“Yat Sio”, co-founder and CEO of “Animoca Brands”, indicated that the recovery of the non-fungible token (NFT) sector could be a major driver for the price of Ethereum to reach its historical highs, exceeding the previous peak of around $4800 in November 2021.
In a post on platform X dated July 21, “Sio” linked the performance of the NFT market with the price of Ethereum, noting that both have gone through a prolonged period of stagnation, but market indicators currently show clear signs of recovery.
Prominent collections like “CryptoPunks” have seen significant price increases, and the total market value of NFTs has surpassed the $10 billion mark, approaching the 2021 peak of $15.6 billion.
This growth has coincided with Ethereum's price surpassing $3800 for the first time since December 2024.
“Sio” believes that the future of Ethereum is tied to how successful the community is in adopting NFTs as cultural tools, not merely as financial assets.
According to him, these tokens represent aspects of identity, belonging, and social status, giving them sustainable economic value.
Although the NFT market has become distributed across multiple blockchain networks, leading to Ethereum's dominance dropping below 50% when excluding layer two networks, “Sio” asserts that Ethereum holds symbolic power similar to what luxury brands like “Hermès” and “Rolex” represent, where value is tied to symbolism and culture rather than usage.
He adds that Ethereum plays the role of a spending token within the web3 ecosystem, compared to Bitcoin, which is dominated by a saving logic.
Ethereum is effectively used in decentralized finance and purchasing digital tokens, reflecting its direct economic impact on the network.
In this context, “Sio”, the co-founder of Ethereum, called for support for NFT tokens as a core part of the network's cultural economy, emphasizing that value goes beyond money, extending to identity and community belonging.
