Crypto Winter: NFT Trading Volumes See Further Decline
Non-fungible tokens (NFT) trading volumes across major digital collectibles marketplaces such as OpenSea, Magic Eden, and others, witnessed significant declines in the month of August, according to The Block’s Data Dashboard.
NFT Trading Volumes Tank
The gloomy market conditions across the global financial markets have continued to take their toll on digital assets and collectibles in the blockchain space. Though NFT adoption seems to be on the rise still, trading volumes have seen a steady fall in recent months.
According to the latest non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace data released on August 25, the combined trading volume of all the digital collectibles marketplaces stood at $369.53 million as of August 24, a massive $305 million decrease, when compared to the $675.43 million they generated in July 2022.
NFTs trading volume last reached the $1 billion trading volume mark in June 2021 and with the current situation of things, it’s unlikely the market will reach such heights again this bear season.
Despite the turmoil, OpenSea, the world’s largest digital collectibles marketplace managed to reclaim its more than 80 percent market dominance which crashed to a mere 58.6 percent last month.
OpenSeas Regains Dominance, NFTs See Increased Adoption
OpenSea’s trading volume as of August 24, stood at $303.47 million, representing about 82 percent of the month’s reported volume activity. The leading NFT marketplace has managed to hold its own during these hard times, despite laying off about 20 percent of its workforce last month.
On August 12, crypto.news reported that OpenSea has now introduced a new policy designed to curb NFT thefts and fraudulent practices in its ecosystem. It will be recalled that OpenSea’s former Head of Product, Nathaniel Chastain got indicted last June over his alleged involvement in insider trading on OpenSa and other dirty operations.
Other NFT marketplaces also witnessed significant declines in trading volume in August. Solana (SOL)based Magic Eden managed just $36.17 million in volume, compared to $87.44 million worth of NFTs it traded in July, representing a 59 percent decline.
In the same vein, LooksRare’s trading volume as of August 24 stood at $13.51 million, which is a 56 percent decline when compared to its $30.55 million volume in July. In the same vein, the report notes that on-chain trading activity for Ethereum-based NFTs has reduced greatly since May 2022.
Though the reason behind this decline remains unclear, it’s very likely that some collectors may be avoiding Ethereum-based metaverses for now due to the upcoming Ethereum 2.0 merge event scheduled to happen in September, as no one can say for sure if the transition will be 100 percent hitch-free.
Despite the decreasing trading volumes plaguing digital collectibles marketplaces, there has been no shortage of top brands and institutions in the metaverse. On August 25, reports emerged that electronics giant, Samsung has joined forces with NFT company, Allink to offer users unparalleled NFT experiences.
