Volumes on Ethereum-based NFT markets broke a four-month downward trend in December

Non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace volumes had been steadily decreasing between August and November 2021. December broke that trend, according to The Block Research. 

Monthly NFT volumes for Ethereum-based marketplaces increased 16.6% from November to December, reaching $2.26 billion in the last month of 2021. 

Possible explanations for December’s rise in sales volume could be increased interest in Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and gaming-focused NFTs during that month. 

In late November, the UK-based crypto payment firm MoonPay introduced a service that allowed celebrities to purchase expensive NFTs such as BAYC. By December 2, celebrities such as Post Malone, Jimmy Falon, Diplo and DJ Khaled had purchased an Ape using MoonPay’s services.

While BAYC rose to record highs, gaming-focused NFTs also rose in prominence in December. As The Block’s data shows, gaming NFTs followed a similar trend to  NFT marketplace sales volume; weekly transaction volume for gaming NFTs declined steadily from August to November before increasing from November to December. 

In December, Twitch’s co-founder Justin Kan announced and launched a gaming-focused NFT platform called Fractal and the gaming giant Ubisoft began experimenting with NFTs.