Popular NFT collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club hit harder than bitcoin in crypto downturn

Blue-chip NFT collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club, which for a while outperformed the rest of the crypto market, are being hit harder than cryptocurrencies by a deep rout that is souring sentiment across the sector.

BAYC’s average sales price plummeted 29 per cent over the last seven days in US dollar terms, while transactions have tanked by 21 per cent and user numbers are down 27 per cent, according to NFT watchers Price Floor and DappRadar.

Until recently, the popular NFT collection has generally fared better than the rest of the crypto sphere. Its floor price hit an all-time high at the end of April, according to NFT Price Floor data. Meanwhile, bitcoin is down by more than 50 per cent since its all-time high in early November.

“There have been substantial portfolios of NFTs built in the last six months,” said Michael Bucella, a partner at BlockTower Capital Advisors, in an interview with Bloomberg.

But BAYC’s recent fall from favour seems to reflect a wider trend spreading across the marketplace for non-fungible tokens. The JPG NFT Index, which provides exposure to a broad basket of NFTs, also fell by about 26 per cent this past week.

“They are just fairly illiquid markets generally,” said Bucella. “If the market is selling off en masse, they are going to sell whatever they have.”

In comparison, crypto bellwether bitcoin tumbled 17 per cent and ether is down 15 per cent over the last week, according to CoinMarketCap. Token prices were seen slipping during the recent sell-off in tech stocks in traditional markets and as troubles surrounding TerraUSD, an algorithmic stablecoin meant to be pegged to the US dollar, have come to light.