Mutant Ape NFT trading volume spikes over 300% following news of SEC probe into Yuga Labs

Trading volumes for Yuga Labs’ NFT collections Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) and Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) have soared during the last 24 hours, as both suddenly saw a spike in market activity.

MAYC NFTs recorded a transaction volume at $1.02 million with a volume increase of more than 300% across different exchanges, according to data from CryptoSlam.

A similar trend was seen for BAYC, which witnessed an 86% daily jump in trading volume at $1.8 million, data showed.

The increase in the number of MAYC and BAYC deals came shortly after it became known that Yuga Labs, the creator of the two NFT collections, was facing an investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission into whether the firm’s offerings violated federal law.

The opening of the probe is not a foregone conclusion; Yuga Labs has not been accused of wrongdoing and the probe may not result in a legal battle. It sits within a trend of wider scrutiny by the regulator over crypto-related activities. 

The latest surge in volume on these collections may indicate “panic selling” following the new, according to Thomas Bialek, research analyst at The Block Research.

OpenSea trading records for MAYC show that of the total 37 MAYC sales made in the last one day, 24 NFTs were deals in which owners accepted bids below their quoted prices. This demonstrates a trend of potential sell-offs for the collection.

Meanwhile, there were small drops in the floor prices for BAYC and MAYC. On Wednesday, the two collections traded down 2.6% and 4.9% respectively, data from NFT Price Floor showed.

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