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After an explosive start<\/a> to 2023, with open editions<\/a>, Bitcoin Ordinals<\/a>, and memecoins<\/a> abound, we\u2019re now experiencing (another) downturn in the NFT market. While this phenomenon is nothing new for those within the metaverse, the ups and downs seem to be hitting everyone a bit differently this time around.<\/p>\n Although crypto and NFTs surely haven\u2019t entered into a new cycle, change has already begun affecting some facets of the market at an alarming rate. More specifically, floor prices of the Bored Ape Yacht Club<\/a>, a robust and long-time staple of the NFT space, have started to wane.<\/p>\n Yet, BAYC NFTs going parabolic might not simply be a product of the times. As some astute enthusiasts have pointed out via social media<\/a>, this recent shift could be attributable to Yuga Labs\u2019 actions rather than market conditions. So what is the real reason the still wildly popular Bored Apes are trending downward? Let\u2019s explore.<\/p>\n At the time of writing, the BAYC floor stood around 37 ETH<\/a> (roughly $70,000). Notably, this is the first time that floor prices for the inaugural Yuga collection have dipped below 40 ETH since November 2021. But it\u2019s a far cry from the April 2022 peak of around 152 ETH. <\/p>\n While such an event might not seem like a reason for concern, according to CoinGecko<\/a>, this nearly 12 percent drop has yet to be significantly corrected for what has now been over a week.<\/p>\n Additionally, the floor price of Mutant Apes<\/a> has been sustained in the single digits, around 7.5 ETH. At approximately $14,000, this figure is almost equivalent to the original MAYC mint price (around $13,000) when the collection was launched in August 2021. Similarly, Otherdeeds<\/a> and HV-MTL<\/a> are down as well, but more on them later.<\/p>\n For the most part, commentators in the NFT space have been pointing to a pseudonymous collector known as Machi Big Brother<\/a> (real name Jeffrey Huang) as a potential catalyst for this shift. Why? Because in the past week alone, Huang sold more than 50 Bored Apes on Blur. <\/p>\n At one point, on June 24, Huang initiated a single transaction<\/a>\u00a0to sell 19 BAYC NFTs for a whopping 651 ETH (around $1.2 million). He had previously engaged in a similar trading spree<\/a> with MAYC NFTs back in August 2022.<\/p>\n While Huang\u2019s actions are definitely a factor in this equation, they don\u2019t explain why the BAYC floor has struggled so much to recover. And while it may be true that the market, in general, is in a downturn<\/a> \u2014 potentially in response to the price of ETH<\/a> itself on the rise (a phenomenon we\u2019ve seen many times in the past) \u2014 even the driest trading periods of the 2022 bear market didn\u2019t yield such a significant slump for BAYC as we are witnessing now.<\/p>\n For the most part, avid NFT collectors and commentators have been discussing the fragmentation and dilution of the Yuga NFT ecosystem as a catalyst for this recent dip. Perhaps in addition to the lull in the market, the expansion happening within Otherside<\/a> and HV-MTL<\/a>, two Yuga franchises that arent necessarily leveraged around the Bored Apes IP, seem to be an easy scapegoat for rationalizing this BAYC downturn.<\/p>\n For years now, those within the NFT space have speculated about the potentially detrimental effects dilution could have on a project. The narrative often includes a secondary collection launching to the dismay of early supporters, who then say that the \u201cdilution\u201d detracts from the tenacity of the original collection, and new IP and storylines fragment the community.<\/p>\n Whether or not fragmentation or dilution might be the root of the BAYC dip is subjective and debatable, but nonetheless, a possibility. Yet, as exhibited by the below tweet from Bored Ape collector JBond<\/a>, a variety of other factors might be contributing to the direction the Yuga NFT ecosystem is now traveling.<\/p>\nThe state of the Yuga NFT ecosystem<\/h2>\n
Fragmented and diluted?<\/h2>\n