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0 CommentsSurging sales and hefty prices on NFTs show no sign of abating. The Q3 figure was up from $1.3 billion in Q2 and $1.2 billion in Q1. The increase was powered by a record-breaking August that saw over $5.2 billion in trades.
Reuters reported sales volumes of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) surged to $10.7 billion in the third quarter of 2021, up more than 700% from the previous quarter, according to data from market tracker DappRadar, as the frenzy for crypto assets reached new highs.
The third-quarter figure was up from $1.3 billion in Q2 and $1.2 billion in Q1, DappRadar said.
On the biggest NFT marketplace, OpenSea, sales volumes hit $3.4 billion in August. Activity remained strong even in September when global stock markets faltered.
To be honest, estimates for the size of the NFT market vary depending on what is included. Transactions, which take place “off-chain,” such as NFT art sales at auction houses, are often not captured by the data.
DappRadar’s data, including multiple blockchains and “off-chain” transactions, shows the total 2021 sales volume at $13.2 billion.
On the other hand, CryptoSlam, which excludes “off-chain” sales, says the figure is $9.6 billion.
Another market tracker, NonFungible.com, which tracks NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain only, puts the 2021 total volume at $7 billion.
However, despite growing sales and celebrities and other investors jumping on the trend, the number of NFT buyers remains relatively small: just 265,927 active wallets were trading NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain in Q3, NonFungible.com said.
According to NonFungible.com, more than half of NFTs sold in Q3 were $101-$1,000, while those in the $1,001-$10,000 bracket accounted for 20% of sales, and 17% fetched less than $100.
In particular, huge growth in Q3 has shown Art Blocks, a US-based project which sells algorithmically-generated digital artworks as NFTs.
October 2, an Art Blocks NFT sold for 2,100 ETH (about $6.9 million). According to CryptoSlam, average Art Blocks prices have risen to roughly $15,100 per NFT in September, up from $3,300 in July.
As DappRadar’s data read, also surged NFT-powered games, such as the blockchain-based game Axie Infinity, the leader of the “play-to-earn” sector with $776 million in Q3 revenues.
Axie Infinity is also reportedly raising around $150 million this week in a Series B funding round at a $3 billion valuation, with the round led by venture capital firm Andreesen Horowitz.
