NFTs hit the brakes: Market cap tanks 46% in just 30 days

The non-fungible token (NFT) market has lost nearly half its value in the past 30 days, even as trading activity picked up in October.

CoinGecko data shows that the global NFT market capitalization plunged from about $6.6 billion on Oct. 5 to $3.5 billion on Wednesday, a 45% drop in just 30 days. The slump comes despite a sales count increase in October that briefly lifted blue-chip floor prices.

CryptoSlam data shows NFTs recorded a sales count of around $631 million in October, a 13% increase from September’s $556 million. Bitcoin and Base NFTs demonstrated resilience over the last 30 days, with increases of 9% and 24%, respectively.

Players like BNB Chain and Polygon experienced the largest declines, at 82% and 86%, respectively. Ethereum, the largest network by NFT sales volume, saw a 25.5% decline in the last 30 days, while Solana, Immutable and Avalanche declined by 31% to 35%.

30-day sales volume by blockchain. Source: CryptoSlam

Blue-chip volatility highlights fragile NFT valuations

NFT Price Floor data showed that the latest market correction hit even the most established NFT collections.

In the last 30 days, CryptoPunks saw a 40% drop in trading volume, with its floor price decreasing from about $214,000 on Oct. 5 to $117,000 on Nov. 5.

Moonbirds saw a similar retracement, with volume declining by 63% and floor prices more than halving from $14,700 to $6,500 in the same time period.

Meanwhile, some collections saw higher volumes, but still saw drops in valuations.

The Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and Pudgy Penguins both recorded volume increases, at 30% and 83%, respectively, and yet their floor prices dropped massively. BAYC’s floor prices fell from $36,700 to $19,500, while Pudgy Penguins declined from $43,000 to $18,340.

The disconnect between trading and sales volume increases and valuations shows how liquidity in the NFT market remains speculative and sensitive to broader crypto sentiment.

Related: NFT markets rebound after $1.2B wipeout in Friday’s crypto crash

Major players expand beyond NFTs

While NFTs are cooling down, major industry players have been recalibrating.

In October, digital collectible marketplace OpenSea, which has dominated the space in the last 30 days with over 522,000 traders, said it was expanding into a universal onchain trading hub.

While the company is now targeting everything onchain, it rejected claims that it was pivoting from NFTs.

Meanwhile, Animoca Brands, another leader in the NFT space, confirmed its plans to list on Nasdaq, signaling how traditional capital markets are starting to acknowledge Web3 gaming and metaverse companies even as secondary NFT markets contract.

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