The broader non-fungible tokens (NFT) market has defied expectations after surpassing last year’s revenue milestone.
Data collected by CryptoSlam shows that, with less than a week left before 2024 ends, NFT sales for the year have reached $8,717,920,832, surpassing 2023’s figure by approximately $230,000.
The numbers
Last year, the industry recorded more than 91.55 million transactions, generating $8.71 billion per CryptoSlam. However, in 2024, the total number of transactions dropped significantly, to just 70.89 million.
Nevertheless, an increase in the number of unique buyers and sellers helped to balance the balance, with the former totaling 7.5 million and the latter reaching 4 million. These were the highest figures recorded since 2017, the closest being last year’s 3.8 million sellers and 2022’s 5.4 million buyers.
Debates have long been going on about the prospects of the NFT space, with the hype that once engulfed them having died down considerably. But analysts have urged not to write off the sector at all, a sentiment justified by the year’s performance, which, while at one point below 2022’s record $23.7 billion in revenue from 56 million transactions, have been significantly better than expected.
The next best period was 2021, when the industry raked in $15.7 billion from 34 million transactions involving 3.6 million unique sellers and more than 5 million buyers. The 2024 figures are on track to be the third highest returns ever, marginally better than last year’s figures.
The space also recently suffered casualties when the Nike-owned RTFKT project announced it would close in 2025 after earning nearly $50 million since launch.
Monthly insights
Looking at the short term, the past month showed a mixed outlook for NFTs. While global sales volumes increased by 19.43% to $912 million, the numbers of unique buyers and sellers fell by almost 28%, reflecting a more selective approach to the market.
Additionally, transactions fell 59.25% from the previous month, suggesting that fewer but more valuable exchanges may have fueled industry growth.
Overall, Ethereum remains the leading blockchain for NFT sales, contributing $495.7 million in the last 30 days alone. In second and third place were Bitcoin and Solana, which generated $191.4 million and $107 million respectively during that period.
Interestingly enough, the two blockchains went in completely opposite directions in terms of attracting buyers. Data from CryptoSlam shows that the number of NFT buyers on the Bitcoin network has increased by more than 80% in the past month, while those on Solana have fallen by at least 37%.
Immutable and Mythos rounded out the top five blockchains based on monthly NFT sales volume. The former recorded a turnover worth $35 million, an increase of 66.51% compared to the previous month, while the latter lost 36.72% compared to its turnover in the same period, reaching only $25.4 million.