NFT bubble burst: Monthly sales, transactions crash

The non-fungible token sector remained under pressure in August as sales continued to decline.

Total NFT sales in August fell 41% to $376 million, as the number of buyers and sellers dropped by double digits.

According to CryptoSlam data, the number of buyers decreased by 29% to 127,913, while the number of sellers decreased by 17% to 93,600.

Additionally, total NFT transactions decreased by 50% to 7.4 million, indicating decreasing demand for these assets.

At the peak in January 2022, total monthly sales were over $6.5 billion, while the number of unique buyers and sellers was over 1.5 million and the number of unique sellers was over 1 million.

NFT sales, buyers and sellers | Source: CryptoSlam

Ethereum (ETH) maintained its lead as the most popular chain among NFT investors, processing over $129 million in transactions in August, down 38% from the previous month.

Solana (SOL) followed with $78.9 million. Bitcoin’s NFT sales fell 50% to $57 million, while Polygon (MATIC) fell 52% to $36 million.

Mythos Chain saw a boom in August, generating $20 million in sales, a 14% increase from the previous month. Mythos was led by DMarket, whose sales increased by 17% during the month.

Some of the most popular NFTs have seen their valuations and sales plummet over the past few years. For example, Bored Ape Yacht Club went from $50 million in monthly sales in 2022 to just $11 million in August.

This sharp decline in NFT monthly volume has affected both investors and marketplaces like OpenSea and Rarible. Data from Dune Analytics shows that OpenSea’s monthly volume in July was just $32 million, down from $641 million in January of last year.

OpenSea monthly volume | Source: Dune Analytics

Other NFT marketplaces like Blur, Magic Eden, and SuperRare have also seen weak volume and user numbers over the past few months.

NFT sales have fallen due to falling prices. The largest NFT collectible, CryptoPunks, has a base price of $88,839, a 52% decrease from the same period in 2023. Bored Ape Yacht Club’s base price has fallen 70% in the past 12 months to $29,593, while Azuki has fallen 20%.

During the same period, the ones that gained the most value were Pudgy Penguins and Milady, whose base prices increased by 166% and 121%, respectively.