Key Takeaways:
- The NFT marketplace volume has lost $5B so far this year.
- Retail interest in NFTs is plummeting —Google Trends.
- $100M worth of NFTs were stolen between July 2021 and July 2022.
LAGOS (CoinChapter.com) — The downtrend which hit the nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace in May has continued this month as the space lost over $350 million in volume this month.
In detail, data from DappRadar disclosed that NFT marketplaces’ volume dropped to roughly $550 million from $675 million last month. Furthermore, the figure is more alarming as the entire NFT marketplace has lost approximately $5 billion so far this year.
Moreover, the latest NFT marketplace data shows that the summer volume decline continued through August. In line with the drop, top NFT marketplaces also registered massive losses as investors’ interest in digital collections fall.
Notably, NFT marketplace OpenSea recorded a 13% drop in monthly sales volume, sending its total volume to $482 million. The drop comes as the broader market has been spiraling downward and the prices of NFT projects have been plummeting.
Additionally, the number of unique wallets and transactions on the marketplace has also plunged to the lowest levels in more than a year. Other marketplaces including Magic Eden, CryptoPunk, Solanart, LooksRare, TheraDrop, among others also registered significant decline.
Solana-focused Magic Eden recorded an 11% drop and currently stands at $61.3 million. LooksRare’s volume for August is around $19 million representing a decline of about 23%. Furthermore, CryptoPunk saw over 45% decline and now sits at $19.8 million while ThetaDrop plunges 20% to $10 million.
Retail Interest In NFTs With NFT Marketplaces’ Volume
Meanwhile, data from Google search trends has also revealed that interest in NFTs is plummeting with NFT marketplaces’ volume. According to Google Trends, the search for the term ‘nonfungible tokens’ has dropped to 15 from 23 last week.
Google Trends uses numbers to represent search interest, with ‘100’ as the peak popularity for the specific term. Although, it’s worth noting that high interest doesn’t necessarily imply an increase in asset price or a rise in actual buying.
Google Trends revealed that at the beginning of the year, keyword ‘NFT‘ searches stood at 57. It also reached its peak between January 23–29 when it achieved a score of 100 for the period. However, joining the entire crypto market in the recent downtrend, the search for NFT plunged to an exact low registered in July.
Google search results also disclosed that Singapore is the nation with the most interest in digital assets in the last seven days. However, a further state-by-state breakdown shows that Hong Kong, Taiwan, Austria, and Nigeria still have considerable interest in NFTs.
Over $100M Worth Of NFTs Stolen In Past 12 Months —Report
Additionally, in a separate development, a report has found that over $100 million worth of NFTs were stolen between July 2021 and July 2022. According to blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, scammers stole an estimated 4,647 NFTs in July. However, the highest value of NFTs stolen through scams happened in May this year at $24 million.
Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs were the most likely NFT to be publicly reported stolen, according to the report. Additionally, the report identified 167 stolen Bored Apes worth roughly $43.6 million. Mutant Ape Yacht Club and Azuki NFTs were the second and third most stolen assets, losing $14.5 million and $3.9 million respectively.
Furthermore, the most valuable NFT theft the firm verified as part of its analysis was a CryptoPunk valued at $490,000 at the time it was stolen in November 2021. Additionally, in December 2021, scammers were able to steal 16 blue chip NFTs worth $2.1 million from a single victim.
