By
Chimamanda U. Martha
April 17th, 2024
Unlike the growth of Initial Coin Offerings (ICO) around 2017 where an average investor caught in on the token crowdfunding frenzy, the embrace of NFTs is notably within a very small circle.
The Non-Fungible Token (NFT) mania is far from cooling down as new data suggests the emerging use cases of blockchain technology recorded the highest sales record or volume in Q3. According to a Reuters report, citing data from market tracker DappRadar, the sales volume of NFTs soared to $10.7 billion in the past quarter, printing an eightfold increase from the second quarter.
Per the data shared, the $10.7 billion sales volume tops the $1.3 billion in Q2 and $1.2 billion in Q1. The overall NFT surge stems from the integration of NFT capabilities in other blockchain protocols beyond the Ethereum network. Platforms like Solana, Cardano, Terra, and Binance Smart Chains also support the ongoing NFT revolution, with an even cheaper minting fee that has seen a growing emergence of these assets on such blockchains.
Differing NFT Sales Record
While there is one unique agreement amongst various NFT tracking platforms that the growth of digital collectible sales is on the rise, the exact growth rates have been shown to differ from one platform to the other. In the year-to-date period, DappRadar puts the total NFT sales at $13.2 billion. CryptoSlam, another data analytics platform that tracks all NFT sales minus those that take place off-chain, pointed out that the figure is about $9.6 billion.
Beyond popular marketplaces such as OpenSea where the bulk of NFT sales take place, legacy auction houses like Christie’s are also becoming popular for floating NFT sales. Infact, the largest NFT sale to date which is Beeple’s Everydays: The First 5000 Days was auctioned on Christie’s back in March for $69 million.
The total 2021 sales data profiled by NonFungible.com, an analytics platform that tracks only NFTs resident on the ethereum blockchain is about $7 billion.
Fast Growth, Limited Circle Adoption
Unlike the growth of Initial Coin Offerings (ICO) around 2017 where an average investor caught in on the token crowdfunding frenzy, the embrace of NFTs is notably within a very small circle. According to data from NonFungible.com, the total wallets transacting NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain was just about 265,927 as of Q3 this year.
The bulk of the NFTs traded has also been shown to crest within the $101 to $1,000 range which represented 50% of all assets sold. Those in the $1,001-$10,000 bracket accounted for 20% of sales, and 17% fetched less than $100, NonFungible.com said.
Many observers have projected the possibility of NFTs growing into the mainstream with the advent of decentralized games and play-to-earn gaming ecosystem of which Axie Infinity remains the most prominent name in this aspect. The rationale that these offshoots of digital collectible representations will drive the adoption of NFTs is centered on the fact that users will be unable to turn down embracing the platforms through which users can catch fun by playing games and also earn real on-chain assets that can be converted to money.