Trading volumes on OpenSea have dropped by 99% since their all-time high in May.
According to DappRadar data, the popular NFT marketplace had only $9.34M transactions last weekend.
Nonetheless, the NFT community sees a silver lining in the new statistics: fewer scams and more worthwhile projects may remain!
How did the trading volume on OpenSea drop by 99%?
With its trading volume down 99%, the leading NFT marketplace, OpenSea, is starting the fall off on the wrong foot. According to the most recent DappRadar data, $9.34M transactions were completed on Sunday. This is a significant decrease from the $2.7 billion recorded on May 1st when the platform hit an all-time high.
Furthermore, the platform had 24,020 active users on Sunday, a third fewer than on May 1st. These troubling statistics come shortly after OpenSea was sued for stealing NFT policy (which they ultimately had to update).
Is a lower trading volume, after all, a good thing?
An OpenSea spokesperson issued an upbeat statement shortly after the trading volume data was released on Sunday:
“We’re in it for the long haul because we see what’s possible, so we’re not concerned about short-term volatility.” We’ve always expected frothiness, hype, and deflation as the community and use cases evolve the technology advances, and creators figure out how to incorporate more utility into their projects.”
Furthermore, some NFT community members believe fewer OpenSea transactions are a good thing.
The following is why: Of course, there is no evidence that lower trading volume results in more valuable NFT projects. Even if true, this theory does not make the statistics less concerned.
As its trading volume statistics continue to decline, OpenSea is concentrating on its Seaport protocol.
Seaport aims to improve the user experience while lowering NFT transaction costs.
The most recent addition to Seaport was its Polygon integration, which was announced on Wednesday. As a result, the new feature on Polygon will enable bulk transfers, creator payouts, and new attribute offers.
All of these good features, however, come after a difficult summer. Alex Atallah, the co-founder of OpenSea, unexpectedly resigned in July to start new projects from scratch. CEO Devin Finzer confirmed that the company had fired 20% of its employees a week after his announcement.
The popular NFT marketplace has seen many changes in the last quarter. Nonetheless, OpenSea’s Seaport innovation and improved user experience may increase the trading volume even during the “crypto winter.”
