📝 From the Editorial Team:

NFTs took 2021 by storm and subsequently collapsed, leaving embarrassment and regret in their wake. After featuring the image for a Bored Ape on its cover, Rolling Stone subsequently published an article about how NFTs are worthless.

Surprisingly to some though, some corners of the NFT market are alive and well — in fact, as of Dec. 16, the top 10 NFT projects had gained $2.5B in market capitalization over the previous 30 days.

There's been a lot of action lately, especially with holders of Pudgy Penguins and Lil Pudgys receiving each receiving around $58,000 and $6,000 respectively from PENGU, which at current prices is valued at $2.7B. We've also seen Miladys drop an ecosystem token with Azukis all but guaranteed to receive one of their own.

With the experimentation around ecosystem tokens alive and well, it's a good time to check the onchain data of a sector many have written off. Let's get into it.

Pudgy Penguins | Mad Lads | CryptoPunks

• The NFT market is booming, driven by speculation around the PENGU and ANIME tokens, which have led to triple-digit floor price increases over the last 30 days for collections from Igloo Company — Pudgy Penguins were up 345% before the PENGU airdrop — and Chiru Labs, where Azukis notched a 170% gain. Those surges reflect market anticipation of token rewards for holders, a strategy that has proven successful in driving engagement in the past. Rumors of an Opensea token airdrop have further boosted sentiment across the entire market.

• NFT Price Floor's brand ranking reflects this dynamic shift in the market. Among the top four brands, Igloo Co. had an impressive 377% increase in market cap (30d), with Chiru Labs following with a 188% surge. Yuga Labs and Art Blocks also gained from the positive sentiment but experienced more subdued growth.

• Among the top sales of the last 7 days, the same trend emerges. 6 Pudgy Penguins and 2 Azukis rank among the top 12 sales, with prices ranging from ~$500K to $175K. This underscores the increasing market attention and rising demand for collections from Igloo Company and Chiru Labs.

• After the PENGU launch announcement the Pudgy Penguin floor hit the +30 ETH mark, more than three times the floor in early November this year and over 50% of the previous all-time high in February 2024. After the airdrop today the floor fell and hit 16 ETH. Volume is equally up and peaked at 8.2K ETH today. The PENGU allocation per Pudgy is worth around $58K as of Dec. 17. The buyer count peaked further even after the airdrop started. 

• Compared to other NFT Collections on Ethereum, Pudgy has been gaining major traction and has consistently made up one third of all Ethereum-based NFT volume since early December 2024. That's more than double of the other Blue Chip NFT collections on Ethereum including CryptoPunks and Bored Apes. On the PENGU airdrop day Pudgy Penguins alone made up more than 50%. 

• Two-thirds of all wallets holding Pudgy Penguins have more than doubled their position's value at the current floor price. Of these, half are up by more than 10x. Despite this, only 5% of the current holders sold any and more than 19% are actively accumulating despite the floor correction.

• Solana NFTs have seen renewed interest over the past month, with Mad Lads leading the charge. The collection has gained over 10% in market share, now accounting for approximately 15% of the Solana NFT market. With a current floor price of 66 SOL, around $15,000 at the time of writing, Mad Lads continues to solidify its position as a standout project, reflecting a surge in activity and attention across the ecosystem.

• Solana-based NFT trading volume has surged in the past month, reaching an average of 16K SOL/day, a 100% increase. Flagship collections, including Mad Lads and others, now account for over 20% of the market share, signaling renewed interest and momentum in the Solana NFT ecosystem.

• Mad Lads have seen a surge in new buyers, with wallets purchasing for the first time increasing by 20% in the past week. These new purchasers now account for over 50% of the total daily buyers, highlighting the growing interest and fresh participation in the collection.

• CryptoPunks, the first iconic NFT collection, pioneered the PFP movement with 10K pixel-art characters. Despite a price decline relative to ETH since 2021, CryptoPunks remain a cultural symbol with strong retention among collectors. Data shows ~65% of holders have kept their NFTs for over two years, and 59.3% have never sold. This suggests a possible preference for collectors or long-term investors rather than NFT flippers, who typically buy and sell assets quickly to capitalize on price volatility.

• CryptoPunks show strong holder “stickiness,” with 12 wallets holding 20+ NFTs for 600+ days and 5 exceeding 1,000 days without sales. This could reflect confidence in price recovery and a preference for long-term holding, highlighting belief in the collection’s cultural significance.

• Punks’ floor price dropped from 65 ETH to 27 ETH since May 2022. That's not as bad as a composite of the top 100 collections on Ethereum, which fell from 591 ETH to 61 ETH. Punks' resilience amid declining NFT interest highlights a less speculative and more committed holder profile compared to other major collections.