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⌐◪-◪ → Punks not ded.

Ethereum NFTs are officially back, with $50M in volume on Sunday—6-8x higher than recent averages. Leading the charge are CryptoPunks, which surged 47% in November to reclaim a 44 ETH floor ($158k).

For context, other NFTs like BAYC, Pudgy Penguins, and Milady saw increases of 7%, 28%, and 34%, respectively—but they’re all lagging behind Punks. Recent big sales include a V1 Ape Punk for 87.61 ETH ($326k) and 3 Cowboy Punks swept by PunksOTC, one of which sold for 75 ETH ($270k). To track Punk sales in real time, turn on notifications for the CryptoPunks Bot.

CryptoPunks are the Bitcoin of NFTs, setting the benchmark for all other projects—fitting, since they pioneered the ERC-721 standard in 2017 and sparked the entire NFT movement. Naturally, the V1 Punk community is making noise again, claiming their project is the “real” CryptoPunks. But anyone paying attention knows the story is more nuanced than that.

As for me, I remain a proud holder of both, including my matching Valko Punk #7642. If you’re new to CryptoPunks, here’s a great place to start.

Last but not least, iff you love NFTs (Punk holder or not) you should pre-order the official CryptoPunks: Free to Claim book before it's too late. It’s the highest quality book I own and only costs $100.

All roads lead back to Punks.

⌐◪-◪ → XRP is on an absolute tear.

Ripple’s XRP just flipped Solana and Tether, becoming the world’s third-largest cryptocurrency with a market cap of $133B. For context, XRP is up a massive 4.6x in the past 30 days—shoutout to the Ripple army (looking at you Beau) for holding strong.

This surge comes after Trump’s landslide victory, which has bullish implications for U.S.-based crypto companies like Ripple. Trump’s administration is even teasing zero capital gains taxes—a potential game-changer for the industry.

On top of that, Ripple’s RLUSD stablecoin could be approved by Dec. 4, adding a new competitor to the Great Stablecoin Race.

The question now is whether Ripple can maintain its lead over Solana—and if so, what it means for the broader market. Either way, Trump’s victory and Gary Gensler stepping down have been some of the most bullish developments for crypto in the U.S.

Higher.

⌐◪-◪ → Trump is officially an ETH maxi.

President-elect Donald Trump just bought another $10M in Ethereum, using CoW Swap to complete the transaction. I can already hear Bitcoin maxis crying, but this move underscores ETH’s growing importance.

Zooming out, Ethereum seems poised for a comeback after underperforming all year. Just last week, BlackRock’s spot ETH ETF saw $250M in inflows, compared to $137M for Bitcoin. Plus, ETH staking yields are increasingly likely to be approved under Trump’s crypto-friendly SEC.

Meanwhile, Bernstein analysts say ETH demand has never looked better, writing, “This creates favorable demand-supply dynamics for ETH.” Oh, and Trump is using SAFE—the same multisig wallet Vitalik uses to custody 90% of his personal funds.

Combine this with Ethereum’s ongoing NFT rally, and it’s really starting to feel like the ETH bottom is in.

And just like that, ETH FUD vanished.

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