- NFT prices have lost significant value since the boom early in 2021 as the market is cooling.
- Even crypto heavyweight Mark Cuban has had a piece of NFT art work on sale for over a month.
- Sales volumes, prices and active market participants have all steadily declined after peaking in January this year.
- Sign up here for our daily newsletter, 10 Things Before the Opening Bell.
As the previously red-hot NFT market has cooled off, sales in US dollars are now less than half of what they were in April, data from nonfungible.com shows. Even Mark Cuban, a big crypto proponent and popular personality in the community, has had a non-fungible token up for sale on OpenSea for over a month now.
The NFT market boomed earlier this year, reaching a high of almost 49,000 sales a day in early March, as celebrities, artists and musicians tapped into the mania for digital work. Almost all NFT sectors saw a decline in terms of sales and dollars spent throughout April, although overall sales volume in dollars spiked again in early May, averaging over $176 million during the first week of the month.
This blip higher can be attributed to a rise in the value of collectible NFTs, which are commonly part of a series like CryptoPunks, Meebits, or CryptoKitties. But volumes in dollar terms have since fallen to below $28 million on average in the past week from around $78.62 million a month ago, according to data from nonfungible.com.
NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are digital assets like videos, images, or audio that are built on blockchain technology. Usually, anyone online can still view the assets online, but only one person can actually own them as they are unique and not exchangeable. Ownership is registered on the blockchain units each NFT is based on.
The NFT market boomed earlier this year, as buyers flocked to the crypto market, scooping up anything from bitcoin, to virtual land and even digital horses, even though NFTs had been around for years. In just one week in January, sales volume in US dollars accelerated from $7.28 million to $33.24 million.
But that frenzy has died down somewhat and there is growing talk of NFTs being in a bubble. Cuban, who owns the Dallas Mavericks, is a huge crypto advocate and a fan of meme token dogecoin in particular. Even he must be feeling the slower pace of trade in NFTs right now. A piece of NFT art shown in Cuban's collection on his NFT display platform Lazy.com has been on sale for over a month.
'Nuevo Galaxy', a "multilayered work in the spirit of the world beyond" created by AnnieMc was purchased by Cuban for 0.4 ether on the 13th of April. Cuban offered it over a month ago for 5 Ether - currently $17,562.95 - a mark-up of 1,150%, according to NFT sales platform OpenSea - but so far, it's still up for sale.
Much like physical art and assets, people hope to gain a connection with the creator of an NFT by buying it and are excited by the thrill of the chase, as most NFTs are sold through online auctions.