Ethereum NFT volume approaches yearly high, following gas price surge

Non-fungible token (NFT) trading volumes on the Ethereum network have reached their highest levels in almost a year.

NFT trading volumes have been at their highest weekly level since Feb. 26, 2023, according to the latest data from CryptoSlam.

The increase in Ethereum NFT volume comes as the current No. 3 NFT collection by market cap, Pudgy Penguins, approaches the market cap of its competitor, Yuga Labs’ Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) collection. Yuga Labs also owns Cyberpunks, the #1 lowest-priced collection.

Pudgy Penguins is an NFT that is a collection of 888 penguins. Released on the Ethereum blockchain in 2021, these virtual avatars have gained widespread popularity due to their design and exclusivity. Pudgy Penguins is currently developing Pudgy World, an interactive gameplay experience said to be coming to the Apple Vision Pro. Yuga Labs is creating the Otherside metaverse, with a third “traveling” test planned soon.

However, despite the growth in trading volume on Ethereum, the same cannot be said for on-chain minted NFTs, which have seen a flat trend over the past year, indicating that NFT sales have primarily driven the recent surge in volume.

At the same time, the hype around ERC-404 tokens led to the fact that on Feb. 9, the average commission on the Ethereum network jumped to 70 Gwei. Peak gas costs reached 377 Gwei, according to Etherscan. The last time such an indicator was recorded was May 12, 2023.