After a dull stretch, NFT sales have taken a turn for the better. What’s behind this momentum, and is it a sign of a lasting revival?

NFTs are finally making a comeback

Non-fungible tokens are starting to show signs of life again after a rather dull performance in the last few weeks.

According to data from CryptoSlam, sales between Sep. 30 and Oct. 6 soared past $84.9 million, marking the highest sales volume since the week ending Aug. 25, which recorded over $93 million.

What’s even more interesting is that the NFT market has been gaining momentum throughout September. During the week of Sep. 16-22, NFT sales reached $69 million, and the following week, Sep. 23-29, saw a modest uptick to $75 million.

The current week, as of Oct. 7, has already clocked over $5.5 million in sales, suggesting that the market could continue this upward trend.

In addition to the rise in sales volume, there’s been an increase in activity, with over 2 million transactions recorded in the last seven days as of Oct. 7, a 29.73% jump from the previous period.

However, it’s not all sunshine. The average sale price of NFTs has dropped by 32.91%, now sitting at around $43 per sale, indicating that while more people are engaging with NFTs, the high-priced collectibles may still be lagging behind.

With the numbers showing positive momentum, what’s driving this rebound? Let’s dive deeper into which blockchains are leading the NFT race, why NFTs are making a comeback, and what we can expect in the days to come.

Which blockchains are leading the race?

As of Oct. 9, Ethereum (ETH) still holds the crown as the dominant blockchain in the NFT space, but the landscape is shifting, and other platforms are quietly gaining ground.

Ethereum (ETH)

Ethereum remains the leader in terms of NFT sales, bringing in over $26.5 million in the past week. Ethereum’s sales accounted for nearly 31% of the entire NFT market, but it’s also plagued by a relatively high percentage of wash trading — roughly 11.69%.

Wash trading involves artificially inflating the volume by buying and selling within the same wallet to create the illusion of higher demand.

Despite this, Ethereum’s vast user base and dominance in the NFT ecosystem cannot be ignored, as it recorded over 136,000 buyers during this period.

However, the volume of transactions (over 654,000) suggests a growing reliance on smaller trades, with the average sale price taking a sharp dip.

Mythos (MYTH)

Mythos (MYTH), a relatively newer player, is perhaps the most surprising competitor. Sales skyrocketed by over 6200% in the last week alone, reaching $15.3 million, giving it the second spot.

This explosion is driven by its gaming-centric focus, tapping into a relatively untapped and highly passionate user base. In-game assets such as NFTs have been a concept that gamers are increasingly embracing, and Mythos is positioning itself as the leader in this niche.

What’s even more interesting is that this surge isn’t heavily tied to wash trading, as only 0.28% of its transactions are wash trades, showing the platform is experiencing genuine user-driven growth.

Mythos has attracted over 632,000 transactions this week alone, which is nearly five times that of Ethereum, signaling that it might be a blockchain to watch closely as it builds on this rapid adoption.

However, gaming NFTs are highly dependent on the success of the underlying games. Hence, if those games fail to attract or retain users, the NFT market on Mythos might see a sharp decline.

Bitcoin (BTC)

Bitcoin (BTC) entering the NFT race was not something many anticipated a few years ago. Traditionally viewed as a store of value, Bitcoin’s blockchain wasn’t designed with NFTs in mind.

However, the introduction of Ordinals has breathed new life into Bitcoin’s potential in this space. While its weekly sales volume of $14.1 million might seem modest compared to Ethereum, the fact that Bitcoin’s NFT market is growing organically, with only 5.15% wash trading, is worth noting.

Interestingly, despite having fewer transactions and users compared to Ethereum, Bitcoin boasts a higher average sale price, hinting that its NFT market might be more geared toward high-end, premium assets.

Solana (SOL)

Solana (SOL) continues to be a serious competitor, posting over $10.8 million in sales this week, ranking fourth.

However, Solana’s wash trade percentage — at a whopping 22.7% — is one of the highest among the top blockchains, indicating that while Solana is seeing growth, much of its activity may be artificially inflated.

Yet, with nearly 223,000 unique weekly buyers and over 421,000 weekly transactions, it’s clear that Solana remains a key player, especially among collectors who prefer faster and cheaper transaction fees than Ethereum offers.

Polygon (POL)

Polygon (POL), known for its efficiency and low transaction costs, clocked over $10.7 million in sales last week, with wash trades making up only 0.25% of its transactions — far lower than Ethereum or Solana.

Polygon also recorded an impressive 84,532 sellers, indicating that the blockchain is attracting a healthy level of marketplace activity.

Why are NFTs surging again?

The recent surge in NFT sales can be traced to a few key developments, the most notable being a high-profile, yet dubious, CryptoPunk sale and the introduction of innovative NFT features by Telegram.

A flash loan-fueled transaction involving CryptoPunk #1563 recently made headlines when it appeared to sell for an eye-popping $56.3 million on the Ethereum blockchain.

The non-fungible token industry remained under pressure in August as sales continued falling. 

Total NFT sales dropped by 41% in August to $376 million as the number of buyers and sellers fell by double digits.

Data by CryptoSlam shows that the number of buyers dropped by 29% to 127,913 while the number of sellers fell by 17% to 93,600. 

Additionally, total NFT transactions declined by 50% to 7.4 million, signaling that demand for these assets has waned. 

At the peak in January 2022, total monthly sales were over $6.5 billion while the number of unique buyers and sellers stood at over 1.5 million and over 1 million.

Ethereum (ETH) maintained its lead as the most popular chain for NFT traders, handling over $129 million in August, down by 38% from the previous month.

It was followed by Solana (SOL), which handled $78.9 million. Bitcoin’s NFT sales dropped by 50% to $57 million while Polygon (MATIC) fell by 52% to $36 million. 

Mythos Chain saw an improvement in August. It handled $20 million in sales. That’s up by 14% from the previous month. Mythos was led by DMarket, whose sales rose by 17% during the month. 

Some of the most popular NFTs have seen their valuation and sales drop in the past few years. For example, Bored Ape Yacht Club has moved from having monthly sales worth over $50 million in 2022 to just $11 million in August. 

This sharp decline in NFT monthly volume has hurt both investors and marketplaces like OpenSea and Rarible. Data by Dune Analytics shows that OpenSea’s monthly volume in July was just $32 million, down from $641 million in January last year. 

Other NFT marketplaces like Blur, Magic Eden, and SuperRare have also had weak volume and users in the past few months.

NFT sales have dropped because of the falling prices. CryptoPunks, the biggest NFT collection, has a floor price of $88,839, a 52% drop from the same period in 2023. Bored Ape Yacht Club’s floor price has dropped by 70% in the past 12 months to $29,593 while Azuki has fallen by 20%.

The top gainers in the same period were Pudgy Penguins and Milady whose floor prices jumped by 166% and 121%, respectively. 

Pudgy Penguins, the viral Ethereum Non-Fungible Token collection, has defied the gloom in the industry in August. 

Data by CryptoSlam and Dune Analytics shows that its key metrics performed well even as the sector came under intense pressure. 

Total sales jumped by 29% in August to over $8.6 million as the number of transactions jumped by 73% to 348. 

Additionally, the number of buyers and sellers rose by 73% and 39% to 176 and 205, respectively. The average number of days held also rose slightly by 5% to 85.5.

While Pudgy Penguins sales rose in August, they remain sharply lower than their all-time high of $99.2 million in August 2021. They were also lower than the March high of $26.5 million

Pudgy Penguins Get Pricey

The prices of Pudgy Penguin NFTs are also rising.

According to Dune, the floor price rose by 30% in August to 10.66 ETH and 166% from the same period in 2023. Floor price refers to the lowest price that an NFT is being sold in marketplaces. 

Pudgy Penguins is one of the three blue-chip NFT collections that has seen its floor price rise in the past 12 months. Milady’s floor price has jumped by 121% while Doodles has risen by 12%.

The floor price of other popular blue-chip NFT collections like CryptoPunks, Bored Ape Yacht Club, Azuki, and Mutant Ape Yacht Club has dropped by over 50% in the last 12 months as their demand has waned.

According to NFT Evening, 96% of all NFTs have “died,” with four out of 10 holders being in loss. Additionally, the average lifespan of an NFT has dropped to 1.14 years, much lower than other crypto assets.

Pudgy Penguins, founded by entrepreneur Luca Schnetzler (aka Luca Netz), has done well even as the total sales, transactions, and NFT users have continued to fall.

Total NFT sales in August dropped by 41% to $376 million, down from an all-time high of over $6 billion.

Pudgy Penguin’s sales rose a month after the developers secured $11 million funding from a group of investors to build a layer-2 network. The funding came from Founders Fund, Peter Thiel’s venture company. 

The developers have also launched branded toys that are being sold in popular retailers like Walmart and Target.