Are NFTs experiencing a slow death, and if so, would anybody mourn them? Not everyone is a fan of non-fungible tokens, and the mere mention of the subject can elicit a dismissive or even hostile reaction online.
However, in the anonymous, social media arena, it’s difficult to judge whether diatribes are actually representative of the majority opinion, as people who are undecided or disinterested tend not to engage.
Volumes Down but Markets Are Functioning
Sales volumes are more easily quantified than opinions, and in that case, there can be no doubt that NFT trading activity is down heavily from the peaks reached in 2021 and the first half of 2022.
That said, one needs to be careful when assessing this data. Look at trade in USD terms, and reports have indicated a 99% drop from the peaks.
However, the USD value of ETH is highly volatile, and peak figures at the market top were a combination of prices rising in ETH at the same time as ETH hit all-time highs in USD. In ETH terms, sales volumes are comparable to just before the summer of 2021’s biggest surge in activity.
What’s more, NFTs are down from their highs, but they are still greatly advanced from where they were prior to 2021. Before last year’s bull run, NFTs were niche to the point of being unknown outside crypto circles, largely ignored even within crypto circles, and lacking the increasingly complex platforms and architecture that now support the NFT ecosystem.
Taking the view that committed NFT market participants operate in ETH, and that the value of ETH is likely to rise again in the future, then the current ecosystem looks relatively quiet, but functional and developing.
Furthermore, it makes little sense to single out NFTs for special criticism, when entire markets, both crypto-oriented and traditional, are operating precariously in a gloomy macro environment.
Early Brands and Key Collections
During the last NFT bull run (which was also the first real NFT bull run), a significant amount of crypto capital found its way into the NFT space, proto-brands were sketched out, and crossovers with art, gaming and finance were established.
Bored Ape Yacht Club, created by Yuga Labs, is now the most prominent NFT brand, and might plausibly become the first giant of web3. Also of unique significance is…
