NFT Industry Stages a Comeback After Dwindling Sales: Nansen

Non-fungible token (NFT) was one of the worst-hit sectors in the digital asset industry, following a year-long downward trend.

Dwindling sales and low volume raised doubts about the sustainability of NFTs. However, the market appears to be slowly making a comeback. The latest data indicates that the NFT industry has witnessed a consistent rise in its weekly Ether sales volume.

NFT Trading Volume Surges

According to the latest data shared by Nansen, the NFT trading volume has been on a consistent rise for the past five weeks.

The lowest point was during the week ending on October 9th, when the weekly NFT volume amounted to 29.7k ETH. The second week attracted 36k ETH, followed by a steady increase in the figures. The third and fourth weeks saw 47.3k ETH and 56.7k ETH, respectively. During the week ending on November 6th, NFT sales volume climbed above 68.3k ETH.

The blockchain analytics company revealed that NFT marketplace Blur accounted for 171,926 ETH of this volume compared to Opensea, which was 37,765 ETH.

NFT volume for the past 5 weeks has been steadily increasing 📈

The bottom was the week closing 9th Oct, where NFT weekly volume was 29,704 ETH, compared to last week, week ending Nov 6th, NFT sales volume reached 68,342 ETH

Slowly then suddenly…?https://t.co/SOlhKZezmO pic.twitter.com/420fiRYw9e

— Nansen 🧭 (@nansen_ai) November 6, 2023

Slow Comeback?

Dapp Radar’s recent report also shed light on how October marked a reversal in the declining trend of NFT trading volume, showing a 32% increase compared to September. Even as the total trading volume surpassed $405 million, the number of NFT sales decreased by 5%.

Ethereum continues to lead in terms of trading volume, experiencing a significant 50% jump. Immutable X comes in second place with $22 million in trading volume, largely driven by Gods Unchained, Cross the Ages, and Illuvium.

While Ethereum witnessed growth, the same cannot be said for blockchain networks, which saw a notable decline in their sales volume. Polygon, Starkware, and Flow experienced drops of 48%, 42%, and 32%, respectively.

One blockchain network worth highlighting is Solana, which has been making a comeback after previous setbacks, particularly related to FTX. In October, NFT trading volume on Solana increased by 15%, securing its position as the 5th highest in the rankings. Additionally, zkSync Era, a newcomer, saw its NFT trading volume surge by 88% to reach $12 million within the past month.

Solana’s trading volume increased from $24 million to $27.6 million this month, marking a 15% growth, while zkSync, ranked as the 6th largest chain, experienced remarkable growth of 88%, going from $7.3 million to $14 million.

In terms of the number of sales, Starkware saw a significant pullback, decreasing from 479,000 to 264,000, a decline of 48%, while Polygon also experienced a decrease from 1.5 million to 1.2 million, representing a 23% drop.