Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have revolutionized the art and the entertainment worlds, especially around the way people invest in art, music, and sports. As the popularity of NFTs continues surging, an increasing number of investors are willing to put their money in NFT collectibles.
According to data from Mejores Apuestas, the combined market cap of the top five NFT collections hit $10.2 billion this week, and CryptoPunks account for half of that value.
CryptoPunks hit $5.1 billion in market cap
Three years ago, the world was introduced to CryptoKitties, the NFT collectibles that caused a global hype and are being sold for millions of dollars today. The second major spike in NFT users happened in March this year after the media reported the largest NFT sales to date.
That month, the digital artist Mike Winkelmann, known as Beeple, sold an NFT of his work for a staggering $69 million at Christie’s and became one of the top three most valuable living artists.
Christie’s is proud to offer “Everydays – The First 5000 Days” by @beeple as the first purely digital work of art ever offered by a major auction house. Bidding will be open from Feb 25-Mar 11.
— Christie’s (@ChristiesInc) February 16, 2021
Learn more here https://t.co/srx95HCE0o | NFT issued in partnership w/ @makersplaceco pic.twitter.com/zymq2DSjy7
However, most NFTs, including crypto art, photos, newspaper articles, and video clips, sell for less than $200, bringing the possibility of art ownership to the masses, which has always been reserved only for the wealthy.
Data from CoinMarketCap shows that CryptoPunks ranked as the most valuable NFT collection, with a market cap of over $5.1 billion as of this week.
These unique collectible characters with proof of ownership stored on the Ethereum blockchain currently have the lowest available price of 96.5 ETH or almost $420,000, while their average price hit nearly $535,000.
Statistics show that over the past twelve months, CryptoPunks were sold 11,650 times, while their lifetime sales hit $1.56 billion value.
With an estimated market cap of $1.8 billion, Bored Ape Yacht Club ranked as the second most-valuable NFT collection globally. MakersPlace, SuperRare, and Rarible follow with $1.2 billion, $1.1 billion, and $921 million in market cap, respectively.
Also Read: Axie Infinity: The Fastest Growing NFT Coin in 2021
Investors spent over $5.3 billion on NFT collectibles to date
Besides having the largest market cap among all NFT collections, CryptoPunks have also made some of the most expensive NFT sales to date.
On March 11, CryptoPunk #3100 was purchased for 4,200 ETH, or $7.58 million, breaking the record set by Punk #7804 set the previous day due to rising ETH prices.
These multimillion dollar-worth transactions were just a part of a surging NFT trading activity this year. According to NonFungible data, investors have spent more than $5.3 billion on NFT collectibles to date, with most purchases happening this year.
Also, the total number of sales hit over 5.4 million this week, showing a massive 80% increase compared to the same month a year ago.
How bright is the future for NFTs?
Visa recently planted its flag in the NFT world by purchasing a CryptoPunk—a unique digital avatar—for $150,000 worth of Ethereum. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg also thinks NFTs could be a ubiquitous part of the metaverse he’s intent on building.
