NFT sales have experienced a significant downturn, with the sales volume plummeting to $91.96 million in the first week of September, marking the lowest weekly sales figure since mid-June, according to data from NFT tracker CryptoSlam. This decline follows a period of robust activity for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) during July and August, where the weekly sales volume consistently exceeded $115 million. Notably, from July 21 to 27, the digital collectibles market reached an impressive $170 million in weekly sales, making it one of its best-performing weeks for the year, following record highs above $170 million earlier in January.
The recent slump in NFT sales has brought the figures closer to those seen in mid-June when sales hovered around $90 million. During that earlier period, unique NFT buyers numbered approximately 487,264, indicating a sustained collector interest even amidst falling average sale values, which dropped to $57. However, the first week of September saw a stark decrease in unique buyers, falling to 199,821—a staggering 58% decline compared to mid-June figures. Concurrently, the number of unique sellers dropped to 145,877, representing a 43% decrease from the 258,803 sellers documented in June.
Average sale prices for NFTs have also shown a downward trend, with values remaining above $104 throughout August, but plunging to $82 by the end of the month. By the first week of September, average sale prices fell further to $72, indicating a 30% decline in just two weeks. Despite this drop in average sale prices, the overall transaction count remained relatively high at 1.27 million, suggesting persistent trading activity even with smaller transaction sizes.
Analysts have pointed to increasing NFT adoption as a key factor contributing to the strong performances in July and August. DappRadar analyst Sara Gherghelas highlighted events such as the opening of a permanent NFT art gallery in Ibiza, which featured renowned NFT artists like Beeple and Mad Dog Jones. Additionally, the rise of Base, the layer-2 network associated with the crypto exchange Coinbase, further fueled NFT trading activity, making it the third-largest chain by 30-day volume in August.
As the NFT market faces these challenges, the focus will likely shift to how platforms and creators adapt to changes in buying behavior and market sentiment.
