NFT Trading Volume to Set New $7 Billion ATH This January

Crypto and stock markets might be down, but the non-fungible tokens space is set for new highs.

Available data from The Block shows that NFT transactions in January were $6.89 billion as of writing. This means there’s a likelihood that it could cross the $7 billion mark before the end of the day.

OpenSea Remains Dominant NFT Marketplace

As expected, OpenSea remains the dominant force in the market, accounting for $4.21 billion of the total trades. But a worthy competition appears in the mold of LooksRare, which has $2.2 billion worth of transactions. Other notable performers include Solana-based Magic Eden with $314.1 million.

This is the highest monthly trading volume that the sector has ever recorded and far above the previous record high of $3.31 billion in August 2021. With the whole NFT trading volume being around $20 billion last year, January’s performance alone suggests that this year’s trading could surpass it significantly.

OpenSea also has a reason to celebrate as it broke its previous monthly record of $3.16 billion set in August 2021. 

Throughout last year, OpenSea was the dominant force in the space as it accounted for over 80% of NFT monthly trading volume on many occasions.

LooksRare Battles OpenSea for NFT Soul

But the launch of LooksRare earlier this month seems to have cut the party short. With the simple goal of dethroning OpenSea, LooksRare has employed various tactics to get more users. It’s over $2 billion trading volume in the first month suggests that the tactics are working.

Correction… Make that over $8 billion in wash sales. Forgot to include Terraforms in the first tweet:

Meebits: $4.4b
Terraforms: $2.9b
Loot: $705m
Cryptophunksv2: $251m
Others: $62m

— CryptoSlam! (@cryptoslamio) January 28, 2022

The $2.2 billion transaction value on the platform represents organic trading volume. However, the NFT marketplace has an actual trading volume of over $10 billion due to significant wash trading. LooksRare native token, LOOKS is currently trading at over $4, which is more than 64% of its value since it launched.

For OpenSea, this might be the time to redefine its approach and expand its reach. Already, there are rumours that the leading marketplace will add support for Solana-based NFTs soon.