The trading volume of non-fungible tokens has decreased 97% since the start of 2022, according to data.
According to statistics from crypto analytics, crypto-focused people are finding it more difficult to sell their crude, demeaningly derivative Bored Apes and featureless, dull-eyed 8-bit faces of CryptoPunks.
Data from Dune Analytics, which was initially made public by Bloomberg, indicated that from January to September of this year, trade volume for NFTs decreased from $17 billion to barely $466 million. That represents a sharp 97% decline in just nine months. The NFT trading platforms OpenSea, NFTX, LarvaLabs, LooksRare, SuperRare, Rarible, and Foundation were used to gather the data.
With that figure, trading today would be lower than they were in July of last year, just before the NFT frenzy really got off. This information builds on earlier claims this month that revenues at OpenSea, the largest NFT trading platform by volume at the moment, were down 75% from only two months earlier.
The data was submitted by Dune Analytics user hildobby, and what makes it even more intriguing is that while the total number of traders has reduced significantly, the number of deals has decreased far less overall. In September of this year, there were more than 42,000 traders overall, down from a record of over 66,000 in March but still somewhat more than the 45,000 or so dealers in March.
But overall usage is dropping as well. According to DappRadar statistics, fewer people are using OpenSea this month, a decrease of over 5%.
Bored Ape Yacht Club, the once-king of the non-fungible expanded universe, is now ranked under the likes of Terraforms and CryptoPunks, though it still occupies a rather spacious room in the crowded minds of celebrities like Paris Hilton and Jimmy Fallon, which may account for a significant portion of this decline. According to hildobby statistics, Terraforms had a 1-week trading volume of 12,202 ETH compared to 3,634 ETH for Bored Apes. The market cap of BAYC tokens, according to NFT Price Floor, has decreased by almost 8%, despite a little increase in recent days.
Since the cryptocurrency crisis in May of last year, according to Bloomberg, the current crypto winter has cost the sector close to $2 trillion. That is undoubtedly the case, as seen by CoinMarketCap statistics on coins like ApeCoin and Tezos, both of which continue to trade at very low levels when compared to their peak prices in the spring of 2022.
Additionally, customers continue to experience significant account intrusions despite the fact that fewer persons are profiting from NFTs. Jason Falovitch, a former sports manager who now promotes NFT projects for Mark Cuban, said that four NFTs were taken from his wallet on Sunday, with the hacker reportedly earning a profit of $150,000. Later, Falovitch tweeted that over $1 million in ETH and NFTs had been stolen.
The Optimism blockchain network has been added to OpenSea’s list of supported networks in an effort to increase trade interest. However, when new trading platforms like GameStop’s NFT marketplace came out of testing in July, there was a surge of new customers, but that surge rapidly subsided. In late August, the company’s NFT platform’s daily income allegedly fell below $4,000.
