Animoca Brands co-founder and executive chair Yat Siu believes the NFT sector’s revival will push Ethereum to an all-time high, surpassing its previous peak during the 2021 Bull Run.
In X’s July 21 post, SIU highlighted the historic relationship between Ethereum’s prices and NFT market activity. He noted that Ethereum won the NFT boom peak in November 2021, a record high of around $4,800.
Since then, both Ethereum and the broader NFT sector have faced a long-term slump.
However, signs of revival have emerged, and with recent double-digit floor prices rising, there are blue chip NFT collections like Cryptopunks. The NFT’s total market capitalization is over $10 billion, close to $15.6 billion in 2021.
This sector uptrend coincided with Ethereum, which surpassed the $3,800 mark for the first time since December 2024.
NFT as a cultural item
With this in mind, SIU believes that adopting NFT as a cultural item, rather than being considered a financial product alone, could lead to a rise in ETH prices.
He argued that NFT embodies identity, social status, and community belongings, which promotes true economic value.
SIU acknowledged that NFT transactions are increasingly fragmented on different blockchains. He said Ethereum’s domination in the sector is pervasive, with the exclusion of the Layer 2 network accounting for less than half of all NFT trading volumes.
Despite fragmentation, SIU considers Ethereum’s cultural influence as a long-term advantage. He compared the cultural role of NFTs to luxury brands such as Hermes and Rolex.
He said:
“As much as you would not buy a Rolex to tell the time, you would not put anything to buy a Birkin bag. The NFT represents the cultural, social and symbolic power of the community.”
He also highlighted the unique role of ETH as a spending token, unlike Bitcoin, which he described as being rooted in the “HODL” culture. According to him:
“ETH is a utility token, and keeping it is because of the opportunity to engage in something important, like Defi, some tokens, YES NFT, etc. This is also why ETH Rising is bullish on-chain, unlike BTC users whose culture is endless HODL.”
With this in mind, he urged Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin to embrace NFT as a financial asset and pillar of Ethereum’s cultural economy.
He emphasized:
“NFT is the backbone of the Ethereum cultural economy, more than just finance, it’s culture, status and ultimately belonging.”
