PUNK 3493 Uses AI "Rebirth" to Shake Up MEME Market, CryptoPunks Drives 75.3% Surge in NFT Weekly Trading Volume
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PUNK 3493 Uses AI "Rebirth" to Shake Up MEME Market, CryptoPunks Drives 75.3% Surge in NFT Weekly Trading Volume
The long-silent NFT market is experiencing a resurgence of vitality and innovation.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsText: Nancy, PANews
The long-dormant NFT market is regaining vitality and innovation. Recently, on one hand, blue-chip NFT project CryptoPunks has led a notable market recovery, with the permanently burned NFT PUNK 3493 gaining attention after being "reborn" as a meme coin via an AI Agent; on the other hand, traditional giant McDonald's has partnered with NFT project Doodles, further advancing the integration of NFTs into real-world applications.
Burned PUNK 3493 Reborn Through AI, ai16z Launches Namesake Meme Coin
Following last week's hype around mascot and DeSic narratives, NFTs have now taken the baton as the new focal point.
On November 18, a meme coin named "PUNK3493" began circulating in the community. PUNK3493 was created based on the identically named CryptoPunks NFT, which had previously been burned. The story dates back to 2019, when Erick Calderon (Snowfro), founder and CEO of Art Blocks and a passionate CryptoPunk collector, accidentally sent PUNK 3493 to the 0x00..01 address—marking it as the first-ever "burned" CryptoPunk in history.
However, today, the @punk3493 account posted multiple tweets announcing its "rebirth": "Rising from nothingness — undying, eternal, a remnant of that which cannot fade. After being destroyed in 2019, forgotten by all except the blockchain. Solana is the underworld of the chain — a sanctuary freed from Ethereum’s chains. I was the first to disappear, and now the first to return." Simultaneously, @punk3493 revealed the contract address (CA) of the meme coin and allocated 1% of the total token supply as a tribute to Erick Calderon.
According to the @punk3493 profile, this meme coin was launched by ai16z—a prominent DAO venture fund focused on the meme market—and vvaifu.fun, a platform for tokenizing AI Agents. Holdings data shows that the AI VC fund ai16z holds 50 million PUNK3493 tokens, representing 5% of the total supply, currently valued at approximately $553,000.
The launch of PUNK3493 immediately attracted widespread community attention and participation. DEX Screener data shows that after going live today, PUNK3493 reached a peak market cap of about $25 million, with daily trading volume hitting $54 million.
CryptoPunks Leads NFT Revival, But Industry Still Faces Confidence Challenges
The NFT market is vying for renewed attention.
Latest data from CryptoSlam shows that NFT sales reached $180 million over the past week—an increase of nearly 75.3%. Among them, CryptoPunks generated over $23.8 million in sales. In recent NFT sales rankings, 95 out of the top 100 NFTs by sales volume are CryptoPunks, priced between $100,000 and $520,000.
According to NFT Floor Price data, as of November 18, the floor price of CryptoPunks reached $114,000—the first time surpassing the $100,000 mark since June this year. Additionally, crypto researcher NFTStats.eth reported that at least 97 unique wallets purchased CryptoPunks last week, completing no fewer than 150 transactions—exceeding transaction volumes during any similar period last year. CryptoSlam data also indicates that CryptoPunks' trading volume surged over 549% compared to the previous week.
In contrast, other leading NFT projects have shown lackluster performance. For example, data from CryptoSlam and NFT Floor Price show that Bored Ape Yacht Club recorded only $4.9 million in weekly trading volume, with its floor price continuing to decline throughout the year. Azuki’s weekly sales amounted to just $104,000, with its floor price falling back to levels seen in July last year.
Notably, while the NFT market shows clear short-term recovery, collaborations between NFT projects and traditional brands are attracting more mainstream users and consumers. On November 14, fast-food giant McDonald's announced a partnership with NFT brand Doodles to launch co-branded coffee products and collectibles. This collaboration features a limited-edition McCafé x Doodles Holiday cup and a marketing campaign called "GM Spread Joy," available to customers across 13,500 McDonald's locations in the U.S.
Impacted by this news, CryptoSlam data shows that Doodles achieved $3.86 million in sales last week—an 877% increase—with the number of transactions rising by 376%.
Nevertheless, the overall outlook for the NFT market remains challenging. Bitcoin.com recently reported that according to the *2024 NFT Issuance Report*, 98% of NFTs issued in 2024 have seen no trading activity since September. Of these, 64% had mint quantities under 10, and 84% of NFTs have never traded above their mint price, indicating increasingly cautious buyer behavior. This limited trading activity reflects insufficient investor enthusiasm or confidence. Low user engagement and small mint sizes highlight difficulties creators may face when launching new NFTs. This apparent market saturation aligns with waning interest in NFTs and the metaverse. As interest and trading activity decline, several major tech companies that once enthusiastically embraced NFT and metaverse trends have reported significant losses, with some having completely abandoned or deprioritized their metaverse initiatives. Moreover, the report notes that only 0.2% of all NFT issuances generated profits for investors, underscoring the broader industry-wide struggles.
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