Ethereum flipped as Bitcoin NFTs make a strong comeback in weekly sales

Bitcoin nonfungible token (NFT) sales have exceeded Ethereum in the past week due to a surge in Bitcoin Ordinals-based NFT collections, particularly led by the NodeMonkes collection.
In the span of a week, Bitcoin NFT sales skyrocketed by 80%, reaching $168.5 million. Among the top five best-selling NFT collections, three were based on Bitcoin Ordinals. On the other hand, Ethereum only managed to generate $162 million in sales, according to data from CryptoSlam!
Despite having half the number of buyers compared to Ethereum, Bitcoin still emerged as the leader in sales for the week. (See image below)
Ordinals, which was launched in January 2023, offers users the tools to create NFT-like assets by allowing them to insert files, such as images, into satoshis (sats), which are the smallest units of Bitcoin.
The highest sales were recorded by the Uncategorized Ordinals collection, with over $43 million worth of sales and more than 47,000 transactions. Following closely behind was the NodeMonkes collection, which is based on Bitcoin and generated over $41 million in sales, marking an increase of nearly 170% compared to the previous week. The Natcats collection from Ordinals secured the fourth position with over $10 million in sales. (See image below)
NodeMonkes is a collection of 10,000 unique pixelated profile pictures (PFP) in the Ordinals style. It was launched in December and claims to be the first collection of its kind on Bitcoin. While other 10,000-count Ordinals collections had been launched earlier, the NodeMonkes team managed to etch their collection onto the blockchain in February 2023, just a month after Ordinals’ launch.
A user named “NFTstats” posted on March 2 that NodeMonkes’ market capitalization had exceeded $500 million, making it the third-largest PFP-style NFT collection across all blockchains, only behind the Ethereum-based Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC). The reason for the recent surge in attention for the NodeMonkes collection remains unclear.
Kevin Wu, the founder of NFT collection GRAYCRAFT, mentioned in a post on Feb. 22 that NodeMonkes holds significant historical value as the first PFP-style NFT collection on “the first chain ever,” which gives it a compelling narrative that speculative investors might be drawn to.