The NFT market showed signs of recovery in October, awaiting further positive developments
In October, Bitcoin prices surged significantly, and the NFT market showed signs of recovery, but market sentiment still needs to be repaired.Author: stella@footprint.network
In October, Bitcoin prices surged significantly, and the NFT market showed signs of recovery, with monthly trading volume and user numbers both increasing by 15.2%. Although the data for October improved compared to September, it still fell short of the levels seen in August and previous months. Therefore, it is still too early to assert that the market is beginning to recover. The industry is eagerly anticipating more positive factors beyond the influence of Bitcoin.
The data in this report comes from Footprint Analytics' NFT research page. This page provides an easy-to-use dashboard that includes the most critical statistics and metrics to understand the latest dynamics in the NFT industry, updated in real-time. You can find the latest information on trading, projects, financing, and more by clicking here.
Key Points Overview
Cryptocurrency Market Overview
- Bitcoin started the month at $26,967 and surged by 27.9% during this period, ultimately closing at $34,497.
NFT Market Overview
Supported by the positive trends in the overall cryptocurrency market, the NFT market experienced growth this month.
The blue-chip index showed an upward trend in September, increasing by 14.4%.
Public Chains and NFT Trading Markets
In October, Ethereum continued to dominate the NFT market with a trading volume of $421.7 million, accounting for as much as 98.7% of the market volume.
LooksRare's trading volume plummeted by 97.8%.
NFT Investment and Financing Situation
- In October, the NFT investment and financing market developed slowly, with only one round of financing totaling $5 million.
Key Developments This Month
LooksRare released an update on its tokenomics model.
NFT horse racing startup Game of Silks raised $5 million in a new round of financing.
The German postal service will issue limited edition NFT stamps.
Spencer Ventures reached a six-figure deal with Sotheby's to sell 3AC NFTs, purchasing 144 Pudgy Penguin-like NFTs.
Yuga Labs completed its restructuring and will focus on building Otherside.
Cryptocurrency Market Overview
In October, Bitcoin prices rose significantly, outperforming traditional assets and other cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin started the month at $26,967 and surged by 27.9%, ultimately closing at $34,497.
Ethereum started the month at $1,671, with an increase of 8.3% this month, closing at $1,810.
Data Source: BTC Price & ETH Price
In October, tech stocks faced downward pressure, but Bitcoin stood out, rising against the trend. On October 16, Bitcoin's price surged to nearly $30,000. This sudden spike was triggered by a false report from the cryptocurrency news site Cointelegraph, which claimed that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had approved the first spot Bitcoin ETF. However, after BlackRock clarified to Bloomberg that their application was still under review, the post was subsequently deleted. As a result, Bitcoin's price fell to around $28,000 by the end of the day.
Following this event, Bitcoin received continued support from market expectations for the launch of a U.S. spot ETF. The SEC did not appeal a recent favorable ruling for Grayscale made by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Grayscale and other spot Bitcoin ETF applications are currently awaiting SEC review. Bitcoin's price began to experience a noticeable upward trajectory starting October 23, maintaining around the $35,000 level until the end of the month.
NFT Market Overview
Supported by the positive trends in the overall cryptocurrency market, the NFT market experienced growth this month. The total trading volume in October reached $427.2 million, an increase of 15.2% compared to the previous month. The number of transactions remained stable at 1,039,735. Additionally, the number of unique users in October also increased to 281,359, up by 15.2%.
Data Source: NFT Market Overview
The NFT market cap remained stable in October, hovering around $4.5 billion, with daily trading volume showing an upward trend.
Source: NFT Market Cap & Volume
In October, the buyer/seller ratio in the NFT market was 136.1%, an increase of 33.2% compared to September. There were a total of 187,644 buyers and 137,845 sellers throughout the month. Notably, the number of buyers increased by 26.9% compared to the previous month, while the number of sellers decreased by 4.0%. Although the data for October improved compared to September, it still did not reach the levels of August and previous months. Therefore, it is still too early to conclude that this marks the beginning of a market recovery. Beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum, we are also eagerly anticipating positive developments in other areas.
Data Source: Daily Buyers & Sellers
The trend of unique users aligns with the daily buyers/sellers, with a slight increase observed from October 15 to 18. According to Footprint Analytics, the OpenSea Shared Storefront and AI-success on Polygon had relatively more internal interactions during this period.
Data Source: Daily Unique Users
The blue-chip index showed an upward trend in September, increasing by 14.4%.
Data Source: BlueChip Index
The blue-chip series Pudgy Penguins launched a physical toy series in 2,000 Walmart stores last month, drawing attention. In the last week of September and the first week of October, the floor price and trading volume of Pudgy Penguins saw a significant increase. On October 7, Horlomite Research raised concerns on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), claiming that the funds used by Pudgy Penguins CEO Luca Netz to acquire Pudgy Penguins "came from four rug pull projects," providing on-chain evidence. Luca Netz immediately responded to these allegations on X. Despite this incident, Pudgy Penguins' market performance in October appeared to remain unaffected.
In addition to Pudgy Penguins, the Winds of Yawanawa series also garnered significant attention. Launched in July 2023, Winds of Yawanawa is a collection of 1,000 unique digital paintings. These digital artworks utilize meteorological data from the Yawanawa tribe's village in the Amazon rainforest, including wind speed, gusts, wind direction, and temperature, aiming to protect their rich culture by bringing Yawanawa's art into the digital realm. On October 11, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) announced that it would accept Winds of Yawanawa as a permanent collection, making it the first generative AI and tokenized artwork accepted by MoMA. Following this exciting news, data from Footprint Analytics showed that the floor price and trading volume of this NFT series both experienced a significant increase of over 50%.
Winds of Yawanawa #102
Public Chains and NFT Trading Markets
In October, Ethereum continued to dominate the NFT market with a trading volume of $421.7 million, accounting for 98.7% of the market volume. Compared to September, the trading volume increased by 15.9%. However, the trading volume in October was still the second lowest level since the beginning of 2023.
Data Source: Monthly Volume by Chain
This month, the number of unique users on Ethereum decreased by 3.8% to 130,500. The number of BNB chain users was 17,500, a significant decrease of 44.8%. Polygon's user count saw a significant increase, reaching 142,200, up 51.8%, approaching August levels. Despite the overall trading volume increasing by 15.2% compared to September, there are no clear signs that user engagement is recovering.
Data Source: Monthly Unique Users by Chain
In the NFT trading market, Blur continued to dominate market share with a trading volume of $198.1 million, accounting for 46.4% of the market. Opensea saw growth in October, with a trading volume of $176.7 million, increasing its market share from 23.2% to 41.4%. However, LooksRare's trading volume sharply declined from $71.8 million in September to just a fraction in October, with its market share dropping from 19.3% to 0.4%.
Data Source: Monthly Volume by Marketplace - Distribution
LooksRare implemented a significant update on September 29, 2023, titled "LOOKS Tokenomics Major Update." This update adjusted the fee distribution, with 50% of fees used to buy back LOOKS tokens from the market, 40% allocated to the protocol treasury, and 10% as rewards for the LooksRare protocol. As a result of this update, trading rewards were halted, and the LOOKS tokens previously allocated for trading rewards were transferred to the protocol treasury. These changes likely contributed to the drastic decline in LooksRare's trading volume and market share in October, with user activity significantly reduced and wash trading virtually ceased.
Data Source: Wash Trading on LooksRare
In October, the NFT market showed mixed performance in terms of unique users. OpenSea maintained its dominance, attracting 245,000 unique users, an increase of 29% compared to September. However, this number is still lower than the user count in August. On the other hand, Element's user count fluctuated, totaling only 20,300, a significant decrease of 50.8% compared to the previous month.
Source: Monthly Unique Users by Marketplace
NFT Investment and Financing Situation
In October, the NFT investment and financing market developed slowly, with only one round of financing totaling $5 million.
Game of Silks is a fantasy horse racing startup that connects NFTs with real horse racing, successfully raising $5 million this month. This recent round of financing brings their total funding to over $10 million. Game of Silks launched in June 2021 and has established partnerships with well-known organizations such as the New York Racing Association, Belmont Park, the Jockey Club, and Fox Sports' Americas Best Racing. They have created over 7,000 Silks Genesis Avatars NFTs, allowing owners to earn rewards based on the actual performance of corresponding racehorses.
Game of Silks
Combining NFTs with the lucrative fantasy sports industry is not a new concept. Sorare has become one of the most successful platforms in this field. They recently disclosed partnerships with well-known entities such as the Premier League, NBA, and renowned tennis player Serena Williams.
The above research data includes:
Chains: Ethereum, Polygon, BNB Chain, Cronos, Optimism
Trading Markets: OpenSea, LooksRare, Blur, X2Y2, Cryptopunks, Rarible, SuperRare, Foundation, Decentraland, Aavegotchi, Element, Era7, the Sandbox, Minted
The content of this article is for industry research and communication purposes only and does not constitute any investment advice. The market is risky, and investment should be cautious.
This article is contributed by the Footprint Analytics community.
The Footprint Community is a global mutual aid data community where members utilize visualized data to collaboratively create shareable insights. In the Footprint community, you can get help, build connections, and exchange knowledge and research related to blockchain topics such as Web 3, the metaverse, GameFi, and DeFi. Many active, diverse, and highly engaged members motivate and support each other through the community, building a global user base to contribute data, share insights, and drive community development.
