NFT
- NFT trading volume increased 230% in the first quarter of 2023 with revenues exceeding $4.54 billion compared to $1.97 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022.
- According to Nansen Data Journalist Martin Lee, the NFT marketplace Blur accounted for most of the volume in the quarter.
- The number of NFT users also grew significantly during the quarter, although volume and user numbers have declined in recent weeks.
An analysis of the NFT market by Nansen, a leading blockchain analytics firm, points to an industry revival in the first three months of the year. Data comparing market performance in terms of trading volumes shows sales in Q1 of 2023 increased by more than 230% compared to Q4 of 2022.
According to Martin Lee, a data journalist at Nansen, the significant increase can be seen in both ETH and USD metrics. A new player in the NFT marketplace ecosystem accounted for a large share of trading volume, the analysis shows.
“TThe increase is largely due to the rise of BlurLee noted in an analysis shared with CoinJournal.
NFT trading volume increased 230% in the first quarter to more than $4.54 billion
In the fourth quarter of 2022, more than 1.5 million ETH or more than $1.97 billion in NFTs were traded. This amounted to an NFT sales volume of 9,036,778 during the period. In comparison, the NFT market recorded a significant increase in transaction volume in the first quarter of 2023, with market volume exceeding 2.83 million ETH, or $4.54 billion.
The total number of transactions in the quarter was 11,498,022 NFTs, with volume growing 230% in Q1 2023 compared to Q4 2022.
While sales volume increased significantly in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the fourth quarter of 2022, Nansen data shows that there was a pause in April. While $1.7 billion was traded in March, the following 30 days saw a drop in volume with around $1.2 billion generated. The trend is also observed in May as shown below.
Data shows a decline in NFT volumes in April and May. Source: Nansen
There’s also been a slight drop in the number of users, with data for the past few weeks being lower than for the past year. In particular, in the first quarter there were 13,999,528 users, compared to 11,233,872 in the fourth quarter of 2022.
A visualization of NFT sales and wallets between January 2022 and April 2023. Source: NansenThe drop comes amid a surge in interest in meme coins, with top performers like Pepe (PEPE) and Floki Inu (FLOKI) appearing in the past month.OpenSea saw $200 million in NFT sales volume in the fourth quarter of 2022
In the last quarter of 2022, the NFT market recorded remarkable sales figures, especially for OpenSea. The platform accounted for 219,992.50 ETH in volume, equivalent to $272,415,866.4. Total NFT sales on the platform during the quarter were 1,413,780 NFTs.
During this period LooksRare, Mint, CryptoPunks and X2Y2 were other platforms that registered significant volumes.
Blur emerges as the leading NFT marketplace, volume in the first quarter surpassing OpenSea
In the first quarter of 2023, Blur emerged as a prominent player in the NFT market. While OpenSea’s sales volume was 661,547.79 ETH, or approximately $1.02 billion from 3,727,299 NFTs sold, Blur’s volume was nearly three times that.
According to the Nansen analysis, Blur saw its remarkable growth translate into more than 1.8 million ETH, or $2.93 billion in NFT sales. The platform accounted for 1,999,688 of the quarterly NFT sales.
Launched in October 2022, Blur is now one of the leading NFT marketplaces. The Ethereum-based platform appears to offer traders and collectors a top marketplace that emphasizes a community-driven ecosystem.
Blur’s growth in terms of sales volume demonstrates the continued expansion of the NFT market, with dealers and collectors eager to discover the best of both established and emerging platforms.