NFT sales fall by more than 90% to the lowest level in 12 months
Sales of non-fungible tokens (NFT) have fallen to annual lows after a major downturn with the broader cryptocurrency market.
The average number of daily sales of NFTs, which typically come in the form of a unique piece of digital art, fell to around 19,000 in June 2022. At its peak between August and November last year, NFT sales were often over 200,000 pr. day.
The total monthly transaction volume also fell to levels not seen since June 2021, falling from a peak above $ 4 billion to below $ 800 million, according to figures from market tracker NonFungible.
The hype surrounding NFTs was driven by popular art projects such as the Bored Ape Yacht Club, which attracted celebrity owners such as musicians Justin Bieber, Eminem and Madonna.
Former First Lady Melania Trump also launched her own NFT initiative last year that allowed people to buy a digital painting of her eyes.
Despite their appeal on the A-list, data from the blockchain analysis platform Chainalysis earlier this year revealed that the ownership of NFTs is concentrated to only a few hundred thousand people.
This represents only a fraction of a percent of the approximately 300 million people around the world who use cryptocurrency.
The decline in popularity of NFTs can be partly attributed to the cryptocurrency market crash of the last seven months, which has led to the cryptocurrency market falling in value from close to $ 3 trillion to below $ 900 billion.
The extent of the losses has led some market commentators to declare the beginning of a so-called “crypto winter”, which can take years to recover from. Others are still hopeful that the overall usefulness of the technology will persist through chaotic market conditions.
“NFTs are still a relatively new technology, with a wide range of utility cases spanning virtually all industries,” said Emily Wigoder, CEO of NFT Agency Ad Astra, The independent.
“What we are now seeing is the cooling of the initial voltage, and with it a cooling of the prices of NFTs. This ‘winter’ in no way detects a decrease in the use cases of NFTs or their aesthetic value, and therefore does not imply anything. real loss of value.
“Instead of panicking, we should use this break to understand which projects are worth investing time and energy in, and build them to enter the market.”
