In May 2024, the NFT trading volumes experienced a significant decline, reaching their lowest point since October 2023. This downturn affected not only the Ethereum ecosystem but also Bitcoin and Solana ecosystems.
Prominent NFT projects like Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and CryptoPunks felt the impact of this market dip. BAYC, in particular, witnessed its trading reach its lowest level since August 2021.
While the global cryptocurrency market is currently surging, with Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) reaching new highs, it is important to acknowledge the decline in NFT and Ordinals trading volumes in May. This decline was observed across major ecosystems, including Ethereum, Bitcoin, and Solana, all of which experienced significant drops in activity.
Ordinals, which represent the initial version of nonfungible tokens (NFTs) minted on the Bitcoin network, also faced a decrease in value. Floor prices remained resilient despite this trend. NFT analyst @waleswoosh X’s post revealed that leading NFT projects across different chains saw substantial value decreases in the past 30 days.
For example, Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) experienced a sharp drop of $1,927.58, while Pudgy Penguins and Nodemonkes fell by $1,457.31 and $8,794.06 respectively. Bitcoin Puppets recorded a significant reduction of $11,942.25, and MadLads and SMB reported declines of $2,986.08 and $1,989.64 respectively.
In addition, monthly Ordinals sales plummeted by 70% to $193 million, a significant decline from December when the highest sales in Ordinals history were recorded at $868 million.
The decrease in NFT floor prices was further compounded by the lower trading volume on the Ethereum blockchain. High-profile collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and CryptoPunks experienced a downturn in their performance. Despite varying daily sales ranging from 8 to 67 NFTs since early May, the floor price of BAYC steadily declined.
On OpenSea, BAYC’s floor price reached its lowest point since August 2021, dropping by 90% to 11.747 ETH ($45,290) on May 28.
The downturn in the NFT sector amidst the overall crypto market boom highlights the complex dynamics at play. It demonstrates that surging cryptocurrency prices do not necessarily translate into solid NFT performance.