DappRadar: monthly NFT trading volume fell 81% between January 2022 and July 2023, while monthly NFT sales dropped 61%; bitcoin is up nearly 55% in 2023
When you look at the charts, “everything is down.” — NFTs first crossed Daniel Maegaard's radar in 2018.
Context & Ripple Effects
NFT activity had already retrenched sharply in 2022: [[a:983296|Dune Analytics recorded a 97% decline in trading volume from the January 2022 record by September]], while OpenSea's daily transaction value had fallen about 99% from its May high. This report shows that the contraction persisted into mid-2023 rather than being a short-lived correction.
The contrast with bitcoin’s 2023 rise matters because it suggests crypto-market interest was not translating evenly to NFT trading. Related coverage also framed gaming as a possible utility-led direction as speculative volumes declined.
First-order effects
- NFT marketplaces, collectors, and creators face a substantially smaller pool of monthly trading activity, reducing liquidity for assets and the transaction flow platforms depend on.
- The divergence from bitcoin’s gain shifts attention and trading capital toward more liquid cryptocurrencies rather than NFT collections.
Second-order effects
- NFT platforms and projects face greater pressure to retain users through utility, including the gaming-oriented use cases highlighted in coverage of NFT use cases amid the volume slump, rather than relying on resale activity alone.
- Lower liquidity makes price discovery and resale harder for holders, which can further curb participation by traders and reduce marketplace fee opportunities.
Third-order effects
- If the gap between cryptocurrency trading and NFT activity persists, NFTs may become a narrower, utility-led segment of crypto rather than a broadly traded speculative market.
- The pattern points to a more durable sorting of NFT businesses: platforms with recurring user activity may be better positioned than those whose economics rely chiefly on high-volume secondary sales.
The trend: NFT markets are moving from a boom-era resale model toward a smaller market where sustained use and liquidity matter more than collection hype.