Basketball legend Michael Jordan’s net worth is $3.5 billion and is currently higher than the entire NFT market, which was valued at over $15 billion just two years ago.
Basketball icon Michael Jordan, often heralded as the greatest of all time (GOAT), has taken another notch to his already illustrious title. A recent sale of shares in the Charlotte Hornets has catapulted Jordan’s net worth to an estimated $3.5 billion, according to data from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
This significant financial performance becomes even more remarkable when compared to the declining non-fungible token (NFT) market.
NFTs were once a thriving industry in crypto and have recently experienced significant declines in trading activity and value.
Following the sale of his stake in the Charlotte Hornets, Michael Jordan’s net worth now stands at $3.5 billion, more than virtually the entire NFT market combined. pic.twitter.com/Yz6KOod2HA
— NFTstats.eth (@punk9059) Aug 30, 2023
NFTs have gone from boom to gloom
In contrast to the upward trajectory of Jordan’s fortunes, the downturn in NFT activity and valuation.
After peaking in January 2023 with 7.36 million sales, it was down 49% last month as sales fell to 3.7 million.
The number of active users engaged in trading is now at around 50,000, indicating a broader trend of declining interest in the space.
The decline in the market can be linked to a number of reasons.
Initially, the overall dip in the crypto market affected core assets such as Ethereum, which affected NFT values.
In addition, initial excitement about NFTs, driven by fear of missing out (FOMO), has shifted to investor caution. This is because several NFTs offer limited practicality and are still controlled by centralized marketplaces, creating uncertainty about their lasting value.
The community has come to understand that NFTs usually don’t have real-world applications beyond digital art. Unlike crypto-assets, which are used in various industries, NFTs have not gained as much traction.
In addition, the NFT world is plagued by continued scams and fraud, with over $100 million lost to NFT-related scams in 2022 alone.