NFT trading volume rose 230% in Q1, Nansen finds

• NFT trading volume rose 230% in Q1, 2023 with over $4.54B in sales compared to $1.97 billion in Q4, 2022.
• According to Nansen Data Journalist Martin Lee, the NFT marketplace Blur accounted for most of the volume in the quarter.
• The number of NFT users also grew significantly during the quarter, although the past few weeks are seeing a decline in volume and user numbers.

An analysis of the NFT market by Nansen, a leading blockchain analytics firm, has hinted at a resurgence in the sector in the first three months of the year. Data comparing market performance in terms of trading volumes shows sales surged over 230% in Q1, 2023 vs. Q4 2022.

According to Martin Lee, a Data Journalist at Nansen, the significant increase is observable in both ETH and USD metrics. A new player in the NFT marketplace ecosystem accounted for a large share of the trading volume, the analysis reveals.

“The increase has largely been driven by the rise of Blur,” Lee noted in an analysis shared with CoinJournal.

NFT trading volume rose 230% to over $4.54 billion in Q1

In Q4, 2022, over 1.5 million ETH, or more than $1.97 billion worth of NFTs was transacted. This amounted to NFT sales volume of 9,036,778 during the period. In comparison, the NFT market recorded a significant increase in transacted volume in Q1, 2023 with market volume hitting over 2.83 million ETH, or $4.54 billion.

The total transacted in the quarter was 11,498,022 NFTs, with the volume increasing 230% in Q1, 2023 compared to Q4, 2022.

Although Q1, 2023 showed significant increase in sales volume compared to Q4, 2022, Nansen data shows there was a lull in April. While $1.7 billion was transacted in March, the next 30 days saw a dip in volume with approximately $1.2 billion generated. The trend is also being observed in May as shown below.

Data shows a decline in NFT volumes in April and May. Source:Nansen

There’s also a slight decline in the number of users, with data for the past few weeks lower than what was recorded in the past year. Notably though, Q1 saw 13,999,528 in users, compared to 11,233,872 in Q4, 2022.

A visualization of NFT sales and wallets between January,2022 and April, 2023. Source: NansenThe decline comes amid a surge in interest in meme coins, with the likes of Pepe (PEPE) and Floki Inu (FLOKI) top performers in the last month.

OpenSea saw $200 million worth of NFT sales volume in Q4, 2022

In the last quarter of 2022, the NFT market observed noteworthy sales figures, particularly for OpenSea. The platform accounted for 219,992.50 ETH in volume, equivalent to $272,415,866.4. The total NFT sales across the platform during the quarter was 1,413,780 NFTs.

During this period, other platforms that recorded significant volumes were LooksRare, Mint, CryptoPunks, and X2Y2.

Blur emerges as key NFT marketplace, Q1 volume surpassed OpenSea’s

During the first quarter of 2023, Blur emerged as a prominent player in the NFT market. While OpenSea sales volume was 661,547.79 ETH, or approximately $1.02 billion from 3,727,299 NFTs sold, Blur’s volume was nearly three times higher.

According to the Nansen analysis, Blur saw its remarkable growth translate to over 1.8 million ETH, or $2.93 billion worth of NFT sales. The platform accounted for 1,999,688 of the quarterly NFT sales.

Blur, launched in October 2022, is now one of the leading NFT marketplaces. The Ethereum-based platform looks to offer traders and collectors a top marketplace that highlights a community-driven ecosystem.

Blur’s growth in terms of sales volume demonstrates the continued expansion of the NFT market, with traders and collectors keen to explore the best of both established and emerging platforms.

Source