Once the darlings of Ethereum’s NFT market, Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) NFTs are now witnessing a downturn, with Yuga Labs’ flagship collection and affiliated NFTs hitting new lows.
The current bottom price for BAYC stands at approximately 13 ETH or $51,000. This mirrors figures from August 18, 2021, when it traded at 13.65 ETH, as per CoinGecko data.
This translates to a staggering 91.3% drop from its peak floor price of 153.7 ETH on May 1, 2022.
Similarly, Yuga Labs’ offshoot collection, Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC), is currently marking an all-time low floor price of 2.18 ETH.
Another BAYC-themed assortment, Otherdeeds, is hitting rock bottom at 0.19 ETH. These Otherdeeds signify title deeds for the sale of digital parcels of land in the Bored Ape metaverse game, Otherside.
Upon its launch in May 2022, minting one Otherdeed cost 305 ApeCoin, equivalent to nearly $6,000 at the time. Despite Ethereum’s subsequent 50% surge, the current floor price for Otherdeeds amounts to just $746.
Move Over Ethereum! Ordinals Are Racing Ahead
During the 2021 crypto bull run, Ethereum NFTs such as Bored Ape Yacht Club dominated the market as Ethereum was the primary platform for virtually all digital assets.
However, while exciting alternative NFT markets have emerged on platforms like Solana and Cardano, none have managed to overshadow Ethereum’s oldest competitor: Bitcoin.
The Ordinals protocol introduces a unique feature by allowing data to be engraved on individual satoshis, the smallest units of Bitcoin, akin to cents to a dollar. This functionality enhances the network’s capabilities, enabling users to mint both non-fungible and fungible tokens on Bitcoin and develop decentralized applications (dapps).
In early March 2024, Ordinals NFTs recorded $168.5 million in sales over seven days, surpassing Ethereum NFTs, which totaled $162 million during the same period.
Following Bitcoin’s halving on April 19, where block rewards are halved, miners may find themselves needing to rely on Ordinals to compensate for potential revenue shortfalls. With Bitcoin rewards halving every four years, miners will increasingly depend on Ordinals transaction fees for revenue, which currently constitute about 20% of miners’ income.
