Ethereum’s non-fungible tokens [NFTs] domain is beaming with activity so much that the smart-contract network raked in a year-high in terms of weekly trading volume. According to data sourced from The Block, the last time the feat was seen was in the week of February 26, 2023. The notable uptick can be traced to the emergence of the Pudgy Penguins, which are metamorphosing into the giant killers of their nearest competitor, the Bored Ape Yacht Club collection. Both NFT rivals are vying to expand their respective market caps through high-profile launches.
Pudgy Penguins is soon to unveil its native interactive gaming experience on the Apple Vision Pro, while the Yuga Labs-owned BAYC is working overtime on developing the Otherside metaverse, with a scheduled third “trip” test coming soon. Despite a greater crowd interest in Bitcoin NFT trading, Ethereum has maintained its robust performance in 2024. In January, the leading staking platform dominated its peers with the highest NFT sales volume. As per recent data from Coin98 analytics, Ethereum NFT sales crossed an impressive $356 million in organic volume.
It is worthwhile to mention that NFTs minted on the top chain did not register any notable spikes, thereby indicating that all the surge in volume came from NFT sales instead of mints. That being said, the peer-to-peer network is all set to commence its highly anticipated Dencun hard fork on March 13, after successful testnet deployments. As reported by TronWeekly, the mainnet launch date was decided in an all-devs meeting held on February 8.
Ethereum Gas Fees Soar
Amidst the anticipation surrounding the mainnet upgrade, Ethereum network gas fees reached an eight-month high. Reports indicate that an unofficial experimental token standard named ERC-404 is the culprit behind the frenzy. From an average high of 70 gwei [worth $60 for a typical transaction], the gas fees skyrocketed to 377 gwei on February 9. ETH fees last soared to this level on May 12, 2023.
The ERC-404 wave first made headlines on February 5, when the Pandora project introduced the experimental standard token. Despite pending audits and other security protocols, the token’s value recorded a remarkable gain of over 6,100% and raked in roughly $500 million in volume. ERC-404 aims to bridge ERC-721 non-fungible tokens [NFTs] to ERC-20 tokens, paving the way for what some describe as fractionalized NFTs. This allows multiple wallets to collectively own a portion of a single NFT, enabling them to trade or stake in loans with their respective portions.