NFT market activity remains strong according to a Nansen report which has found that US$2.7 billion was spent on NFT minting in the first half of 2022 alone. This figure is the product of activity from more than 1 million unique wallet addresses:
Shift in Users’ Priorities
Industry-leading blockchain data and analytics platform Nansen found that most of these transactions occurred through OpenSea. Its report highlights a shift in crypto users’ priorities yet again, with NFT creators now choosing to retain and reinvest funds into the ecosystem, indicating they have become more mature and conscientious.
This latest report was built off the back of the past report, utilising similar parameters: projects that had primary sales revenue exceeding 20 ETH between January 1 and June 30, 2022:
A total of 28,986 NFT collections were minted and sold on Ethereum during the first six months of 2022. Of these, Pixelmon-Generation 1, Genesis Box, World of Women Galaxy, Moonbirds and VeeFriends Series 2 accounted for 8.4 percent of overall minting.
To the best of Nansen’s knowledge, half (50.7 percent) of the funds raised by these creators stayed with NFT projects, while 45.7 percent circulated to non-entity wallets. It should be noted that Nansen does not have the capacity to track transactions to other counterparties.
Overall, in comparison to the previous report’s results, improvements in the utilisation and productivity of the NFT minting sector are clearly visible.
Nansen research analyst Louisa Chloe wrapped up the data:
Reflecting on the on-chain results of this study, we maintain our conclusion that the minting sector of the NFT market remains healthy with the rise in average mints per unique wallet address … on-chain evidence of NFT collections reinvesting primary sales revenue into NFT demonstrates that builders and creators within this marketplace are looking at the long-term impact of their projects and making decisions that will support that growth.
Louisa Choe, Nansen
Recent NFT Developments
Last month saw two exciting new announcements for the NFT sector within just two days. Firstly, OpenSea expressed its excitement about a “multi-chain future”, thanks to the introduction of the Solana launchpad. The platform will reportedly guide users through the process of pre-mint activity, and will permit list minting and post-mint and secondary sales. This means creators will be able to mint new projects from scratch with ease.
Meanwhile, Australia has its first NFT gallery. Situated at Baringa, near Caloundra on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, the gallery aims to create a hub for digital artists and tech enthusiasts within the popular holiday region.