Period: 8^th August 2022 – 15^th August 2022

· Is the bull returned? Last week’s CPI report showed that U.S. consumer prices rose 8.5% in July from a year ago, slightly below consensus estimates. The market celebrated the ease of inflation by buying more stocks and cryptos.

· A free-mint CC0 NFT project founded by CryptoPunks’ OG snatched the top spot last week. However, the sensation was just a flash in the pan.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI), as known as the inflation rate, eased to 8.5% in July, versus 8.7% expected. Although the inflation rate is still at its historical high, the market sees the inflationary pressure eased, guessing the Fed might be lesser aggressive in upcoming monetary policy tightening. Both the stock and crypto market cheered, investment assets are starting their bull run immediately after the CPI report crossed the wires. The S&P 500 soared 124.22 points or 2.99% over the week, closing strong at 4280.14. Bitcoin, on the other hand, retested its $25K mark for the first time since June 13, the biggest single-day drop for bitcoin in recent two years.

Market pumped after the release of the CPI report. Source: TradingView

In a recent interview, FTX.US president Brett Harrison says that the crypto winter is starting to thaw as a lot of forced liquidations in the market are starting to come to an end. His statement can pretty much explain why Celsius token (CEL) pumped 188% in 7 days. There are rumors spreading around the scene that Ripple Labs, which token is currently sitting at the 7^th largest market value, is a potential buyer of the bankrupt crypto lender’s assets. However, there is no official comment yet from either company.

Besides Ripple Labs, fundamentally sound crypto companies are seeking for some sweet deals too. According to Bloomberg News, Huobi founder Leon Li is in talks with investors to sell his majority stake in the crypto-exchange that would value $3 billion or more. Sam Bankman-Fried and Justin Sun, the founders of FTX and Tron respectively, are reportedly among investors looking to the acquisition of a majority stake in Huobi. This rumor has successfully driven the price of Huobi Token (HT) upwards.

Ethereum’s price retested its $2K mark since May 31, yet NFT holders are offloading their JPEG assets during this bull run. For some of the most influential NFT collections, their sales volume and floor price are gradually decreasing. Investors now tend to pick practical investment instruments instead of digital profile pictures or artworks. Here is the comparison of blue chip NFTs between mid-July and mid-August.

Thanks to Ethereum’s 50% monthly gain, not all blue-chip holders suffer loss despite the sharp fall in floor price

The slump in blue chip NFT projects does not mean the overall NFT market is dead, it is just not as rewardable as before for those diamond hands. Instead of holding long-term, the market right now is a fun place for flippers. A new free-mint CC0 NFT project named ‘8liens’ has just launched last week and immediately gained traction. Its floor price was already 0.17 ETH in the first hour of minting and skyrocketed up to 0.5 ETH and above two days later. However, the sensation was just a flash in the pan as the floor price retraced to where it was – the first hour of minting – all the gains in between were wiped out. Although the founders of 8liens are quite promising, some of them are even OGs from the crypto and NFT scene, the price action seems like a typical “pump and dump” to me. During such a volatile market, it is always best to avoid chasing the market and reduce trading frequency as much as possible.

The floor price of 8liens. Source: NFTGo

Disclaimer: This article is an update on the top-performing crypto & NFT for the past week. Any views, opinions, research, analyses, or other information contained in this piece is provided as general market commentary and does not constitute investment advice. Every investment involves risk, please conduct your own research when making a decision.

Written by: [Coinlive] Nell