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

In the last two months, OpenSea began to cool down from its New Year’s bull run and many nonfungible token (NFT) pundits began to speculate about the beginning of a bear market once sales took a slight downward trend after closing out a record-breaking $5 billion in total volume sales in January. 

However, for the last seven days, the total sales volume has already exceeded the $1 billion mark and just a week into April, it seems the NFT markets are waking up to a resurgence of blue-chip caliber projects. Cue the “spring awakening.”

Traders searching for the next Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) project have patiently waited for another project to come in with the same force and brand equity. Some top contenders have been emerging. Azuki Zen, revealed on Jan. 21, has amassed over $574.6 million in total volume, and RTFKT Studios and Takashi Murakami’s CloneX NFT avatar project has accumulated over $546.7 million. In the last seven days alone, CloneX has increased its total sales volume by over 180%. 

NFT investors are coming to understand the benefit of investing for the long-term with teams that have delivered. RTFKT Studios catalyzed the community collective quest-solving for its MNLTH NFT, airdropped to all CloneX holders and valued at $22,135. As such, those who held their MNLTH were essentially airdropped over $22,000 simply for being a CloneX holder. This further illustrates for collectors and traders the value of grail NFTs.

Now that liquidity is pumping and circulating, it seems Q2 is here to blaze trails and the NFT markets appear to be ignited by more mature NFT communities and investors.

What will spark the next BAYC? 

NFT projects are beginning to understand the value of intersecting culture, community and commerce through what BAYC cultivated, and many have explored ways to establish their own. 

On a spectrum from estranged collector to maxi, NFT projects that have recently launched have paid close attention to not only building close-knit communities that hold strong convictions but ones that can utilize its platform to uplift their own personal creative pursuits.

RTFKT Studios has opened a platform for creators to shine via their Space Pod NFT airdrop, which allows owners to display their NFTs throughout the space. Currently valued at $4,920.86 (1.65 Ether), SpacePods are open for customization and this also allows RTFKT to scout for talent among their own community. Creators are also able to produce and sell their creations to others in the community to support and enjoy.

Currently, the floor price for a CloneX is a thin 17.5 Ether ($52,237.50). By holding an average sale price over 11.5 Ether, NFT collectors and owners trust that RTFKT Studios will continue to deliver.

Similarly, Yuga Labs announced the creation of its metaverse platform, MetaRPG, that will offer purchasable digital land. This news was compounded by ApeDAO not only airdropping the BAYC NFT ecosystem owners over $1.6 billion in ApeCoin and promising that it would become a utility currency adopted in the BAYC ecosystem and MetaRPG. 

Since MetaRPG is slated to be an interoperable metaverse, it will not prevent those who are not in the BAYC ecosystem from gaining exposure. Those who have been paying attention know that there is tremendous value in interoperability for mass adoption and other projects with interoperable metaverses like Arcade Land. 

Arcade Land is currently number three for total volume in the last seven days, closing in on approximately $23 million. Its average sale price has increased by 96% and whether that is just a pre-post reveal pump, it does suggest that communities are searching for the most viable interoperable worlds. The cheapest Arcade Land NFT is selling just under 1…