00NFT Trade Volume Down by 97% as ENS Overshadows CryptoPunks and BAYC

The recent market upheaval has not just affected top cryptocurrencies but the larger ecosystem, taking a toll on non-fungible token (NFT) growth and adoption as well. 

Data from Dune Analytics presented that trading in NFTs has seen a major downturn. From the peak of $17 billion in Jan., NFT trading volume has fallen to around $470 million in Sept., a 97% drop in nine months. 

Is the NFT hype finally fading?

At the beginning of the year, NFTs were the talk of the town as every other celebrity, artist, and athlete jumped on the bandwagon. 

Top names like GameStop and Samsung announced plans to move deeper into the NFT space in Jan. presenting a higher institutional interest in the sector. With NFT sales hitting an all-time high of $17 billion alongside growing institutional interest in the space, NFTs ruled crypto Twitter. 

Furthermore, a lowered retail and institutional interest could be seen in the space as Google search trends for the word “NFTs” saw a notable drop. Retail interest in NFTs was highest in Jan. and has presented a steady decline sitting at all-time low yearly levels at press time. 

This fall in interest and trading volumes in NFTs was partly catalyzed by the $2 trillion wipeout that the global crypto market cap witnessed owing to tightening monetary policy. 

How are top projects doing?

Overall, floor prices of top NFTs have significantly fallen from their all-time high levels. Nonetheless, CryptoPunks has managed to stay afloat and even gain some ground in the short term. 

The current price floor of CryptoPunks is 67.45 ETH and the 24-hour trading volume is 4,312.3 ETH with 15 sales, while in the last 24 hours, the price floor of CryptoPunks is up 2.37%, according to data from NFT Price Floor. 

Last 30-day NFT collection rankings by sales volume highlighted that while the top NFT collections like BAYC, Sorare, Mutant Ape Yacht Club, Otherdeed, and CryptoPunks all saw a loss in floor price as well as buyers and sellers, Ethereum Name Service (ENS), however, was in the green. 

ENS sales, as opposed to most projects, saw a 126.18% rise over the last 30-days while buyers and sellers saw a healthy uptick too. Over the last 24 hours, however, CryptoPunks had the highest sales followed by Sorare.

Recent reports highlighted that thieves stole NFTs worth over $100 million between July 2021 and July 2022. With trade volumes dwindling and scams still prevalent it remains to be seen what the fate of NFTs would be this year.