Is the NFT market dead? New study sheds light
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) were some of the most popular assets around the world in 2021. The digital assets took over the world, and it seems that everyone, across multiple industries, launched an NFT collection.
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As the crypto market declines, in line with traditional stocks, NFTs followed. Many have claimed that the incipient sector has died as popular collections see smaller trading volumes and prices fall.
A new study published by CashNetUSA used Google’s search volume and Twitter sentiment to measure to get a “clearer picture” of the NFT landscape. According to the study, Asia is still interested in the digital assets.
Singapore and Hong Kong lead the worldwide ranking in NFT interest, the study claims. Singapore records 18,717 NFT-related searches per million inhabitants each month.
The country has been keen to embrace digital assets and the GameFi model, which often uses NFTs to support its play-to-earn platforms. The study claims that Singapore has a “strong gaming culture and growing belief that digital goods are of genuine value”.
The United States, Canada and the EU also have a record high interest in NFTs. The North American countries have over 22,000 NFT-related applicants while the EU countries have around 40,000 NFT-related applicants.
In that sense, Singapore is a special case as it registers far more applicants than large economies such as the United States and the United Kingdom. The report claims that these digital assets have been used even by high-level local politicians:
Singapore records 18,717 searches per month per million inhabitants, and even Singapore’s parliamentary president is involved in selling NFTs of landscapes to raise money for charity.
Who hates NFTs the most?
Conversely, the report concluded that NFTs are far less popular in countries such as Poland, Nicaragua, Jamaica and Ireland. These results are supported by the feeling in social media where these countries register the most negative reactions.
On the other hand, countries such as Cuba, Montenegro, Luxembourg, Taiwan, France and Lebanon register a positive attitude towards digital assets. Common media platforms, the collections launched by digital artists and the prices of these items are some of the reasons why some countries tend to hate or like NFTs:
Poland and Nicaragua are the neck-and-neck for the country that most hates NFTs. Controversial NFT stories have flooded the news in Poland, such as influencer Marta Rentel, who sold the “digital love” of her online persona “Marti Renti” for $ 250,000 (1 million Polish zlotys).
Axie Infinity, the game that took the play-to-earn (P2E) model mainstream, occupies the number one position for the most popular NFT. The blockchain-based game tops a list of 112 countries worldwide.
Axie Infinity’s popularity is followed by Decentraland, the Metaverse project, which was the most sought after in 43 countries. As the report shows, it appeared that the NFT market has lost momentum, but is still alive in certain regions.
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Additional data provided by Token Terminal records a decline in trading volume and total revenue for the popular NFT marketplace OpenSea. But, as the chart below shows, their downward trends began very recently in May 2022. If the crypto market bounces off the downturns, can NFTs make a stronger comeback?
