Global NFT sales reached £7.9 billion in the third quarter of 2021, an eightfold increase over the previous quarter.
This is according to data in the latest report from market tracker DappRadar, which highlights the accelerating frenzy for crypto-based assets.
In comparison, DappRadar recorded £885 million in NFT sales in Q1 and £958 million in Q2.
On OpenSea, the biggest NFT marketplace to date, £2.5 billion in sales were recorded in August alone – more than a tenfold increase over the £240 million total for the previous month.
This growth can only be partly charted to the cryptocurrency price hikes that occurred during the pandemic.
NFT enthusiasts claim the assets have value that is independent form market conditions, whilst sceptics believe the market is hugely overvalued and an even bigger bubble than the cryptocurrency market.
Another factor to consider is the variety of ways to measure the total size of the NFT market. DappRadar’s numbers include not just blockchains but also “off-chain” transactions, such as sales at auction houses.
While DappRadar’s figures put total sales for 2021 at £9.73 billion, other market trackers, such as CryptoSlam that excludes “off-chain” sales, puts the figure at £7.07 billion.
Regardless of how the numbers are recorded, its hard to deny the extent of the frenzy. The most expensive NFT sale to date sold at Christie’s auction house for £51 million in March earlier this year.
Want to learn more from executives at the heart of this space? The Blockchain IoT Solutions Congress, on November 2 2021, will explore the convergence of these two technologies and the use cases and industries that will benefit.
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