NFT market is holding up well in 2023

The non-fungible token (NFT) market has continued to thrive despite the overall bearish trend in cryptocurrency.

Based on NFTGO data, the single-day trading volume of the NFT market on Jan.5 exceeded 32,000 ETH, the highest level in three months. OpenSea’s ETH-denominated trading volume reached a two-month high on the same day.

2022 was not as climatic as 2021 for NFTs

2021 was the year NFTs mostly caught on, with investors rushing to embrace cryptocurrencies and metaverses.

However, in 2022, their recipient was smaller. For instance, trading volume on the OpenSea platform, one of the biggest marketplaces for NFTs in September 2021, dropped to around $350 million from $3 billion.

According to DappRadar, the organic trading volume generated by the NFT market in 2022 was around $24.7 billion, a slight decrease from the $25.1 billion recorded in 2021. 

The public scandals in the crypto market, like the FTX collapse and the general waning interest in NFTs, destroyed their market in 2022. In addition, major cryptocurrencies crashed, sending the entire market into a frenzy.

NFT prices fell, but the sales were higher

The first quarter of 2022 was a promising start for the NFT market, as DappRadar reported that the total trading volume during that period reached $12.4 billion.

However, the following quarter saw a steady decline. During the second quarter, the trading volume was $8.4 billion, followed by the third quarter at $2.6 billion and the fourth quarter at $1.2 billion.

The number of NFTs traded increased significantly in 2022, according to DappRadar. Despite the flat overall trading volume during the year, the platform noted a significant spike in NFTs traded last year. The number of NFTs traded in 2022 was 101 million, significantly higher than the 58.6 million trades in 2021.

The reason is that there were more NFT sales at lower USD values, noting the low crypto and NFT prices.