OpenSea’s NFT Revenue Drops 96% Since May 2022 – Here’s What Fueling This Downtrend

Updated: 09 May 2023

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The non-fungible token market continues to record a sharp decline in trading sales volume and prices in recent months. The NFT art sector, which was leading the NFT craze earlier last year, has lost most ground after suffering a brutal comedown from mid-2022.

The NFT surged to an all-time high in January 2022, with monthly trading sale volume reaching $4.8 billion. Unfortunately, the NFT sales have gone down more than 80%, dropping to just $732 million in April 2023. Let’s take a look at what happened.

OpenSea NFT Trading Drops 96% Since 2022

Data market analysis confirms that the NFT market has crashed alongside its key players in the market. OpenSea, one of the world’s largest digital market platforms for crypto assets and non-fungible tokens, is a perfect example, plummeting more than 96% in revenues since May 2022.

OpenSea NFT Trading Sales Volume: DappRadar

According to DappRadar, an on-chain data aggregator, the non-fungible token trading sales on the OpenSea NFT marketplace have fallen this year. The NFT trading sale volume has dropped from $105 million in May 2022 to just $3.6 million in May 2023, representing a 96% decrease.

Over the same period, the number of transactions across the OpenSea market platform has decreased this year. The NFT transactions have fallen from 107,000 in late May 2022 to just 12,000 in May 2023, representing an 88% decrease.

Moreover, this year, OpenSea, the NFT marketplace behemoth and Blur’s market rival, has experienced a drop-down in earnings. The NFT marketplace, which earned $61.33 million in March 2022, has attracted trading sales of 172,000 as of March 2023.

During this period, platform fees have dropped from $ 193 million to just $1.4 million as of March 2023, representing a 99% drop. Below we have listed some of the critical factors and viable reasons that may have attributed to the OpenSea market downtrend:

Factors Fueling OpenSea Downtrend

1. Bearish Trend

Like many NFT projects, OpenSea has suffered from the recent bear market. The NFT market downturn began sometime last year and has left many NFT projects shedding more than 70% of their value. The NFT market winter pushed many firms to lay off some staff.

2. Insider Trading

The largest NFT platform OpenSea, had an insider trading problem last year. Its head of product Nathaniel Chastain was allegedly secretly snatching up NFTs before placing them on the homepage, selling them for profit when visibility and demand increased.

Last week, the former head of product at OpenSea was convicted of wire fraud by the US Department of Justice in New York. Damian Williams, the attorney for the DoJ’s Southern District of New York, said that Nathaniel Chastain exploited his advanced knowledge of NFTs for his own personal gain. He awaits sentencing in August 2023.

3. Blur Effect

In October 2022, Blur NFT marketplace entered the market, becoming the strongest market rival to the then NFT market dominant OpenSea. Blur sought to attract customers by distributing “care packages” and promising loyal users future rewards in the form of its cryptocurrency.

Earlier this year, Blur NFT marketplace fulfilled its promise, launching its highly anticipated utility token, “$BLUR.”As part of the promise, Blur airdropped its utility tokens in three waves to incentivize its NFT members. The move has pushed most professional traders to switch over from other marketplaces.

4. Confidence Loss

Even though the overall decline in crypto prices has lowered the general demand for non-fungible tokens, the rapid fall in consumer confidence has impacted trading in OpenSea. The NFT inside trading saga and other management issues have contributed to the downtrend in OpenSea.

In recent weeks, OpenSea has engaged several strategic measures to regain confidence among NFT investors. OpenSea has launched its own pro-trader platform, hoping to appeal to the NFT ecosystem’s so-called market makers.

Launchpad Is The New Game Changer In NFTs

Launchpad is a new platform focused on reviving the fallen non-fungible token market in the coming weeks. The new platform allows collectors to explore the next most successful NFT projects like “Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks NFT collection.

The new platform offers all the tools users need to be successful in NFT and metaverse, including analytics, insights, and strategy. Launchpad is in its early stages and has already raised over $200,000 from its token “LPX” presale.