It’s hard to tell which way to turn with NFTs! They were supposed to be more than a thing of the past, but now a report by blockchain analysis company DappRadar indicates the opposite. So what are we supposed to think, especially now that the latest edition of NFT Paris is getting underway?
People said they were over. But then, actually not. We devoted several exhibitions to them and explored their possibilities for video. We dissected them, questioned them, and analyzed them. Because they are, in fact, a real phenomenon. They say something about our relationships to art and collecting. And yet, NFTs are struggling to get close to their 2020 figures.
2024 doesn’t seem to have been the year of the token, according to a report by blockchain analysis company DappRadar. It notes a 19% drop in annual trading volumes and an 18% drop in the number of sales compared to 2023. In total, the market recorded the lowest level of transactions in its three-year history while cryptocurrency continues to break records.
A drop in confidence
So, what’s the problem? According to the experts, the problem is inflated values. These affected buyer confidence, leading them to stop investing as much in the sector. But 2024 started off well: in the first quarter, trading volumes reached $5.3 billion, corresponding to a 4% increase over the same period in 2023. Alas, the excitement didn’t last: in the third quarter, figures fell to $1.5 billion, then recovered slightly to $2.6 billion in the fourth quarter.
And while it was recently announced that the coming year would be all about historic collections, the report once again proves that some transactions and platforms are resilient but clearly not enough to reverse the trend. BAYC’s lowest price, for example, fell to 15 ETH, while MAYC’s dropped to 2.4 ETH. But again, despite these drops, it’s hard to make pronouncements about the deeper trend: after all, aren’t the experts taking note of future adjustments? The proof could be in trading volumes, which reached $562 million, their highest level since May. A sign of stabilization? If the experts are to be believed, we need to focus on three things for NFTs to recover once and for all: affordability, accessibility and usefulness. See you next year for a new assessment.
