After a six-week cooldown period started in mid-February, the non-fungible token (NFT) market saw a boost in activity throughout April. Popular NFT collection Moonbirds and a rise in demand for Solana (SOL)-based NFTs were the primary drivers.
The NFT market recorded USD 6.3bn in monthly trading volume for the third time in history in April, a growth of 23% from March, according to a report by the data aggregator DappRadar shared with Cryptonews.com.
Moonbirds, the first NFT drop by tech entrepreneur Kevin Rose’s PROOF Collective, a private members-only collective of 1,000 dedicated NFT collectors and artists, contributed the most to the NFT market recovery, generating almost USD 500m in trades, said the report.
As of early May, Moonbirds ranked as the eleventh most traded NFT collection ever, exceeding notable projects like Meebits, Doodles, and Cool Cats. While there has been some controversy around the project, the demand for the pixelated owls has stayed strong, helping the collection’s floor price stay above ETH 28 (USD 81,944).
Another major driver was a surge in demand for Solana-based NFTs. As per DappRadar, the trading volume of Solana NFTs rose by 91% month-over-month (MoM), generating close to USD 300m in sales. Moreover, the average sale price of Solana NFTs increased by USD 350.
Solana-based collections like DeGods and Okay Bears registered USD 44m and USD 23m in trading activity, respectively, making their way into the top 30 most traded NFT collections in April.
The surge in demand for Solana NFTs does not come as a surprise. After major NFT marketplace OpenSea added support for Solana blockchain, Solana NFTs were expected to see a boost.
“The Solana NFT bull run can be partially attributed to the network’s integration with OpenSea, as the leading NFT marketplace increases the visibility of these NFTs exponentially,” DappRadar said.
Furthermore, Yuga Lab’s Otherdeed NFTs that would act as deeds for land plots in the company’s upcoming metaverse Otherside, one of the largest and most expected NFT drops, also took place on April 30 (US time).
“The Otherdeeds’ mint leaves the NFT market with a bittersweet experience,” DappRadar said. “On the one hand, it is impressive to witness the awareness that Yuga Labs created as a Web3 brand in only one year, becoming one of the most exclusive communities in the world.”
While the collection brought in more than USD 340 million in APE generated from the mint, the drop also became known for the massive gas war it created, which resulted in the loss of USD 4.5m in failed transaction fees, as well as over ETH 55,000 burnt.
The report argues that the team could have executed things differently to prevent the 14,000 failed transactions, which resulted in this multi-million-dollar loss.
Meanwhile, there are NFT developments on other fronts as well. Major crypto exchange has opened its NFT marketplace for all users, revealing the news late yesterday.
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