NodeMonkes and Bitcoin Puppets take the lead in NFT sales recovery
Last week, the activity surrounding non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Bitcoin network saw a notable resurgence as the market began to stabilize.
**Bitcoin NFT Sales Surge**
According to data from CryptoSlam, Bitcoin (BTC) NFT sales experienced a significant increase of 56% over the past week, surpassing $20 million. The number of buyers on the network also rose by 48%, reaching a total of 29,403. Among the various collections, NodeMonkes emerged as the top performer in the ecosystem, generating over $3.4 million in sales through 302 transactions. The only collection that outperformed NodeMonkes in sales for the week was Immutable X’s Guild of Guardian Heroes.
Another noteworthy collection, Bitcoin Puppets, recorded a sales volume of $3.03 million, marking a remarkable 239% rise compared to the previous week. Following closely behind was Ordinal Maxi Biz, which saw its sales climb to over $1.89 million, while Taproot Witches achieved $1.3 million in sales.
**Ethereum and Solana’s NFT Market Performance**
Ethereum (ETH) continued to dominate the NFT landscape, facilitating sales totaling $28 million. Solana (SOL) followed with $13 million in sales, while the BNB Chain recorded $3.7 million. Unfortunately, September proved to be a challenging month for NFTs overall, with total sales plummeting by 48% to $318 million. Specifically, Ethereum, Bitcoin, and Solana reported sales of $108 million, $63 million, and $61 million, respectively.
**Bitcoin’s Resilience**
The recent uptick in weekly NFT sales coincided with a rebound in the prices of many cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin reached $66,000 for the first time since July, contributing to a total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies that surged to $2.3 trillion. A significant indicator of market sentiment, the crypto fear and greed index, climbed into the greed zone at 60 for the first time in two months. Historically, this shift towards greed prompts traders to gravitate towards riskier assets, including stocks and cryptocurrencies. This change in sentiment has been influenced by several factors, including the Federal Reserve’s interest rate cuts, stimulus measures from China, and a decline in stablecoin holdings among savvy investors.
As depicted in the chart below, the volume of stablecoin holdings among these investors has fallen to its lowest level in two years.
**Stablecoin Holdings by Smart Money | Source: Nansen**
The Nansen chart indicates that after a surge in stablecoin holdings throughout 2022, following the collapses of FTX and the Terra ecosystem, there has been a downward trend ever since. It appears that smart money investors are reducing their stablecoin reserves and reallocating their capital into cryptocurrencies and NFTs.
However, investors should be cautious, as the NFT market is experiencing significant saturation, with thousands of new collections flooding the space. A recent report highlights that a staggering 96% of over 5,000 existing NFT collections are considered “dead,” exhibiting zero trading volume, no sales over the past week, and no social media engagement.
For more insights, check out: OpenSea trading volumes nosedive as ETH activity falls to 2021 levels.
