Are we witnessing a resurgence or a temporary reprieve in a market that has lost its initial momentum? Let’s dive in and find out.
Market Overview: A Return to July 2022 Levels
The total trade volume for Q1 2023 was US$5.67 billion, an impressive 84.2 percent increase compared to the previous quarter. Although the NFT trade volume in March experienced a 9.8 percent decrease compared to February, the market has reached levels similar to July 2022. This resurgence signals renewed interest and market sentiment, accompanied by an increasing number of high-quality projects.
Bitcoin’s Role and the Emergence of Ordinals
The recent increase in Bitcoin‘s value, hitting US$30,000 at the time of writing, positively impacts the overall NFT market sentiment. At the same time, Bitcoin Ordinals inscriptions hit over one million, just three months after its launch. The emergence of Ordinals, or NFTs on the Bitcoin blockchain, opens up new possibilities for the market and contributes to its long-term sustainability.
In addition, our upcoming launch of Babylon, a software development kit for Web3 game developers, will attract more creators and foster a vibrant ecosystem of NFT-powered applications.
Marketplaces: Winners and Losers
In March, Blur maintained its dominance with the highest trade volume of US$1.34 billion, and it was one of only two marketplaces that saw a month-on-month increase (of 0.5 percent). Axie Marketplace also saw an increase in March compared to February, of 36.6 percent, with US$88.45 million in trade volume.
In contrast, X2Y2 and LooksRare experienced significant declines in trade volume, in value and percentage respectively. X2Y2 recorded the sharpest fall by value, dropping by US$153.72 million in March compared to February. While LooksRare faced the most significant percentage-based decline, with a 58.5 percent drop.
When we look at market share, Blur maintained its lead out of the 10 marketplaces, with 65.5 percent share of trade volume in March 2023, followed by OpenSea with 14.4% and X2Y2 with 8.8%.
Year-Over-Year Comparison
Comparing March 2023 to March 2022, trade volume across the 10 marketplaces combined decreased by 38 percent. Two of the marketplaces, X2Y2 and JPG Store, recorded significant increases, while the remaining eight saw drastic declines in trade volume. LooksRare saw the biggest decrease from March 2022, with 95.3 percent lower.
User Trends
With 1.46 million users across the 10 marketplaces in March 2023, we saw a 7.4 percent dip from February. But don’t lose hope, as Q1 2023 had a 6.5 percent boost in user numbers compared to the previous quarter, racking up 4.68 million users in total.
When it comes to trades, there were 3.78 million of them in March 2023 across the 10 marketplaces combined, which is a 24.4 percent slide from the month before. Blur was the lone ranger, being the only marketplace with an increase in trades, while X2Y2 took the biggest hit, dropping by 60.5 percent.
As for the average trade size in March, it stayed pretty steady at US$5,927, dipping just 4.3 percent from February. CryptoPunks takes the credit for the high average trade size, with a whopping US$30,685 average trade in March. Axie Marketplace had the most significant jump in average trade size, while ThetaDrop faced the largest drop.
It’s an exciting time to be developing innovative tech in this field, as we’re about to unveil Babylon – a software development kit tailored for game developers to create Web3 games. As the NFT market continues to mature and evolve, it holds immense potential for fostering creativity, innovation, and new opportunities, shaping the digital landscape in ways we have yet to fully comprehend.
About the Author
John Stefanidis is the CEO of NFT gaming platform Balthazar and one of Australia’s leading digital marketing and ecommerce experts. John has developed and scaled several businesses including digital marketing agency, Covert. As a serial entrepreneur and avid video gamer, John is passionate about the NFT gaming space.
