Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) may be poised for a comeback. 

Though they have fallen from their heights when they were the star of the 2021 crypto cycle, after last week’s election, the page appears to be turning. 

Before Donald Trump became president-elect, the self-proclaimed “first crypto president” released not just one NFT collection, but a few including one featuring his mug shot from his 2023 arrest in Fulton County, Georgia that enabled some holders to attend a private reception at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort. 

And now, since his win, NFTs are showing signs of life. The trading volume and floor price of CryptoPunks have been rising, Doodles’ is collaborating with Mcdonald’s, NFT marketplace Blur is contemplating turning on fees, and there’s speculation about an airdrop from OpenSea.

CryptoPunks Revive

The trading volume of CryptoPunks, a popular NFT collection known for its simple and pixelated images, has increased 392% in the last 24 hours to 2,036.9 ETH worth about $6.4 million at the time of writing. The jump is the second highest among the top NFT collections by market cap behind anime-based project Azuki, data from blockchain analytics firm Nansen shows. 

The floor price of CryptoPunks has also increased roughly 11% in the same period to 32.74 ETH ($102,000). Last month, Punk 1563 was sold for 24,000 ETH ($56.3 million), making it the highest sale for the JPEGs, according to CryptoPunks.app. 

Read More: Are NFTs Securities Offerings? Two Artists Sue the SEC to Find Out

McDoodles Going Mainstream

Meanwhile early Thursday, Doodles announced on X that their characters will be on over 100 million cups from McDonald’s starting on Nov. 18. Customers who order a hot drink from the American staple of fast-food restaurants will receive digital apparel for their Doodles character and an access pass for the pilot episode of the animated film “Dullsville and the Doodleverse.” 

The X account of McDonald’s hinted its Doodles’ partnership on Tuesday and since then the floor price of Doodles has jumped from 1.6 ETH to 2.35 ETH at presstime, an almost 50% markup, per analytics platform NFT Price Floor.

Doodles has made a substantial effort to appeal to a mainstream audience as shown by American musician Pharrell Williams joining the project as chief brand officer in 2022. Doodles’ YouTube channel currently has three music videos animated with Doodles characters representing featured artists such as Swae Lee, Lil Wayne, and Coi Leray. 

Blur Proposes Changes 

CryptoPunks’ rising onchain activity and Doodles’ partnership with McDonalds come on the heels of a governance proposal to turn on fees for NFT marketplace Blur, which aims to redirect fees generated from the platform to holders of the protocol’s governance token. 

Blur has 0% marketplace fees for trades on its platform and enforces a 0.5% royalty minimum for creators. However, Blur’s fee dynamics might change as governance members are mulling over a proposal posted on Monday by liquid investment fund Split Capital to add a 0.5% protocol fee on every trade and make creator royalties optional. 

This isn’t the first time community members have considered a Blur fee switch. For example, in Oct. 2023, one person @Alex-Arca jumpstarted a fee switch discussion that ultimately did not lead to any protocol changes as several thought the timing wasn’t right due to unfavorable market conditions. 

Teng Yan, head of NFT research at Delphi Digital, said in Blur’s forums, ‘I would suggest waiting for NFT volume and interest to show signs of returning first. When prices are rising, users will not be as turned off by fees + fee generation will be significantly more substantial compared to in today’s low-volume environment.”

Zooming out, Nov. 11-13 were the three highest days in trading volume in the past three months for the overall NFT ecosystem averaging over $10.7 million, according to a Dune Analytics dashboard created by Hildobby. Blur is the leader by volume share, with second place going to OpenSea. 

Points Coming to OpenSea

Crypto users are speculating on X about a potential airdrop by OpenSea after one NFT trader who goes by @JohnWETH_ shared screenshots showing OpenSea’s v2 in beta which also entails XP points. 

OpenSea’s CEO Devin Finzer quoted @JohnWETH_’s tweets confirming how the NFT platform currently has early beta users. Crypto projects often use points programs to determine the size of a user’s airdrop allocation. 

While Blur is the leader in volume market share, controlling 45% of trading in the past week, OpenSea has more than double the number of traders at 15,379 in the period compared to Blur’s 7,636, per Hildobby’s dashboard. 

Read More: OpenSea’s Wells Notice From the SEC Could Prove ‘Disastrous’

NFT Comeback Loading? 

“Doodles is the first OG NFT Collection to show signs of revival after the McDonalds promotion. One thing that is incredibly common is traditional brands trying to break out into Web3 mid-cycle which was very evident in the previous cycle. Now OpenSea discussing TGE plans in December whilst Blur is reviewing fee switch governance proposals,“ wrote the founding partner of digital asset fund Arete Capital, who goes by @Crypto_McKenna on Thursday. 

Two days prior, the founder of Coinage Media Zack Guzmán also argued that “NFTs are set for a comeback,” announcing how his firm is opening a path for Coinage NFT holders to earn dividends, making the images more than just digital collectibles. Crypto users can purchase NFT passes that give holders certain privileges to the Coinage platform such as ad-free access, the ability to collaborate on scripts, and governance powers to vote on editorial issues. 

While some are optimistic about NFT’s possible resurgence in 2025 such as one X user who goes by @NathanHeadPhoto, others such as @Altcoinceo projected, “NFTs will never come back to the height of the previous peaks.”