Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs catch up to CryptoPunks, flips floor price

The two most traded nonfungible token collections vie for the top spot in sales with BAYC in the lead, according to OpenSea.

The price of the cheapest Bored Ape NFT for sale is now 53.9 Ether (ETH), or $215,067, while the minimum asking price for a CryptoPunk is 52.69 ETH, which is currently worth $210,239, according to OpenSea.

All month long there has been speculation about the possibility of Bored Ape flipping CryptoPunks in terms of NFT floor price. Earlier this week, Cointelegraph did a deep dive into the potential factors that could affect the value of one collection over the other. Whether owners had a preference for intellectual property rights or over certain partnerships and collaborations, the driving force behind any NFT project, “blue chip” or not, is its community.

It is important to keep in mind a few notable differences between the two collections. Larva Labs, the team behind CryptoPunks, was one of the first to create NFTs in 2017. The project has historical value and has long reigned the marketplace in terms of trading volume. It is also very brand-centric. Owners of CryptoPunks cannot use their avatar for marketing, commercial or brand purposes, only the company can. Recently, Larva Labs and Hollywood agency UTA inked a deal to use the image of CryptoPunks in mainstream media. 

On the other hand, Bored Ape Yacht Club creator Yuga Labs is very community-centric and focused on utility. From its continuous collaborations, such as the latest with Adidas Originals, to its increasing adoption of mainstream media and celebrities alike, the attention and attraction of Bored Apes have increased and so has the price of its collection. Additionally, Ape owners have full creative and commercial license over their assets as Yuga Labs granted them full intellectual property rights from the beginning. 

Related: Post Malone features BAYC NFTs in new music video with The Weeknd

The fact that the floor price of BAYC NFTs has risen above that of CryptoPunks for the first time indicates that public sentiment on the future of BAYC is bullish. The floor price had been steadily increasing over the past few months in contrast to CryptoPunks’ steady decline.

Bored Ape Yacht Club also plans to launch its own token in Q1 2022, as per an October announcement. 

Good evening, apes. Been hearing a question around the club a lot:

WEN TOKEN?

Wen token indeed . . . Some thoughts below.

— Bored Ape Yacht Club (@BoredApeYC) October 8, 2021

Like in any dynamic market, competition can be healthy. And one rival that is quickly catching up in popularity to both BAYC and CryptoPunks is RTFKT Studios. At the time of publication, RTFKT Studios’ Clone X collaboration with artist Takashi Murakami is ranked second on OpenSea in terms of trading volume.