The NFT market shows recovery signs, while sales in 2022 almost match the 2021 boom
The NFT market is showing signs of recovery after posting a 3-month high by accumulating a 30K ETH trading volume on Jan. 5.
A sharp surge in trading volume
Data by DappRadar shows that the number of NFT sales in 2022 approximately matched the peak of 2021. The organic trade volume created by the NFT market was about $24.7 billion. That is a minor decline from the $25.1 billion sum reported in 2021. The great start to 2022 fueled a year-end surge and helped make up for many subsequent subpar months.
A glimpse of 2022
As 2021’s momentum continued into the new year, sales increased in January. The leading marketplace, OpenSea, recorded a record month with $5 billion in trade volume. In the following months, trade volume decreased.
In late April, Yuga Labs’ Otherside—a metaverse game with a Bored Ape Yacht Club theme—launched. Its launch boosted the market and set a single-day trading volume record for OpenSea. At that moment, it appeared that the 2022 NFT sales volume might surpass the 2021 total.
However, that rise was brief. In May, the impetus of NFT trading also fell along with cryptocurrency values, leading to a dramatic price decline. The market’s monthly volume dropped from roughly $3.3 billion in May to a little over $1 billion in June. It is yet to be above the $1 billion threshold.
The NFT market concluded 2022 with a relative whimper compared to the early-year peaks. However, overall trading volume increased little compared to November’s total. Compared to November, December recorded higher sales of $684 million in organic transactions.
Top NFTs of 2022
The most popular NFT project last year was Ethereum’s Bored Ape Yacht Club. Its trade volume was roughly $1.6 billion. However, most of that trading took place between January and May. The beginning prices declined from an April peak of $429,000 worth of ETH to a recent low of under $60,000 in November.
OpenSea continued to be the top market for organic NFT deals, with over $297 million in December. Up from around $259 million in November. With the prospect of impending token incentives, Blur, a more recent rival, has encouraged NFT transactions. Its monthly revenue increased from roughly $115 million in November to over $177 million in December.
The Solana blockchain followed its current up-and-down pattern. Its trading volume has dropped from $95 million in November to approximately $70 million. After a strong September that saw approximately $134 million in NFT sales thanks to the release of y00ts, a generative art project of 15,000 NFTs, it had previously dropped to $67 million in October. Due to the collapse of FTX, SOL’s value dropped significantly in November and December.
After two consecutive months of drops of 50% or more, Flow, the blockchain technology that powers NFL All Day and NBA Top Shot, stopped the bleeding. Flow reported NFT revenues of roughly $6.8 million in December, down from about $7.7 million in November.
Additionally, Top Shot witnessed its first marginal month-over-month increase after months of reductions. According to CryptoSlam, its trading volume rose to $2.2 million in December, following less than $2.1 million in NFT sales in November. However, the FLOW token rapidly lost momentum with declining NFT activity on the platform earlier this week, hitting a new all-time low price.
