Here’s why blue-chip NFT prices continue to soar nearly a week after the Otherside

In May 2021, OpenSea closed out nearly $140 million in total volume. Fast forward a year and the most dominant nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace closed over $880 million in less than a week partially because of the Yuga Labs’ The Otherside mint.  As a result of this mint, a fresh surge of liquidity was injected into the NFT ecosystem and as it stands the current NFT total market capitalization is over $19.4 billion. 

For the past two weeks, most of the market had seen little action, but this changed after the Otherside mint closed over $317 million in just three hours. 

These widely unique, randomly sorted parcels of land have amassed over 194,000 Ether (ETH) ($536,137,000) and to the surprise of many, Yuga Labs has begun refunding those lost to the predictable gas wars that burned over $100 million worth of Ether. Some holders also touted airdropped assets valued at over $930,000.

The price of NFTs may have taken a slight slumber, with many NFT traders charting impending doom for projects with low volume, but the liquidity created by the Otherside sale appears to be having the opposite effect. 

Investors are no longer fading blue-chip NFTs 

Outside of the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and the Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC), blue-chip tier NFTs like Doodles, Azuki, CloneX and Meebits have seen some notable increases in volume in the last seven days. 

Meebits saw a nearly 167% increase in total sales volume and a 19% increase in the average sale price after Yuga Labs announced plans to develop the Metaverse utility for Meebits.

Meebits’ volume began to simmer at the end of April and saw a surge since the start of May. The average sales price has increased by 15% and volume increased over 65% in the last seven days. 

It appears NFT traders who have left certain NFT ecosystems are taking their profits and investing back into upgrading their collection with blue-chip status NFTs. 

Following a similar trajectory as Azuki, Doodles NFT has seen nearly a 250% increase in volume over the last seven days. The floor price has also been steadily increasing since the start of May and is currently at 23 Ether ($65,458).

A clear trend is that the most recent capital infusion is lifting blue-chip NFT prices, leaving the rest of the PFP-dominated market to fall. Could this be the beginning of Gary Vee’s speculation that 99% of collections will go to zero, leaving only the top 1% with value?

RTFKT Studios’ CloneX NFTs have also been riding a wave. Just one week ago, floor prices gravitated around the 16.5 Ether to 17.5 Ether range, but they now stand at 19.7 Ether.

This surge in price could be attributed to the MNLTH NFT reveal depicting the first blockchain-powered Nike sneaker with morphing and forging capabilities (meaning, it can be created to wear in real life).

Along with the novel kicks, owners received a vial representing the first “skin” and in revealing the MNLTH, the NFT was burned to mint the MNLTH 2, which is another mystery box. So, the journey continues with RTFKT studios and its ecosystem.

Although Ethereum-based NFTs have received the spotlight in comparison to projects on other blockchains, OpenSea’s recent support for Solana NFTs is leveling out the playing field.

Related: Is the surge in OpenSea volume and blue-chip NFT sales an early sign of an NFT bull market?

Solana Summer part deux?

Traders with little to no exposure to Solana can now interact with the NFT ecosystem as OpenSea has added support for the chain. While Solana investors are adamant about using Solana’s Magic Eden marketplace, other traders are thrilled about the new option. 

Making waves on the Solana project is Okay Bears, which is the first Solana blockchain NFT to be ranked in the top 5 on OpenSea volume charts. At a cost of…