In July 2023, the volatility of the NFT market persists, and the transaction volume shows a downward trend. However, growth in areas such as gaming and music NFTs has been notable. The number of unique users participating in these segments is increasing, reflecting the recovery in these areas.

This comprehensive report aims to provide a comprehensive insight into the NFT ecosystem in July 2023. The report delves into key metrics like market capitalization, transaction volume, user engagement, and the delicate balance of buyer and seller activity on major chains like Ethereum and Polygon. In-depth analysis of leading platforms, trading markets, and NFT financing markets.

Apart from the data, the report also highlights important milestones and breakthroughs. Examples include the story of artist Jack Butcher's inspirational journey and the creation of an Opepen NFT as a heartfelt tribute to ThreadGuy. These stories go beyond numbers and statistics to highlight the cultural weight and collaborative spirit of the NFT space, even in times of market volatility.

The data for this report comes from Footprint's NFT research page. This page provides an easy-to-use dashboard with the most critical statistics and metrics to stay up-to-date with the latest developments in the NFT industry, updated in real time. You can find the latest information on deals, projects, financing and more by clicking [read the original article].

Key Points Overview

Crypto Market Overview

• Despite the price surge, bitcoin ended July at a low $29,230, down about 4% from its July 1 opening of $30,587.

NFT Market Overview

• The blue-chip index was on a downward trend, pointing to deepening bearish sentiment in the market.
• In July, the NFT market showed a buyer/seller ratio of 149.13%, with a total of 299,983 buyers and 201,155 sellers, exceeding the ratio of the past 90 days.

Public chain and NFT trading market

• At present, the growth momentum of the NFT market mainly comes from practical application cases such as games and practical platforms, rather than traditional artworks and collectibles.
• Blur's volume share is trending down, from 64.32% to 57.94% YoY.

NFT Investment and Financing Status

• The NFT market has been particularly sluggish in recent months, with only 3 funding rounds totaling $15.85 million in July.
• Despite the downturn in the financing market, capital is still actively flowing into the NFT field, such as the combination of music and NFT.

This month's hot spot: Opepen

• This event showcased the spirit and friendliness of the community, demonstrating the importance of recognizing creators in the fast-growing NFT space.

Key dynamics of this month

• Get Protocol raises $4.5M to challenge Ticketmaster with NFT tickets
• NFT loan platform Gondi launched and received $5.3 million in financing led by Hack.vc
• Born for culture: Jack Butcher's custom ThreadGuy Opepen sparks buzz
• Mastercard Web3 Music Accelerator releases five NFT tracks
• Beatport launched an NFT trading market focused on electronic music
• Sotheby's Next Generation Art auction fetches $1.2 million in 24 hours
• Polygon 2.0 Lays the Foundation for Decentralized Governance

Crypto Market Overview

Throughout July 2023, the value of Bitcoin will mainly fluctuate in the range of $29,000 to $31,000. Bitcoin reached a one-year high of $31,400 on July 13, its highest value since July the previous year.

BTC Price & ETH Price

However, despite the price surge, bitcoin ended July at a lower price of $29,230, down about 4 percent from its July 1 opening price of $30,587.

In particular, low summer trading activity and a lack of short-term positive factors may have contributed to Bitcoin's decline.

However, as noted by Rachel Lin, CEO of decentralized futures exchange SynFutures, Bitcoin’s dip below $30,000 may be just a brief correction in a general bullish trend. This view reinforces Bitcoin's consistent trading range of between $29,000 and $31,800 since mid-June, independent of factors such as interest rate hikes, inflation concerns and other macroeconomic concerns.

NFT Market Overview

NFT Volume & Transaction & Unique Users in July

The market capitalization of the NFT market remained stable at around $100 billion this month. However, as Azuki prices fell, there was a noticeable drop in overall transaction volumes, suggesting that market activity may be showing signs of cooling.

NFT Market Cap & Volume

On a more positive note, the number of unique users involving NFTs has increased slightly over the month, with 431,817 unique users compared to 408,548 in June.

BlueChip Index

The blue-chip index was in a downtrend, pointing to deepening bearish sentiment in the market.

Major blue-chip NFT projects such as Azuki and Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) have seen significant price drops. BAYC even fell below 30ETH this month.

This market volatility reflects investors' increased risk aversion and decreased confidence in the NFT market. Investors may become more cautious and reluctant to make riskier investments, moving to safer assets or reducing their overall participation in the market.

Daily Buyers & Sellers

In July, the NFT market showed a buyer/seller ratio of 149.13%, with a total of 299,983 buyers and 201,155 sellers, exceeding the ratio of the past 90 days.

NFT Buyer & Seller

The increase in the number of buyers during this period can be attributed to the activity of projects such as Planet IX and Galaxy. Specifically, as of July 23, the number of NFT buyers on Planetix reached 4,932, while the number of sellers was only 59, indicating that NFTs are in high demand and buying enthusiasm is high. Games such as Planet IX are still the main driving force behind the active NFT market.

NFT Daily Unique Users

Events and activity from projects like Planet IX and Galaxy also led to a huge spike in the number of unique NFT users between July 21-23.

Made By Apes

In addition to the influence of games and task platforms on the rise of NFT, the NFT project itself is also worth noting.

One notable example is Yuga Labs, the creator of the widely known BAYC, which recently launched an on-chain verification solution “Made By Apes”. The platform solves the challenge of validating and cataloging intellectual property created by BAYC members. By offering a unique on-chain license, BAYC and Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) members can use the "Made by Apes" logo produced by Yuga on their products and services.

Degods and Pudgy Penguins have also launched similar initiatives this month. These moves mark a major shift in the recognition and promotion of the value of intellectual property in the NFT space. By granting exclusive intellectual property to NFT owners, these projects aim to foster creativity and innovation within their communities. This move further boosts the appeal of NFTs, elevating them from simple collectibles to valuable assets with practical, real-world applications. As the NFT market continues to evolve, these intellectual property-focused initiatives could play an important role in shaping its future.

Public chain and NFT trading market

Ethereum’s dominance in the NFT market continues to grow, accounting for a staggering 98.03% of total transaction volume. However, the absolute volume of NFT transactions on the Ethereum chain hit a two-year low in July at just $660.1 million. The overall NFT market is experiencing a period of reduced trading activity.

Monthly Volume by Chain

In July, the number of unique addresses participating in NFT transactions on the Ethereum chain hit a two-year low of 163,240. Interestingly, Polygon surpassed Ethereum in terms of unique users, reaching 185,350.

PLANET IX

Looking at NFT buyer activity on Polygon, the top two platforms driving the market are PlanetIX and Galaxy, with 39,145 and 16,231 buyers, respectively, in July. This shows that the current growth momentum of the NFT market mainly comes from practical application cases such as games and practical platforms, rather than traditional artworks and collectibles.

In the current market slowdown, the demand for NFTs related to images and art culture has weakened, while NFTs with practical uses have shown stronger resilience.

In the middle of this month, Polygon released a big news - Polygon 2.0. Introducing a ZK-driven Layer 2 network will create a blockchain that achieves both scalability and interoperability, something we can look forward to in the near future.

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Monthly Volume by Marketplace - Distribution

As far as the NFT trading market is concerned, Blur continues to dominate the market in terms of large professional transaction volume. However, its share is trending down, falling from 64.32% to 57.94% in the past two months. Over the same period, X2Y2 and LooksRare rose slightly.

Monthly Trades by Marketplace - Distribution

In terms of number of transactions and number of users, Opensea continues to hold the majority share and keep growing, which has been the case for a long time.

NFT investment and financing situation

Monthly NFT Projects Fundraising Amount & Times

The NFT market has been particularly sluggish in recent months, with just three funding rounds totaling $15.85 million in July.

Get Protocol Showcase

NFT ticketing company Get Protocol has successfully raised $4.5 million in seed funding from investors including Flow Ventures and Tezos Foundation.

Get Protocol aims to disrupt the ticketing industry dominated by Ticketmaster, which wields considerable power and lucrative revenue. NFT is regarded as a solution to the problems in the field of Web2 technology, and it has the advantages of smoother event queuing, anti-scraping measures and better participant data collection. In addition to Get Protocol, other NFT-based startups such as YellowHeart and Tokenproof have also entered the ticketing space.

NFT lending platform Gondi has gone live after raising a $5.35 million seed round led by Hack.vc. Gondi allows users to stake blue-chip NFT collectibles on Ethereum as collateral for loans or financial applications. The platform aims to improve NFT lending by providing hassle-free lending options within the Web3 ecosystem.

Notably, the NFT industry is characterized by rapid changes in sentiment and trends. While the current downturn may be a reflection of the cautious environment, evolving technological advancements and increasing institutional involvement could spark renewed interest and activity in the near future.

Despite the sluggish funding market, capital is still actively flowing into the NFT space. Of particular note this month has been the surge in activity in the combined music and NFT space. This trend shows that people are increasingly aware that NFT is developing, not limited to the original intention of aggregating community culture.

MasterCard

This can be seen in initiatives such as the Mastercard Web3 Music Accelerator releasing many NFT tracks, and Beatport launching an NFT marketplace focused on electronic music.

It must be recognized that for the NFT market to develop in a sustainable and prosperous manner, it must excel in both practicality and cultural engagement. Only by effectively balancing these two aspects can NFT become a valuable tool with lasting influence in multiple fields, further strengthening its position in the ever-growing digital asset field.

This month's hot spot: Opepen

The NFT market is shifting toward practical use, but is still largely centered around cultural engagement.

Twitter

This month, "Opepen" has made waves in the market. OpenSea even changed its Twitter account to "OpepenSea" with the caption "For Culture".

Jack Butcher, the NFT artist who created Opepen, created a custom ThreadGuy Opepen NFT edition, setting off a wave of excitement in the Web3 community.

Michael Jerome, also known as "Threadguy", has a reputation for being at the center of polarizing Web3 discussions, attracting a lot of attention in the growing Web3 community.

MAYC and Opepen

Inspired by the color scheme of his Mutant Ape, Butcher designed a unique Opepen exclusively for ThreadGuy, who is well known for his involvement with the Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC).

Opepen Threadition

On July 17th, Jack Butcher launched "Opepen Threadition" just to prove its provenance and reallocate some economic energy to those who have contributed so much to this ecosystem. All proceeds from this event will be used to support ThreadGuy's efforts and express his gratitude for his contributions to the crypto world. As of August 7, the NFT has been minted 67,155 times.

It is worth noting that the impact of this incident goes beyond the scope of NFT. It highlights the remarkable solidarity and selflessness that exists within the community, and underscores the profound importance of recognizing and celebrating creators in the ever-evolving NFT space. The event demonstrated the sincerity and friendliness of the community, and the importance of recognizing creators in the fast-growing NFT space. Many see Butcher's move as a reflection of the true, idealistic nature of the crypto community — a community that values shared culture over purely financial gain.

People say: "For culture."

Note: The above research report data include:

Chains: Ethereum, Polygon, BNB Chain, Cronos, Optimism

Markets: Opensea, LooksRare, Blur, X2Y2, Cryptopunks, Rarible, SuperRare, Foundation, Decentraland, Aavegotchi, Element, Era7, the Sandbox, Minted