CoinDesk
Bored Ape Yacht Club floor prices have roughly doubled in a month, climbing from around 5 ETH to over 10 ETH, while the collection's ecosystem token ApeCoin has rallied from below $0.10 to roughly $0.16 on a sharp pickup in trading volumes. The move is the clearest signal yet that speculative capital is rotating back into NFTs after a multi-year winter.
Yuga Labs CEO Michael Figge, who took over the role last month after holding various executive positions at the company since 2022, framed the rally as a recovery from an oversold base rather than a fresh speculative spike. "It's clear from the numbers that for some time, as far as blue-chip digital collectibles go, it was oversold," Figge told CoinDesk. "You had this huge compression in price, but if you actually look at an overlay graph, unique holders were actually up."
Why it matters
The BAYC repricing is happening in tandem with a broader rotation: the CoinDesk MemeCoin Select Index was among the best-performing digital asset sectors last week, outpacing DeFi tokens and pointing to retail traders re-entering the highest-beta corners of the market. Pudgy Penguins has also rallied, and a $2.8 million CryptoPunk-backed loan — generating roughly $138,000 in interest over 90 days — circulated widely on social media, which traders described as one of the largest NFT-backed loans to date.
DeFi's own troubles are feeding the rotation. A string of recent exploits and declining lending yields have dented confidence in the sector, and Figge was blunt about the comparison: "With one well-planned hack, you can lose it all. That has to get solved in DeFi, but it's definitely made people rethink the idea that it's the only use case. NFTs offer something different — they're tied to communities that persist beyond just price action."
Market impact
Figge stopped short of calling the move a full-cycle return. "It would be naive to say financial speculation isn't a huge driver," he said.
Frequently asked questions
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How high have Bored Ape floor prices climbed?
Bored Ape Yacht Club floor prices roughly doubled over the past month, rising from around 5 ETH to over 10 ETH, while ecosystem token ApeCoin rallied from below $0.10 to roughly $0.16 on a sharp pickup in trading volumes.
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Why are NFT prices rising now?
Memecoins and other high-risk crypto assets are outperforming defensive sectors like DeFi, and a string of recent exploits and declining lending yields have dented DeFi confidence. The rotation is bringing speculative capital back to the highest-beta corners of the market.
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What did Yuga Labs' new CEO say about the rally?
Michael Figge, who took over as CEO last month after holding executive roles at Yuga Labs since 2022, called blue-chip NFTs oversold and said unique holders kept climbing even as floor prices compressed. He argued the rebound is recovery from a disproportionate fall rather than fresh speculative mania.
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Are other NFT collections rallying too?
Yes. Pudgy Penguins has rallied strongly in recent weeks, and a $2.8 million CryptoPunk-backed loan — generating roughly $138,000 in interest over 90 days — circulated widely on social media as one of the largest NFT-backed loans to date.
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What evidence is there of institutional NFT adoption?
Pseudonymous NFT analyst "Van" pointed to continued acquisitions and exhibitions at institutions including MoMA, Centre Pompidou and LACMA over the past four years as evidence that on-chain art's institutional base has been quietly compounding through the downturn.
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