Can Azuki’s new Elementals spark the entire NFT market? – Crypto News

Try as it may, the non-fungible tokens (NFT) market just can’t seem to find solid footing, even with cryptocurrencies looking stronger than it has in over a year. NFTs’ tumble in early June found the market at an all-time low, and while its fall has been broken, we may not have found a new foundation yet.

Prices across many of NFTs’ top established projects like Moonbirds, doodlesand CloneX have reached prices many thought would never be touched, with each trading for under 2 Ether. cool cats and Gutter Cat Gang are both hovering around 0.6 ETH, and Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) is having perhaps its biggest test to date, with floor prices reaching as low as 33 ETH last week. BAYC’s average sales price remains close to its 2-year low, still hanging around the mid-US$70,000 range. To cap it off, June is on track to have the lowest monthly global NFT sales volume since last November.

The strange thing is, the NFT community is as optimistic as I’ve seen them in a while, with many still hopeful that once crypto gains are realized, those funds will flow into the NFT markets. History tells us that when the market recovers, it’s usually new projects that see the benefit of those funds, while most existing projects are left behind. It’s for this reason that the big-name projects likely still haven’t found their floor during this bear market. But make no mistake, some of these collections will rebound in a big way, and some traders are making moves today that they hope to be life-changing down the road.

Azuki has a major mint dropping this morning with a new collection called Elementals. This is easily the biggest NFT drop of the year so far, and it will provide major insight into the strength of the current NFT ecosystem. The new 20,000 collection will have 10,000 NFTs sold via a Dutch auction, with a price that starts at a whopping 2 ETH. I’m watching for the price it sells out at, if there will be a gas war, and if traders liquidate their other NFT assets to play the secondary market.

If the collection struggles to sell out at the top, expect plenty of FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) across the NFT community. On the flip side, an instant sell-out and hot secondary market could power traders, and be the spark needed to put liquidity back in traders’ hands to carry us through the summer.

It’s a big day for NFT, and you can be sure all eyes are on this mint today.

Notable Happenings

• Azuki hosted a major conference in Las Vegas on Friday called “Follow the Rabbit”, and announced their new Elementals collection in another “Check your wallet” moment. Elementals seem to be their new 2nd tier collection and will push Beanz down to the companion role. The sale today will be in Dutch auction format starting at 2 ETH. Azuki and Beanz holders will have first dibs, and the public will have their shot 20 minutes later if any are left.
• The CyberKongz announced a new token standard called ERC721x which functions as a security layer, as you use another wallet to “lock” your NFTs in its holding wallet. Their upcoming Genkai collection will be their first new collection to mint using the new tech, though their existing CyberKongz VX collection also used the security feature.
• Discounted BAYC The prices have led to another new anonymous wallet going on a shopping spree. Twitter user Sam aka NFTStatistics pointed out recently that the anon wallet has purchased 17 Bored Apes so far. The buyer possibly sees an opportunity with the price being near its 2-year low point, or maybe someone is protecting their investment by keeping the collection out of a total free fall, hoping to prop it up until the next NFT bull run.
• While Epic Games’ Fortnite didn’t end up including in-game NFTs, a newcomer to the Epic Game store sure has. Gods Unchained arrived on the Epic Games Store last week, bringing the NFT-based card game to a huge new audience. Gods Unchained is actually one of the blockchain’s oldest video games, being born on Ethereum in 2018 before migrating to its current home on the Immutable X blockchain for scaling purposes.
• Mythos Chains’ NFL Rivals made news this week as the free-to-play officially licensed NFL mobile game crossed the 1 million download mark. Players assemble their team by collecting player cards, but they may only realize their cards are NFTs when they interact with the marketplace. In fact, only 10% of the game’s user base has traded a player card, which highlights the tremendous growth potential that’s ahead in the NFL Rivals ecosystem.

Peep the Charts

Mostly green week is a welcomed sight for NFT traders

• Bored Ape Yacht Club and Mutant Ape Yacht Club sales are both up this week thanks to some of the lowest prices the collections have seen in years.
• Azuki and Beanz both benefited from the hype leading up to their Las Vegas “Follow the Rabbit” event, and they remain hot as collectors try to scoop one up to secure a spot in today’s Elementals mint.
• Gods Unchained transactions are up 27% thanks to their new audience from the Epic Games store.
• The Captainz continue to show that they’re a force to be reckoned with, and its sales are up 47%. Collectors are accumulating the major project from 9GAG, leading up to their $MEME token drop, and The Captainz PFP reveal.
• $FRAM and $BTOC show that BRC-20s are still alive and thriving on Bitcoin, even doing well when $BTC itself is pumping.

The top 5 blockchains by sales volume are all green this week, riding the wave of positive crypto news.

• Ethereum is being carried by PFPs as one might expect, but it’s the strength of Azukis and Beanz that was unexpected.
• Bitcoin Ordinals are closing in on 14 million inscriptions, and as $BTC itself gets more widely adopted, many believe its ecosystem of blockchain collectibles will benefit in a big way.
• Solana is back in business this week with tons of action. June 25th and 26th saw the month’s high point in unique buyers and sellers, and total transactions of 98,000 and 83,000 are the most single-day transactions since September 2022.
• Polygon is also having a big week following more news about the blockchain’s upgrade, along with strong sales in RingRunnerz, DraftKings, and Y00ts collections.
• Immutable X secured the #5 spot thanks to Gods Unchained’s continued massive sales.