Ethereum-based NFT trades have remained strong throughout uncertain crypto market movements, with leading NFT marketplace OpenSea reporting month-over-month gains.
NFT trading data indicates that NFT investors and traders remain bullish on the future of non-fungible tokens despite bearish digital asset market trends. Monthly trading data published by OpenSea reveals that NFTs are currently maintaining average selling rates despite a period of significant loss and recovery in cryptocurrency prices.
Data issued by blockchain and NFT analysis platform Dune reveals the cumulative sale of over 1.6 million NFTs on OpenSea alone in July, an increase over June’s cumulative 1.54 million NFT sales. The total number of unique traders on OpenSea increased from 393,000 to over 400,000, indicating slow but consistent adoption of NFTs.
While the total number of traders within the NFT ecosystem has increased amidst strong sales, however, the average NFT price in USD has fallen significantly. Total NFT sales in July exceed those made in June, but a fall from $695 million in sales to $495 reveals a dramatic 29 percent drop in the average NFT price.
OpenSea Leads ETH NFT Market, Ventures into Solana Ecosystem
Daily trading trends on OpenSea, which currently operates as the most popular Ethereum-based NFT platform, position the platform as likely to finish July with just over half a billion USD in sales, representing a 24 percent month-to-month decline in sales and a 73 percent drop when compared to May data prior to the recent crypto market crash.
OpenSea currently accounts for 82 percent of all Ethereum NFT trading volume according to Dune data, establishing dominance in an ecosystem widely associated with inflated volume due to NFT wash trading. OpenSea, beginning 2022 with a successful $300 million series C funding and a $13.3 billion valuation, aims to lower barriers to entry to the NFT space and invest in the NFT community.
Recent OpenSea developments have seen the platform launch cross-chain functionality with the introduction of Opensea’s Solana Launchpad, which allows users to host Solana mints from beginning to end on the Solana platform.
Regulators Target Insider Trading in NFT, Crypto Markets
While OpenSea is currently dominating the Ethereum NFT ecosystem, other recent regulatory actions have highlighted the frequency with which insider trading occurs in both the NFT and cryptocurrency markets.
Former OpenSea product manager Nathaniel Chastain was charged by the US Justice Department with wire fraud and money laundering in late April, representing the first insider trading charge in the NFT industry. Subsequent investigations into insider trading in the cryptocurrency industry include the investigation of alleged insider trading at international cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase.
