The nft and memecoin markets showed a modest recovery last week. This rebound coincides with an improvement in risk appetite across the cryptocurrency space. Data from CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap shows that the selective recovery of NFTs contrasts with a widespread rally in memecoins, which added $5 billion to their total value.
The global NFT capitalization increased by almost 12% in one week. It rose from $3.5 billion on November 5 to $3.9 billion at the time of this writing. On the other hand, the combined valuation of memecoins expanded by 11%. It grew from $47 billion to $52 billion in the same period. This welcome bounce comes after a steep 46% drop in the NFT market value during the previous month (Oct 5 – Nov 5).
These movements reflect the return of speculative appetite to the markets. Traders appear to be rotating back into higher-risk assets after weeks of subdued activity. However, macroeconomic uncertainty persists. The lack of a US government funding deal continues to be a latent risk factor for global markets.
Is this the return of the “blue chips” or just a temporary bounce?
The selective recovery of NFTs is evident in sales data. According to data tracker CryptoSlam, only a subset of “blue chip” collections saw significant increases. CryptoPunks led with a 22.8% rise in weekly sales, reaching nearly $3 million. Mutant Ape Yacht Club (+36.5%) and Milady Maker (+80%) also showed impressive strength. In contrast, major names like Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and Pudgy Penguins continued to decline. They posted losses of 10.3% and 23% respectively.
Unlike NFTs, the memecoin sector experienced a much broader uptick. All of the top 10 tokens by market capitalization recorded gains over the last seven days. Dogecoin (DOGE) climbed 8.7%. Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Pepe (PEPE) gained 10.4% and 7%. Top Solana memecoins, such as Bonk (BONK) and Dogwifhat (WIF), also rose sharply, showing gains of 11.8% and 14.2%.
The split performance underscores that the current NFT uptick is concentrated among collections with strong momentum. Broader liquidity and trader participation remain limited in that sector. Meanwhile, the memecoin recovery appears to be driven by a wider return of speculative sentiment. Investors will be watching to see if this liquidity can be sustained or if macro uncertainty will halt this rebound.
