dailyhodl.com
The non-fungible token (NFT) market has jumpstarted the year with a strong performance as sales and trading volume in the first quarter hit its highest level since Q2 2022.
According to data from blockchain intelligence platform DappRadar, trading volume for crypto collectibles surged to $4.7 billion in Q1, marking an increase of 137% from the previous quarter.
February was a particularly strong month due to NFT marketplace Blur’s (BLUR) token airdrop, but as excitement subsided, trading volume dropped by 15.65% in March. Sales count also decreased 4.63% with 2.7 million NFTs sold last month.
The NFT sector ended Q1 on a high note as sales count hit 19.4 million during the period, an increase of 8.56% from the last quarter of 2022.
“The NFT market has had an impressive start of the year with Q1 2023 being the best quarter since Q2 2022. Despite a slight decrease in trading volume in March, the overall performance has been bullish.”
Ethereum (ETH) retains its position as the top blockchain for NFTs with $4.1 billion in trading volume in Q1. The leading smart contract platform is followed by Solana (SOL) and Polygon (MATIC) with $242 million and $85 million, respectively.
Q1 also witnessed the rise of a new dominant player in the space as Blur takes over the position of long-time leading NFT marketplace OpenSea. In the first quarter, Blur recorded trading volume of $2.7 billion and a market dominance of 57.44%. Meanwhile, OpenSea recorded a trading volume of $1.4 billion and a market dominance of 31.10%.