Crypto price-tracking website CoinGecko acquires NFT analytics firm Zash

With the new addition, CoinGecko wants to expand its crypto data API offering and monitor wash trading on marketplaces.

Crypto data aggregator CoinGecko is doubling down on the NFT market with the latest acquisition aimed at expanding its API offering data on digital collectibles.

In a blog announcement on Wednesday, Nov. 22, CoinGecko said it has acquired Zash, an infrastructure company focused on non-fungible tokens, in a bid to offer more NFT-related metrics such as metadata, historical trades and lending data. The deal price was not disclosed.

“We believe that NFTs will continue to evolve and unlock new use cases globally, creating value for companies and consumers.”

CoinGecko Founder, Parit Patel

CoinGecko plans to roll out new services by Q2, 2024. Users could get access to data across Ethereum, Polygon, BNB Chain (formerly Binance Smart Chain), Bitcoin Ordinals and Solana. In addition to metadata, users will also be able to gather NFT lending information across marketplaces such as Blend, X2Y2 and NFTfi.

Among other features, Zash will also make it possible for customers to monitor wash trading. However, this feature will only be available on “major collections” minted on Ethereum, CoinGecko said.

Wash trading has historically been a concern in the NFT market as many blamed this illegal practice of buying and selling assets at the same time as the main reason behind the 2022 NFT bubble.

According to a blockchain forensic firm Chainalysis, more than 100 profitable wash traders collectively made nearly $9 million in profit from this activity. Yet, the firm noted that most NFT wash traders “have been unprofitable,” adding that more than 150 wash trades resulted in $416,984 in losses.

As of press time, total sales on the market amount to $80.8 million, a far cry from its all-time high from August 2021, when the market generated over $2 billion in daily sales, according to CryptoSlam data.

CoinGecko operates as a platform providing data and information on digital currencies, offering tools for users to assess and rank their cryptocurrency holdings quantitatively. Established in Singapore in 2014, the company was co-founded by TM Lee and Bobby Ong.