Is the mania for NTF coming to an end? This question is asked by all fans of non-exchangeable collectible tokens, looking at the latest data. In August, the volume of NFT transactions was able to exceed $ 500 million per day (these data are based on transactions based on Ethereum). Just a month later, in September, these transactions do not even exceed 100 million dollars. So what is happening in the market and is NFT heading towards its end?
Who is responsible for the madness in the NFT market?
Before we analyze what is currently happening in the market, we need to understand who is really behind the NFT fad. The answer here is very simple and it is: celebrities. In 2021, many of them have joined the craze that has engulfed NFT collectible tokens, whether as investors or as publishers of the tokens themselves.
A good example of an investor here would be Michael Jordan, the NBA star. Quite recently, he backed another wave of funding for Dapper Labs, a company that publishes collectible NBA Top Shot tokens. Jordan is no exception here. Another person who has blatantly shown his great interest in the NTF industry is the king of hip hop, Eminem. After teaming up with online art trading platform, Nifty Gateway, he released his own token, Shady Con. The token is named, of course, after Eminem’s nickname, The Slim Shady. Marvel Comics creators have also had their share of the craze. In early August 2021, the company teamed up with VeVe, a digital collectible marketplace, to release several tokens including: Spider-Man NTF, Captain America, Bucky Barnes and Red Skull.
A sudden drop in NTF transaction volume
Based on an analysis by Alex Thorn, Head of Firmwide Research at Galaxy Digital, daily trading volumes of NFT tokens have been on a steady downward trend since early September. On September 1 and 2, 2021, the daily trading volume of NFT tokens was over $300 million, while on September 10, 2021, it dropped below $100 million.
Speaking of August records, it is also worth mentioning that the largest platform for trading NFT tokens, OpenSea, reached a “milestone” and its own turnover record of $1 billion in that very month.
Despite the September drop in turnover, the NFT industry has still gained great popularity in 2021. It is a gluttonous morsel for artists from all over the world, as everyone wants to contribute to the new digital version of art.
