CryptoPunks Drive NFT Market Revival as Trading Volumes Spike
After a prolonged cooldown, the NFT market appears to be regaining its footing. Data from DappRadar shows the sector’s total value shot up to $6.6 billion in July—a dramatic 94% monthly rise.
Weekly trading volumes followed suit, hitting $136 million for the strongest showing since February.
Much of this resurgence is being fueled by renewed interest in Ethereum-based collections, especially the iconic CryptoPunks. The project’s floor prices climbed over 50%, with a single-day rally pushing the minimum price above 47 ETH. That day alone saw 83 new buyers enter the fold.
Highlighting the momentum, GameSquare Holdings snapped up the rare “Cowboy Ape” Punk #5577 for $5.15 million in stock. The NFT’s former owner, Compound founder Robert Leshner, is now joining the company as a shareholder. The Punk was originally claimed in 2017 for under $500.
Meanwhile, other collections have seen surges of their own. Pudgy Penguins briefly overtook CryptoPunks in weekly volume, and CryptoBatz NFTs spiked 400% after the passing of their creator, rock icon Ozzy Osbourne.
From status symbols to high-profile acquisitions, the blue-chip NFT arena is heating up again—suggesting digital collectibles may be staging a real comeback.
Alex is Editor-in-Chief of Coindoo and co-founder of Millennial Media Group, with nearly a decade of experience covering financial markets - crypto first, then everything else. It started in 2016 with Bitcoin. Like most people at the time, he didn't fully understand it - so he kept digging. Blockchain, tokenomics, the projects, the cycles. That curiosity never stopped, and eventually pulled him into traditional markets too: equities, commodities, macro. Not because he left crypto behind, but because you can't properly understand one without the other. What drives him is straightforward: he wants to know why something is happening, not just that it's happening. Most market coverage stops at the headline - price up, price down, here's a chart. Alex finds that kind of reporting actively unhelpful. If you walk away from an article without understanding the mechanism behind the move, what did you actually learn? He holds a degree in Tourism from New Bulgarian University - not the most obvious path into financial markets, but markets have a way of pulling in people who are simply too curious to stay out. He has authored over 200 in-depth analyses and more than 10,000 articles across crypto and traditional finance. He still thinks every day in markets teaches him something new. That's probably why he hasn't stopped.
