For the first time since its surprise ascension to prominence, the BAYC NFT has been outperformed by a rival NFT 24 hours after failing to scale up its previous market performance.
The Yuga Labs has the best performing NFT collectible in the marketplace; the BAYC is no match for others as it has been dominant in the NFT space, soaring in price and popularity for quite some time before the recent event.
CryptoSlam reported that Azuki is an anime-inspired NFT collectible that saw a more than 80% increase in its trading activities within the past 24 hours, overthrowing both of the Yuga Labs NFT products, the BAYC and the Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC).
A detailed look at the recent NFT marketplace data reveals that Azuki has emerged as the best performing NFT collectible as the value of its NFTs shot up by 310% in the overall volume of trade at the end of the week.
The recently acquired Yuga Labs NFT collection, Meebits, recorded a whopping 1000% growth in trading volume in the past 24 hours. The NFT collection amassed a sale of more than $10 million.
Azuki’s Rise Recent Rise
Before its meteoric rise, the Azuki NFT was among the most popular NFT collections in the NFT ecosystem.
In the early days of the month, the NFT collection had an experiment in collaboration with Bob Factions to enable its native token to be used for regulation in the NFT space. The word “Bobu” is the Azuki NFT character adopted by the network, which is described as a critical part of the Azuki ecosystem.
The experiment has attracted attention because it is widely believed that the developers behind the project are planning to hand token holders considerable power in the ecosystem.
However, experts in the NFT space noted that the rapid growth of the Azuki collection has to do with the pattern of wash trading that is the predominant feature of the LooksRare NFT marketplace where Azuki NFTs are listed and traded.
What is Wash Trading?
Wash trading is a common trading technique where traders manipulate by buying their NFT collection using a different wallet for the purpose, resulting in inflation and a rise in the original value of the NFT to mislead investors unaware of the actual price.
Wash trading is a widespread phenomenon and is not limited to only the Azuki NFT traders. Still, experts believe that it was solely responsible for the subsequent growth of the Azuki NFT, as it currently overtook the BAYC NFT.
More interestingly, Azuki is now a rival to the Yuga Labs-dominated NFT ecosystem. Yuga Labs is the creator of both BAYC and MAYC and currently owns CryptoPunks and Meebits after a recent purchase of the popular NFT platforms.
Nonetheless, the emergence of Azuki has provided much-needed competition in the NFT space that was noticeably absent and has provided investors with options to consider. Competition is necessary for the progress of the NFT space.