The Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) industry has been a hub of innovation and growth over the past year, but as it approaches the midway point of 2023, the market is showing signs of maturation and change. According to a recent report by DappRadar, NFT sales could fall below $1 billion for the first time this year.
NFT Market Facing Headwinds
According to the report, the NFT market shows signs of a potential shift in May 2023, with the trading volume reaching $333 million from $2.3 million in sales, a trend that may result in the first month of this year with a trading volume under $1 billion.
Despite this decline in sales, the NFT industry is still showing strong activity and engagement, with daily unique active wallets (dUAW) linked to NFT activities reaching 173,000, marking a 27% increase from the previous month.
However, the NFT market is facing significant challenges, with many traders selling their large NFT holdings at a loss to participate in the Memecoin frenzy, according to DappRadar. This has led to an uptick in on-chain activity, driving Ethereum’s gas fees above $100 and negatively impacting the volume of low-value NFT trades on the blockchain.
Despite this, the NFT market is still experiencing significant developments and events. Elon Musk’s tweet on May 10, 2023, referencing the Milady Maker collection, fueled a trading volume spike, reaching $13.95 million and doubling the number of trades in the same week.
Additionally, the Pudgy Penguins project secured $9 million in seed funding, debuting the Pudgy Toys collection, which amassed a total trading volume of $7.89 million the following week.
Furthermore, the top ten NFT sales reveal stalwarts like the Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks dominating the NFT landscape. However, a new entrant has emerged in the sixth position – an ADA handle, a personal crypto domain on the ADA blockchain, sold for $182,089, equivalent to 500,000 ADA.
Bitcoin Ordinals vs. NFTs
Bitcoin Ordinals, a new form of digital asset, has become a hot topic in the decentralized app (dapp) community since its launch by software engineer Casey Rodarmor on January 21. This protocol has garnered a significant following, with over 7.4 million Ordinals minted at the time of writing.
Ordinals differ from NFTs as they house all their data directly on-chain, earning the label “digital artifacts”. This feature makes Ordinals a potential technical upgrade to NFTs and a shift in Bitcoin’s cultural landscape.
However, the rise of Ordinals and the BRC-20 token standard, which enables the deployment of meme coins on the Bitcoin blockchain, has provoked concern among Bitcoin maxis. These innovations have strained the Bitcoin network, leading to a backlog of unconfirmed transactions and increased fees. The spike in transaction demand caused fees to soar to $31 on May 8, 2023, according to DappRadar’s report.
Despite the challenges, the increased activity has boosted miner fees, enhancing the overall security of the Bitcoin blockchain. The surge in fees indicates a growing number of people using Bitcoin for non-financial purposes, such as creating and trading Ordinals and speculation on tokens.
The Ordinals Protocol has given rise to intriguing collections and impressive sales, with Ordinal Punks and TwelveFold as notable examples. These collections have seen trading volumes, in the past 30 days, of 11.85 BTC and 14.9 BTC, respectively, indicating significant interest and engagement in the new digital asset.
The introduction of Bitcoin Ordinals represents an exciting development in the NFT space, opening up new possibilities for digital asset creation and trading. However, it also highlights the need for continued innovation and upgrades to address the challenges posed by increased activity and demand on the Bitcoin network.
Featured image from iStock, chart from TradingView.com