Gas price surge drives Ethereum NFT volume towards annual peak
Non-fungible token (NFT) trading volumes on the Ethereum network have surged to their highest levels in nearly a year, according to data from CryptoSlam. The increase in NFT volume on Ethereum is happening as the Pudgy Penguins NFT collection, currently ranked third by market cap, approaches the market cap of its competitor, Yuga Labs’ Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) collection. Pudgy Penguins, a collection of 888 penguins released on the Ethereum blockchain in 2021, has gained popularity for its unique design and exclusivity. Pudgy Penguins is also working on developing an interactive gameplay experience called Pudgy World. Yuga Labs, on the other hand, is creating the Otherside metaverse and has plans for a third “traveling” test. Despite the growth in NFT trading volume, on-chain minted NFTs have seen a flat trend over the past year, suggesting that the recent surge in volume is primarily driven by NFT sales. Additionally, the hype surrounding ERC-404 tokens has caused a significant increase in Ethereum network fees, with average commissions jumping to 70 Gwei and peak gas costs reaching 377 Gwei on Feb. 9. This is the highest gas cost recorded since May 12, 2023, according to Etherscan.
