrial hearing, the Central California court found that Ripps and Cahen overstepped Yuga Labs’ trademark with their RR/BAYC NFT collection and ordered that Yuga is entitled to an injunction and damages, which will be defined at trial
The Future of NFTs
The recent decline in NFT market prices and trading activity raises questions about the future of NFTs. Reasons for the dropoff remain unclear, and the price of Ethereum, the native token of the largest NFT market, has not shown any significant changes following the successful completion of the Ethereum Shanghai upgrade.