The broader crypto landscape shows strong upward momentum, contrasting sharply with recent trends in the NFT sector. While digital asset giants like Bitcoin (BTC) push past the $94,000 mark and Ethereum (ETH) hovers near $1,800, the overall NFT market experienced a downturn.
Total NFT sales volume decreased by 6.15%, settling at $89.4 million for the observed period. This dip occurred even as the global crypto market capitalization climbed to $2.97 trillion, a notable increase from the previous week’s $2.69 trillion.
Market participation metrics paint a mixed picture. The number of unique NFT buyers saw a significant rise of 54.33% (to 391,498), and the count of sellers also grew by 45.06% (to 223,311). However, the total number of NFT transactions fell by 10.25% to just over 1.4 million, suggesting fewer transactions per user or lower average values.
Ethereum maintained its dominance as the leading blockchain for NFT activity, recording $25.1 million in sales – a 22.07% increase. Interestingly, wash trading activity on Ethereum also surged by 57.01%, reaching $3.4 million.
[Source: Blockchains by NFT Sales Volume]
Mythos Chain secured the second position with $15.1 million in sales, showing a modest 1.21% gain. Bitcoin-based NFTs slipped to third place, generating $14.7 million, representing a 14.18% decline.
Polygon (POL) experienced a significant drop, falling to fourth with $9.9 million in sales after a 53.63% plunge. Solana (SOL) completed the top five, bouncing back with a 40.70% increase to reach $9.2 million in sales volume.
Growth in the number of buyers was evident across several major blockchains. Solana led this charge with an 83.66% increase in buyers, followed by Polygon at 57.77% and Bitcoin at 52.82%.
Significant shifts occurred within the top NFT collection rankings. DMarket climbed back to the premier spot, achieving $9.9 million in sales. Courtyard, previously a leader on Polygon, dropped to second with $8.8 million following a sharp 55.39% decrease.
A standout development was the resurgence of the legacy collection CryptoPunks. It leaped into third place with $3.6 million in sales, marking a remarkable 106.19% increase from its prior performance. This revival was accompanied by a 90% rise in transactions, a 107.14% increase in buyers, and a doubling of sellers for the collection.
Guild of Guardians Heroes ranked fourth with $3.6 million, despite a 7.05% dip in sales. Bitcoin’s BRC-20 token standard ranked fifth, seeing $2.9 million in sales, down 21.87%.
New collections entering the top ranks included Guild of Guardians Avatars ($1.5 million) and Pudgy Penguins ($1.5 million), placing sixth and seventh, respectively.
Several high-value NFT sales highlighted continued interest in premium digital assets:
- An Uncategorized Ordinals NFT sold for 6 BTC (approx. $558,754).
- CryptoPunk #741 fetched 317 ETH (approx. $500,944).
- CryptoPunk #2301 was acquired for 134 ETH (approx. $233,817).
- SuperRare artwork #10093 sold for 173,700 USDC.
- BoredApeYachtClub #6669 changed hands for 99 ETH (approx. $162,584).