Ethereum, Polygon lead charge despite decline in buyers

The non-fungible token, or NFT, market saw a 7.68% boost in sales volume this week, hitting $109 million, with notable activity on Ethereum (ETH) and Polygon (MATIC) blockchains.

However, this uptick came against a backdrop of massively declining numbers of NFT buyers and sellers, which plunged by 68.00% and 67.78%, respectively. 

Interestingly, even as the number of market participants went down, NFT transactions witnessed a substantial increase, skyrocketing by nearly 21% to reach 2,435,539 trades, according to data from CryptoSlam.

Here’s a comprehensive look at the key events and trends that shaped the NFT landscape over the past seven days.

Ethereum, Polygon lead charge

Among the blockchains, Ethereum maintained its position as the leading blockchain for NFT sales, generating $32,711,790 despite the prevalence of wash trading.

However, the battle to occupy the second spot heated up over the week. Polygon overtook Bitcoin (BTC) and Solana (SOL) after seeing a 90% rally in its NFT trading volume. 

Data shows that Polygon’s weekly NFT sales surpassed the $24 million mark, with an additional $3.1 million coming from wash trading. 

What is worth noting is that Polygon’s improved showing came even as the number of NFT buyers on the blockchain dropped by a massive 78.98%.

Solana, Bitcoin drop

Third was Solana, which sold digital collectibles worth $22.7 million. This figure is a 2% drop from what the network raked in the previous week. 

However, Solana’s wash trading figures went up by more than 32%, translating into a slight 0.37% improvement in the chain’s total NFT sales numbers.

Additionally, despite a 70% plunge, Solana had the highest number of unique buyers among the top 5 blockchains at 88,090.

Traditionally known for its store-of-value proposition, Bitcoin continued to fight for relevance in the NFT space. 

The network earned about $15.1 million in NFT sales over the week, a nearly 5% drop from the previous week’s figures. This saw Bitcoin drop further to the #4 spot in terms of weekly sales volume. 

However, it was still miles better than the fifth-placed blockchain, Mythos (MYTH), which registered sales worth $4.16 million.

Top NFT collections: DMarket, DogeZuki shine

The DMarket collection on Mythos topped the charts this week among NFT collections, generating $3,915,145 in sales across 166,053 transactions. 

While this performance marks a 3.83% drop from the previous week’s numbers, it still underscores the increasing appeal of Mythos Chain as a platform for NFT trading. 

The DogeZuki Collection on Solana also made waves, raking $3,038,960 from 71,566 transactions. Market watchers suggest the collection’s popularity could highlight Solana’s capability to attract high-profile projects and maintain high buyer engagement.

Other notable collections included Base Ape Polygon, which recorded $2,809,791 in sales, and Froganas, also on Solana, with $2,759,532. 

However, the biggest jump of the week came from another Solana collection dubbed “Send it,” with sales skyrocketing by 1752.43% to $2,723,251.

High-profile NFT sales

This week also saw several high-value NFT sales that grabbed headlines:

• TokenVestingPlans #582 on Ethereum sold for $360,611.
• Bitcoin Punks’ Punk #3100 sold for $115,430.
• gUSDC Locked Deposit #205 on Arbitrum (ARB) sold for $88,908.
• DeezNode #045 on Solana sold for $75,548.

Additionally, fan tokens, which are a growing frontier in NFTs, also made a significant impact this week, particularly on the Chiliz (CHZ) blockchain: 

• Galatasaray’s fan token sales skyrocketed 70,149% to $280,537,908.
• FC Barcelona had a sales volume of $50,162,146.
• Paris Saint-Germain registered a sales volume of $46,709,324.