NFT Sales Are up 43%, but Are We Really in for a Bull Run?

The 2022 bear market has devastated and devastated much of the NFT ecosystem. sales plummetstand out remaining numbersand consumer brands began to grimace at the thought of launching Unique and irreplaceable productBut the new year seems to have brought some changes.

As the new year begins, the NFT market is on an upward trend. According to him, his NFT sales volume in the global market this month has increased by 43%. Cryptoslam dataWhile the project floor is rising, the coin price hike, and as open editions become all the rage, community sentiment has also risen significantly. Of course, it’s not the aggressiveness that just moves the needle in Web3, it’s the statistical uptick that drives the NFT space forward.

However, before going ahead with optimism, there are a few things to consider before calling this a full-fledged bull market. So let’s analyze the market to see what’s really going on and determine which projects (or other factors) are driving this change.

Are NFTs Back?

First, one thing should be clarified.For Web3 collectors, artists, and builders who have steadily honed over the past few years, NFTs are never left. why? Because NFTs are so much more than money and markets. These are innovative technologies that can be used for different purposes. So saying “NFTs are dead” is like saying “virtual reality is dead”. The market may be falling. However, the technology is very much alive and well — but digression.

For those just dabbling in Web3 or watching from the outside, NFT market was mostly dead, but now seems to be on the rise again. However, this time things are very different. In contrast to his NFT craze in 2021, the market has matured and is no longer a bohemian western.

Frankly, million dollar sales and deals are occurring much less frequently than before in the NFT arena. But perhaps this is for the best. Similar to the decline of mainstream coverage and attention, which he often focused solely on the economic side of NFTs in the first place, the NFT community has gone back to basics. In 2022, both creators and collectors are forced to reassess why they became interested in and engaged with crypto art in the first place.

It’s clear that a lot has changed in Web3 during the bear period, and perhaps this recent rally is just the market showing this shift as a result. according to, Dune analysis dashboardOpenSea recovers throughout January with $350 million in total ETH NFT sales after bottoming out at around $253 million in November (the lowest month since June 2021) (still almost a week left in the month).

So why is OpenSea reporting an increase in ETH NFT sales volume for the first time since April 2022? Is there something to it? The answer might surprise you. Or maybe not…because we can point directly to the forces at work in this latest of his NFT pumps. And it all starts with ETH.

Why is the NFT pumping?

Any worthy NFT collector will be quick to say that in the grand scheme of things 1 ETH equals 1 ETH. maintain. It is a common perception in the NFT space that pricing should not be a focal point in the decentralized creative industry spawned on blockchain.And while ETH may circle the weird and wide world of NFTs, as mentioned earlier, Web3 is More than just stacking coins.

Yet, these same collectors spewing out value tell us that when the price of ETH changes, so does the price of NFTs as a result. This is the yin and yang of blockchain, and often goes in one of two directions.

In the first case, the ETH price will fall. As a result, people start selling NFTs in a hurry. This can lead to a temporary boost in sales, but if ETH doesn’t recover in a timely manner or falls further, sales will slow down. See OpenSea monthly sales volume alongside ETH Price for reference. January 2022 is record breaking month When it comes to NFT sales (even though ETH’s price has halved compared to the previous month), things were different when the summer crash happened.

In the second case, ETH is trending upwards, which could lead to a strong sales round that breathes new life into the NFT space. can it’s happening now But whether NFTs pumped ETH first or vice versa depends on who you ask, but in any case, these two scenarios of his are more likely than his NFTs over the past few years. It is important to note that it depends on the trend history of A lot has changed in Web3, and who knows if these trends will be experienced.

So Bull Run comes in?

Beyond price action, however, one of the main drivers for this current NFT pump stems from a few specific projects. Those actively innovating, creating, and helping sustain the ecosystem in the NFT space seem to be making great strides. And one recent emergence to help push them forward isn’t really an emergence at all. I’m here.

An open edition is a type of NFT release where, instead of creating and selling a limited set of identical NFTs, creators turn off the bookends and allow collectors to create as many editions as they like. Casting time limit. Jack Butcher at the influential Checks projectone of the most prominent leaders in recent years responsible for the prosperity of Open Editions.

Originally, Butcher’s OE sold over 16,000 editions, each for $8. A satire on social media validationAfter OE shut down, Butcher began tinkering with his own Burn Dynamics. This adds value to whoever coined it, and adjacent to his efforts, NFT Space has done its part, introducing dozens of derivatives to the market. This trend has since taken off, with many creators deciding to use Manifold’s services to launch their own similar ventures.

In January, a large number of creators, large and small, launched OE projects in the NFT space, and the number continues to grow. Still, ETH pumping and open editions were the two decisive factors in this latest rise of his NFTs, but it’s the recently launched Bored Ape Sewer Pass that has undeniably carried the entire ecosystem. .

As part of an ongoing new campaign centered around a new story arch called The Ordeal of Jimmy the Monkey, the Sewer Pass NFTs became billable in mid-January, bringing in more than $20 million to Yuga Labs during the launch of a competitive skill game called Dookey Dash. Given that Yuga and BAYC have maintained his NFT ecosystem for his two years, it’s no surprise that NFTs are being pumped at the same time as yet another landmark Bored Ape effort.

BAYC aside, what can the NFT space expect from the convergence of ETH pumps, the revival of OE, and the initiative of the Web3 brand? could be a place. However, in the short term, this trend of rising prices and increasing vibes is likely to continue.