• Prices of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have been increasing, despite cryptocurrency prices remaining stagnant.
• This rally in NFT prices has occurred despite broader derisking in traditional asset classes and an increase in regulatory pressure on centralized crypto firms.
• The surge in trading volumes provides support for the price increases.
Price Increase of Non-Fungible Tokens
Despite the prices of most major cryptocurrencies stagnating over the course of the last 30-days, with the likes of Bitcoin and Ethereum only up a respective 1.7 and 4.0% and BNB and XRP down 3.9% and 7.0% each according to CoinMarketCap, the prices of non-fungible tokens (NFT) have been pumping. According to NFT Price Floor, the price floor to get your hands on an NFT from the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) collection has jumped 17.5% over the course of the last 30-days to $117,750.
Macroeconomic Headwinds
The rally in NFT prices comes despite broader derisking in traditional asset classes, with a string of strong US data releases last month boosting Fed tightening bets – with inflation heating up again and US economic activity and labor markets remaining robust, the Fed is now seen taking interest rates to around 5.5% by the middle of the year, versus expectations for rate hikes to pause around 5.0% only one month ago. Such a shift in Fed tightening expectations has typically been a negative for digital assets, which are still very much viewed as a speculative asset class. In such circumstances, NFTs have historically been one of the worst-hit sectors of the crypto space. The rally in prices also comes amid a ramp-up in regulatory pressure on centralized crypto firms in the US, with the SEC recently targeting Kraken over its staking program and Paxos over its issuance of BUSD.
Surging Trading Volumes
Prices have been able to remain resilient amid a surge in NFT trading volumes. According to a just-released monthly report by DappRadar, trading volumes surpassed $2 billion in February 2021–the highest monthly trading volume since May 2022–and top seven exchanges saw total trading volumes exceed $2 billion during this time period too.. Notably driving these high levels of liquidity was Blur Network with more than 70 percent share among all exchanges during this period according to DappRadar’s data sources..
Price Battle Between Two Heavyweight Exchanges
A key factor that has contributed towards this surge is what can be termed as ‘price battle’ between two heavyweight exchanges – OpenSea & Rarible—which saw both platforms pushing their own marketplaces lower transaction fees compared to one another throughout February 2021 per DappRadar’s report.. This tit for tat pricing dynamic caused users from both OpenSea & Rarible chase after lower fees stimulating higher levels overall demand that ultimately pushed up NFT prices across all collections..
Conclusion
In conclusion it appears that traders are seeing potential value within certain types of non fungible token assets despite macroeconomic headwinds still present within other parts traditional asset classes like stocks or bonds.. Furthermore competition between two large marketplaces—OpenSea & Rarible—are acting as propellant into higher valuations as they compete against one another offering ever decreasing transaction fees ..