Non-fungible token sales dropped 75% since the August 29 all-time high, according to data from Dune Analytics.
Sure, a collection of 101 Bored Ape Yacht Club non-fungible tokens just brought in $24.4 million at auction, doubling Sotheby’s estimate.
And sure, DappRadar released a report on September 9 that found the NFT market had its best month ever in August, ringing up more than $5 billion in sales.
But that momentum doesn’t seem to have made it into September, according to data from Dune Analytics. Pummeled by a brutal Bitcoin flash crash that carried over to virtually all altcoins, daily trading volume on the largest NFT marketplace, OpenSea, collapsed from a high of $323 million on August 29 to less than $85 million on September 8.
That is reflected in OpenSea’s own numbers, which shows nine of the top 10 NFT projects down between 55% and 90% over the past seven days. The exception being No. 5 Loot, which is down just 4% on the week.
Bored Ape Yacht Club’s numbers were down 70% on the week, despite being up almost 55% in the past 24 hours, thanks to that blockbuster Sotheby’s auction.
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Avatar Market Booming
The NFT market has been booming as the avatar segment took off this year, with top projects like Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and CryptoPunks selling for six and seven-figure sums, while a number of other NFT projects like CryptoPunks sister-project Meebits, Pudgy Penguins and Cool Cats make somewhat more affordable options available.
Avatars are becoming hotter and hotter commodities for a number of reasons, ranging from providing a sense of community — such as BAYC’s owners-only Discord and YouTube channels — to offering owners a way to express their individuality while simultaneously joining a community.
A recent New Yorker story on Bored Apes avatars cited Kyle Swenson, a retail clothing seller and early BAYC buyer Kyle Swenson who said that he bought is ape after seeing them show up as avatars on Twitter accounts he followed, but that he chose one with a preppy outfit that matched his own sartorial preferences.
