According to Cointelegraph, nonfungible token (NFT) sales have surged to $129 million in November, as per data from Nansen. Weekly sales volume increased significantly, with sales reaching 29,704 Ether (ETH), worth around $56 million, and later surging to 68,342 ETH (over $129 million). NFT marketplace Blur had the highest trading volume in the last 30 days, with 161,433 ETH, worth approximately $305 million, followed by OpenSea with 52,307 ETH, around $100 million. Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) had the highest trading volume among NFT collections in the last 30 days, at 35,226 ETH, approximately $66.7 million.
Despite the surge in sales, OpenSea announced on November 3 that it was laying off 50% of its employees as part of its plan to launch OpenSea 2.0 with a smaller team. The company had previously laid off 20% of its employees in July 2022 due to the “crypto winter.” Affected employees will receive four-month severance packages, accelerated equity vesting, and six months of continued healthcare and mental healthcare. In related news, Coatue Management, a US-based tech investment firm, has marked down the value of its stake in OpenSea by 90%, reducing its investment from $120 million to $13 million and driving down OpenSea’s valuation to $1.4 billion.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk unintentionally highlighted the case for Bitcoin Ordinals, also known as Bitcoin NFTs, during his recent appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast. Bitcoin supporters used Musk’s comments to argue in favor of Bitcoin Ordinals, which were launched in January by developer Casey Rodarmor. Bitcoin Ordinals are similar to NFTs but are stored on Bitcoin’s blockchain.