In February, the number of NFT buyers fell below 800,000 for the first time since October, and searches for NFTs also dropped significantly.
According to CryptoSlam, there were 796,009 NFT buyers on the secondary market in February (down 12% from January), with sales of approximately $2.6 billion (down 40% from the previous month).
However, it’s important to note that January was a huge month for NFTs, which may indicate that February’s decline was just part of a relatively healthy correction. The number of secondary NFT buyers reached a record 904,130 in January, and OpenSea also posted record sales in January, totaling approximately $5 billion before falling back to approximately $3 billion last month.
However, looking at Google Trends, global keyword searches for “NFT” also appear to have dropped significantly. Over the past week, interest has dropped by around 60-70% from its highs in late January (January 23-January 29).
At the time of writing, the U.S. represents the most interest globally, while Japan currently has the lowest interest in NFTs out of 61 countries, despite local tech and telecommunications giant Rakuten launching an NFT marketplace late last month.
NFT proponent and managing partner of NFT investment fund Sfermion Andrew Steinwold likened the current pullback to the 2017/2018 bull market and subsequent crash, questioning whether investor interest will pick up again any time soon.
Although top platform OpenSea suffered a $1.7 million hack in February, the exact reason for such a sharp drop in general interest over the past month is unclear.
The conflict between Russia and Ukraine could also shift the focus to cryptocurrencies, with global attention appearing to have shifted to use cases such as digital payments, fundraising and storing value in uncertain times.
March to present
Data from CryptoSlam also shows that 10 of the top 12 blockchains supporting NFTs have also seen a decline in sales over the past 24 hours. The top two, Ethereum and Solana, dropped 4.24% and 11%, respectively, while the biggest losers were Avalanche and Panini, which dropped 27.79% and 36.20%, respectively.
Flow at No. 3 and Arbitrum at No. 6 were the only networks to gain, at 20.89% and a whopping 539%, respectively.
Preview
Gain a broader understanding of the crypto industry through informative reports, and engage in in-depth discussions with other like-minded authors and readers. You are welcome to join us in our growing Coinlive community:https://t.me/CoinliveSG