In October, the cryptocurrency marketplace witnessed a significant price surge in Bitcoin, which had a positive impact on the NFT market. According to the October Monthly NFT Report by Footprint Analytics, the NFT market showed signs of recovery, with a 15.2% increase in both monthly trading volume and unique users. However, while these figures demonstrated improvement compared to September, they fell short of the levels observed in August and previous months, so it is premature to conclude that this signifies the start of a market recovery.
The report obtained data from Footprint Analytics’ NFT research page, which provides an easy-to-use dashboard containing vital stats and metrics to understand the NFT industry in real-time. The dashboard includes information on trades, projects, funding, and more.
The crypto market as a whole experienced positive developments in October. Bitcoin started the month at $26,967 and saw a substantial increase of 27.9%, closing at $34,497. Ether also had a moderate increase of 8.3%, starting at $1,671 and closing at $1,810.
The NFT market was supported by favorable trends in the broader crypto market. The total trading volume for October was $427.2 million, a 15.2% increase compared to the previous month. There were 1,039,735 transactions and 281,359 unique users, representing a 15.2% growth. The daily market cap remained steady at around $4.5 billion, while daily trading volume experienced an upward trend.
The buyer/seller ratio in the NFT market for October was 136.1%, a 33.2% increase from September. There were 187,644 buyers and 137,845 sellers. The number of buyers rose by 26.9%, while sellers experienced a 4.0% decrease compared to the previous month. Although these figures showed improvement compared to September, they were still lower than the levels seen in August and previous months, indicating that further positive developments are needed for a market recovery.
In terms of NFT chains and marketplaces, Ethereum continued to dominate the NFT market’s trading volume with $421.7 million, accounting for 98.7%. Ethereum’s trading volume saw a 15.9% increase compared to September. Other chains, such as BNB and Polygon, saw fluctuations in unique users, with decreases and increases, respectively.
In terms of NFT marketplaces, Blur maintained its dominance with a trading volume of $198.1 million, capturing 46.4% of the market. Opensea experienced growth in October, with a trading volume of $176.7 million and an increased market share from 23.2% to 41.4%. However, LooksRare faced a drastic decline as its trading volume plummeted by 97.8%, resulting in a market share drop from 19.3% to 0.4%. This decline could be attributed to the implementation of significant updates to LooksRare’s tokenomics, which led to decreased user activity and scarce wash trades.
The report also highlighted some new developments in the NFT market. LooksRare implemented an update to its token economy model, allocating future fees for token buybacks and rewards. Fantasy horse racing startup Game of Silks raised $5 million in funding. Germany’s postal service announced plans to issue limited edition NFT stamps. Institutional NFT fund Spencer Ventures announced its plans to purchase 144 Pudgy Penguin NFTs from the Three Arrows Capital Collection. Yuga Labs, the creator of the popular CryptoPunks collection, announced a focus on building Otherside following a restructuring.
Overall, while the NFT market showed signs of recovery in October, further positive developments beyond the influence of Bitcoin are eagerly awaited for a sustained market rebound. It will be interesting to see how the market evolves and if it can reach and surpass the levels seen in previous months.
