TL;DR
- Market Downturn: The NFT market experienced a significant drop in sales volumes, unique sellers, and buyers in Q2 2024, with a 45% decrease from Q1. The average sale price of NFTs also fell by 60% from March to June.
- NFT Milestones: Despite the downturn, Solana-powered NFTs surpassed $5 billion in total sales, and Bitcoin-backed NFTs rose to third place in overall sales, even as Bitcoin’s price fluctuated, advising cautious accumulation.
- Memecoin Impact: The rise of celebrity, political, and animal-themed memecoins contributed to a 44% fall in NFT sales during Q2, with memecoins like MAGA (TRUMP) and Pepe seeing price increases amid the crypto market slump.
Cryptoslam data reveals a sharp decline in the NFT market, impacting sales volumes, unique sellers, and buyers. The recent bearish trend in Bitcoin markets is partly to blame. During Q2 2024, the NFT market faced a significant decline in monthly volumes compared to Q1. Sales volumes dropped by 45% quarter-on-quarter.
NFT sales soared to over $4.1 billion in Q1 2024, a notable increase from the $2.9 billion in Q1 2023. However, Q2 2024 saw a dip, with sales dropping to approximately $2.28 billion, the lowest since Q3 2023.
In June, the average sale price of NFTs took a nosedive, dropping from $193 in March to $78, marking a decrease of about 60%. By June 28, sales volumes had reached approximately $419 million, indicating that June was heading towards recording the lowest sales values since October 2023.
May also experienced a drop, with sales volumes slightly above $616 million, a decrease of over 50% from April’s $1.2 billion. Unique sellers and buyers also declined. In Q1, there were about 2,238,925 unique sellers and 3,316,014 unique buyers. In Q2, those numbers decreased to 1,785,367 and 3,300,566, respectively.
NFT Milestones Amid Bitcoin’s Downturn
In 2024, NFTs made significant progress despite the economic challenges. Solana-powered NFTs reached a milestone by exceeding $5 billion in total sales on February 23. Moreover, Bitcoin-backed NFTs climbed to third place in terms of overall sales, overtaking the Ronin network.
The NFT market decline coincided with Bitcoin’s bearish trend. After peaking in March 2024, Bitcoin struggled to regain its highs, dropping to as low as $57,000. At the time of this report, Bitcoin is priced at $62,701, with experts advising cautious accumulation.
Memecoins and NFT Sales
A recent surge in celebrity, political, and animal-themed memecoins, along with the broader crypto market downturn, contributed to a 44% fall in NFT sales during Q2. Apollo Crypto’s investment chief highlighted this correlation.
Data from CryptoSlam shows NFT sales declining from $4.14 billion in Q1 to $2.32 billion in Q2. Meanwhile, memecoins continue to see massive trading volumes, including $3.4 billion in the last 24 hours alone, according to CoinGecko.
PolitiFi memecoins linked to the United States presidential election and new celebrity tokens on Ethereum and Solana have fueled this trend. Notably, MAGA (TRUMP) and Pepe memecoins saw price increases in the second quarter.
