TL;DR
- NFT collections from Yuga Labs, such as Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC), are experiencing a loss of value on Ethereum (ETH) despite the bullish market.
- Mutant Ape Yacht Club, launched in August 2021, reaches an all-time low of 2.4 ETH. Otherdeed NFT, representing virtual lands, drops to 0.21 ETH, though it marginally recovers to 0.23 ETH.
- Other collections, like CryptoPunks, have doubled their value since December and sold an NFT for $16.03 million.
Collections of NFTs created by Yuga Labs, a well-known industry giant, have undergone a significant decrease in their Ethereum (ETH) values despite the current resurgence in the crypto market. Even amid a bullish context, projects like Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) have witnessed a loss of momentum.
Mutant Ape Yacht Club, released by Yuga in August 2021, has hit an all-time low price of 2.4 ETH, compared to the 3 ETH needed to acquire one when the collection first debuted. Another example is the Otherdeed NFT collection, representing virtual lands in Yuga’s themed metaverse, Otherside, which has experienced a consistent decline in its ETH price, reaching 0.21 ETH last week, although it has recovered marginally to 0.23 ETH.
Surprisingly, this decline in the value of Yuga Labs’ NFTs occurs despite ETH’s price more than doubling in the last year. Even with the notable increase in ETH, Yuga Labs’ NFTs have failed to sustain their value, raising questions about the contributing factors to this decline.
Yuga Labs’ Monkeys Lose Relevance in the Market
The Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) collection has also seen a significant drop in recent months. Previously, 152 ETH was needed to buy the cheapest BAYC NFT, but now, the minimum price has plummeted to just 15.29 ETH. Although 15 ETH is now worth more than double what it was a year ago, the rapid decline in BAYC’s value is evident.
In contrast, other NFT collections are not experiencing the same depreciation. CryptoPunks, acquired by Yuga Labs in 2022, has almost doubled in USD value since December, recently selling an NFT for $16.03 million.
The reasons behind the loss of value in Yuga Labs’ NFTs, especially the monkey collections, are a subject of speculation. It is suggested that market attention may be shifting toward projects like Bitcoin Ordinals, and that the business model focused on exclusivity and access in the monkey collections might be losing appeal.
Uncertainty persists over whether the themed metaverse will remain attractive to NFT holders during the upcoming market upswing or if emerging competitors will gain ground.
