Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) Market Report 2023 : Insights, Market Dynamics and Future Trends

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Previous years have garnered an enigmatic response for the Non-fungible Tokens. 2023 marked a period of technological advancements hence paving the way for the NFT progress. The NFT market is expected to reach US $3.2 billion by 2027, rising from US $1.6 billion in 2023. Thus, showing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.55%. As of 2023 end, NFTs look very promising, let us explore how!

Summary

NFTs or Non-Fungible Tokens are unique assets that are stored on a blockchain. They can represent anything digital, which includes, digital art, music, collectibles, and even gaming items. They are created by minting them on a blockchain. NFTs are owned by the person who has the private key to the corresponding wallet address. NFTs promise uniqueness, Security and Transparency and they have successfully transformed the way of owning digital assets. Due to their remarkable properties, NFTs are gaining popularity in today’s era. 

Key Takeaways Q1 2023 has been good for NFTs. There was a decline after Q1 due to Blur’s incentives and airdrop.  In April 2023, the number of NFT holders dropped to its lowest point in the last 12 months. Ethereum remains the biggest Layer-1 NFT market in 2023, followed by Solana, Polygon and BNB Chain. The NFT market size is estimated to grow by USD 113.93 billion by 2027. APAC is anticipated to hold 39% of the global market share. Q3 2023 was the worst quarter for NFT Sales in 3 years. The average value NFT transactions climbed from $126 to $270, marking an increase of 114% in November,2023. Blur’s marketplace holds almost 80% of NFTs trading volume as the activity spiked in December first week.

NFT Market Analysis in 2023

• The number of active wallets involved in NFT trading declined by more than 25 percent between Q2 and Q3 2023. A notable decline from 2021 end.
• Monthly NFT sales in art declined as 2023 progressed.
• Art projects like CryptoPunks or Bored Ape Yacht club ranked among the top 50 NFTs based on market cap.
• In 2023, Blur took the position of the biggest NFT marketplace worldwide. For years, OpenSea was leading the sphere.

Number of active wallets that either bought or sold an NFT:

As we can see, there is a significant decline in the number of users from Q2 2023 to Q3 2023. The sales of non-fungible tokens dropped sharply in the third quarter. This might be due to the highly speculative nature of digital assets which show little signs of returns. Sales on the largest NFT marketplace, OpenSea, fell for a fifth consecutive month in September, 2023.

NFT 2023 report summed up

According to news, NFT trading volume declined from $3.67 billion in Q2 2023 to $1.63 billion in Q3 2023. The decline started somewhere in June 2023.

Despite the fall, the Ethereum network maintained its dominance over the NFT market at 83.2% in the third quarter of 2023.

As of the second week of December, the NFT market is up by 22.60% with a sale of $85 million worth of merchandise sales. The number of NFT collectors trading NFTs increased by 17% in the second week of December,2023. Ethereum-based NFTs increased by 45.25% over these seven days. Solana and Bitcoin NFTs are up by 19.57% and 26.01% respectively, as the year’s about to end.

After falling in 2023, the last two months marked a spike in the NFT market. NFT trading volume has approached the $1 billion mark in November, indicating bullish trends in crypto space. November 2023 saw $605 million in Ethereum-based NFT trading. The NFT trading volume for December 2023 has already risen to $90 million. 

There has been a notable increase of 14% in daily unique active wallets in blockchain gaming in the last two months of 2023. Will the constant innovation and advancement in the NFT field lead to its growth in 2024?

What has changed since 2022?

• The NFT market has grown 220x since 2021.
• One of the biggest highlights of the year was the mainstream adoption of NFTs by big brands. In August, Tiffany & Co. launched CryptoPunk pendants, bringing a touch of luxury to the world of NFTs. Other major brands also got in on the action, with Nike and Coca-Cola using NFTs for marketing campaigns and Web3 initiatives.
• NFT saw a greater adoption by the mainstream audience in 2022. It saw the first true hype cycle. 
• Although the market lost its charm in the end of 2022, it still grew immensely from the beginning of 2021.
• Trading volume peaked in the first half of the year with a weekly tally of $1.3 billion in April,2022. It dropped 91% from that level to $115 million in December,2022.  
• OpenSea retained its status as the user-count leader. 
• OpenSea logged over 1.3 million users over the fourth quarter, with Blur coming in second with 172,000. OpenSea marked 73% market share in terms of users in 2022. 
• NFT’s success in 2022 is credited to some brands and personalities endorsing the digital assets.
• Reddit’s NFT project was a big hit and drove around 4.3 million users into the NFT space.
• May 1, 2022 was the single highest value trading day in NFT history, when 118,577 NFTs were sold for a total value of $780.4 million.
• Crypto winter covered the rest of the year when NFT prices did not show any serious recovery.
• Though the market plunged, there were plenty of significant high-dollar sales in 2022. 
• In November 2022, Google reported that the searches for NFTs have dropped by 88% in less than a year. 
• However, from September 2022, the market started seeing signs of relief. Trading volume per active wallet reached its highest level for the second half of 2022. 
• Blur was seen overtaking OpenSea in trade volume. 
• In December 2022, NFT trading activity continued in its upward trend at $318 million of monthly volume, up by 35% from November 2022. A renewed appetite among NFT enthusiasts was seen towards the end of 2022!

NFT Market Segmentation by Type

What happened to NFTs in 2023?

4.1. Driving forces

• The major driving force in the NFT sector is the growing interest in NFTs by major brands. 
• Visa Inc. , Budweiser etc are showing interest in buying NFTs.
• NFTs are driving a potential for additional earnings by these brands, that is why there is a major rush seen among them.
• They are getting celebrity support from all across the world. The Bollywood actress Tapsee Pannu, being the latest addition to the list of celebs who adopted NFTs for their channels.
• Due to Generative AI, there has been an acceleration in the digital asset ecosystem. Gen AI can help in writing or debugging the code that underlies digital assets, memorising hashes for users, and helping in tracking the assets. These user-friendly chat-style interfaces have boosted the user interest in NFTs in 2023.

4.2. Challenges

Popular NFT Platforms In 2023

The NFT  craze has spiked up in the last few months of 2023. Let us consider NFT marketplaces as our Amazon of the digital space. There are dozens of marketplaces when it comes to NFTs with specific niche. We have aligned the popular NFT platforms which performed well in the year 2023.

Platform Name	Market Share in December 2023
OpenSea	18%
Blur	80%
Magic Eden, CryptoPunks and others	2%

1. OpenSea

Types of NFTs it deals with are art, collectibles , music, sports, photography and much more. It is a very user-friendly and reasonable platform, charging around 2.5% per transaction. It supports over 150 different payment tokens. It is the apt place for beginners to try their hands in the NFT space easily.

2. Blur

Blur, this year, has emerged as a frontrunner, commanding 80% market share.

Regions which are leading the NFT Trading Platform Market in 2023

1. North America: United States, Canada and Mexico
2. Europe: Germany, UK, France, Italy, Russia and Turkey
3. asia-Pacific: China, Japan, Korea, India, Australia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam
4. South America: Brazil, Argentina, Columbia
5. Middle East and Africa: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa

Top NFT Gaming Marketplaces in 2023

The total NFT Gaming Market Size is USD 410.92 billion in 2023. It is growing at a CAGR of 14.84%.

NFT Gaming Market Leaders in 2023

1. Axie Infinity
2. Gods Unchained
3. CryptoPunks
4. Bored Ape Yacht
5. The Sandbox

The fastest growing region in the NFT Gaming market is Asia Pacific with the highest CAGR currently. However, North America accounted for the largest market share in the NFT Gaming Market.

Top NFT Tokens in 2023

NFT token	Market capitalization
ApeCoin	USD 1.5 billion
Decentraland	USD 1.04 billion
Theta Network	USD 1.03 billion
Tezos	USD 962 million
Flow	USD 937 million
Immutable X	USD 927 million

Significant Partnerships in the NFT Space in 2023

1. Disney x DapperLabs

2. Carbon CX x The NFT Brewery

3. Sky Mavis x CyberKongz

4. Starbucks x Micah Johnson’s Aku NFT  Project

5. Eden x Moonpay

6. 0N1 Force x Horizon Labs

Brands which dipped their toes in NFT Space in 2023:

1. Nike
2. Adidas
3. Gucci
4. Budweiser
5. Coca-Cola
6. Dolce & Gabbana 
7. Louis Vuitton
8. McDonald’s 
9. Taco Bell
10. Warner Bros

Notable NFT Projects in 2023

Standout NFT projects in 2023 like Cryptopunks, Jack Butcher, and Franke have some notable victories and challenges to share in 2023.

Cryptopunks’ resurrection and record-breaking sales in 2023

Cryptopunks, the leading NFT collection, continued to dominate headlines with huge sales in 2023. The market witnessed a record-breaking sale of a Cryptopunk masterpiece getting a record-breaking amount of $1.1 million. This sale meant that these digital assets’ enduring charisma and value. Several other Cryptopunks joined the line, commanding hefty sums in the hundreds of thousands. This resurrection reiterated the sustained interest and investment potential within the NFT market, setting a benchmark for high-value NFT transactions despite the steep market fluctuations.

Jack Butcher Trademark: Thriving Sales and Volume

Another victorious project that gained attention in 2023 was the Jack Butcher Trademark collection, marked by its impressive sales volume and revenue generation. With 10,000 NFTs sold, the collection highlighted an impressive 690 ETH in trading volume, reflecting the market’s need for diverse and engaging NFT offerings. This project’s success underlined the diversity of interest and the potential for substantial revenue generation within the NFT space.

Herbert W. Franke’s Zentrum Collection: Dichotomy in Performance

Herbert W. Franke’s Zentrum collection made headlines in the NFT space, showcasing both success and downturns within the market. Selling 222 NFTs, the collection attained 613 ETH in total revenue. However, the price on the secondary market witnessed a rapid fall, dropping by 45% within a week. 

Blur’s Royalty War Victory Over OpenSea: Marketplace Dynamics

The fierce competition between renowned NFT marketplaces, particularly Blur and OpenSea, unfolded as a “Royalty War” talked about across the whole NFT ecosystem. Blur’s triumph in claiming a substantial portion of the royalty market share previously dominated by OpenSea showcased the dynamic nature of marketplace competition.

This victory impacted marketplace fees and influenced revenue generation, emphasizing the pivotal role of marketplace dynamics in shaping overall NFT market trends and revenue distribution. Also, marked victory for a new-comer Blur, who garnered attention in 2023 as one of the competitive NFT marketplaces in 2023.

Future Trajectory of NFTs : NFTs in 2024

2024 is all about revival, let us see how:

After experiencing a roller-coaster ride in 2023, NFTs made a significant stride in terms of their resilience and potential for long term growth. 

• NFTs will surely revolutionise gaming, offering true ownership of in-game assets and enabling the players to earn hefty rewards in return. One can imagine owning his own virtual land, characters , and items as NFTs. All this can be witnessed in 2024!
• NFTs might present immersive art experiences by going beyond static images, creating interactive spaces for audiences. 
• Education will play a critical role to make people aware of the NFT expanse.
• 2024 could be about the integration with the real-world assets or RWAs. They will make an excellent use case for NFTs turning illiquid RWAs into highly liquid on-chain tokens.
• Value-based NFTs would be in the limelight in 2024. This will lead to more sustainable and valuable NFT projects which could withstand market fluctuations.
• There might be greater clarity in the regulatory landscape in terms of NFT projects in 2024.
• Brand and artist collaborations could be seen as NFTs’ promotional ways for wider adoption in future.
• Experts believe that the future of NFTs would not completely resemble the bull run of 2021, they speak of the revival in 2024. 

Final Thoughts

The NFT market is set for a revival in future. Many promising projects like Adidas Digital Art Studio Residency have shown that NFTs hold a remarkable growth rate in the future of finance. While 2023 was a year filled with ups and downs, 2024 could be a bit rejuvenating for NFTs.