Galaxy tips Bitcoin NFT market to reach $4.5 billion by 2025

by · March 4, 2023

In a “base case” scenario, Galaxy Digital’s research unit has tipped the burgeoning Bitcoin nonfungible token (NFT) market to reach a market value of $4.5 billion by March 2025.

Bitcoin NFTs, or Ordinals, have attracted significant attention since the launch of the Ordinals protocol in late January, which allows users to enter data such as images, PDFs, video and audio at individual satoshis – each representing 0.00000001 Bitcoin (BTC).

NFT giants like Yuga Labs have even jumped on the hype. On February 28th, the $4 billion firm behind Bored Ape Yacht Club announced a Bitcoin-based NFT project called “TwelveFold” in a notable acknowledgment of the Ordinals movement.

In a new report published on March 3, Galaxy researchers analyzed the potential growth of Bitcoin NFTs, making estimates “conservatively based on the current size of Ethereum’s NFT market” and the rate of growth in recent years.

“While there are notable differences between inscriptions and NFTs, it’s fair to say that a native on-chain ecosystem for NFTs has emerged on Bitcoin in a way never before possible, and its use has exploded.”

The report provided three market value predictions based on the firm’s analysis, covering bear, base and bull scenarios.

Looking at Galaxy’s baseline analysis, the report outlined that if Bitcoin NFTs can “expand into mainstream NFT culture like PFPs [Profile Pictures]memes and utility projects” the market value should increase to 4.5 billion dollars.

The researchers also noted that the $4.5 billion estimate is also based on the “rapid development in inscription awareness combined with the marketplace/wallet infrastructure already out there today.”

In a bear case, where Bitcoin NFTs are not creeping into the mainstream NFT market and prying market share away from Ethereum, Galaxy estimated that Bitcoin NFTs could still reach a market cap of $1.5 billion based on current interest levels and supporting infrastructure .

Related: Total crypto market cap takes a hit amid Silvergate Bank crisis

On the positive side of things, Galaxy researchers estimate that the Bitcoin NFT market could reach around $10 billion if it provides strong competition to Ethereum NFTs while providing unique use cases.

Estimated Market Value of Bitcoin NFT. Source: Galaxy Digital

At the time of the report, more than 250,000 Ordinals have entered the market. The researchers highlighted the importance and utility of Bitcoin NFTs, noting that:

“The addition of significant data storage with strong availability assurances opens up a variety of use cases, many of which are just beginning to be explored, including things like new types of decentralized software or Bitcoin scaling techniques. However, even the NFT use case alone has the potential to dramatically expand the scope of Bitcoin’s cultural impact.”