In 2022, there have been many changes in the NFT ecosystem, and this report displays the collected on-chain data and the analysis of the NFT market in 2022.

2022 Ethereum-based NFT Market Capitalization and Trading Volume (NFTGo.io)

In 2022, the market capitalization and trading volume of Ethereum-based NFTs were about 10.09M (10,090,623.28) ETH and 9.28M (9,284,976.62) ETH, respectively, showing growth of 45.67% and 105.03% compared to about 6.93M and 4.53M in the previous year. If we look closely at the graph, we can find that the heat of the market, which had been active since January, gradually subsided, and the trading volume suddenly exploded on May 1st. What happened to the NFT market on May 1st?

May 1, 2022: A blast of Otherdeed for Otherside

On May 1, 2022 (UTC), the land type of NFT “Otherdeed for Otherside” of the BAYC ecosystem was launched. Befitting the name of BAYC, which created a great sensation in the NFT ecosystem for each collection released, Otherdeed for Otherside NFT led to an explosive transaction volume of more than 13,000, including 114 whales on May 1st.

Otherdeed for Otherside NFT Collection Price and Trading Volume of May 1, 2022 (NFTGo.io)

According to the graph above, it is necessary to pay attention to the movement of the whales which are the biggest traders in space. To understand the market data of May 1st, the term “Whale” refers to an individual or organization holding a large number of specific NFTs or portfolios and generally specifies the wallets with NFTs holding a value of one million dollars or more. The behavioral characteristics, such as the size and movement of their capital may define a regular NFT holder or Whale.

In addition to the purchase of “Otherdeed for Otherside” NFTs with an estimated value of $25 million from the whales on May 1(st). Whales also purchased about $60 million worth of NFTs from Yuga Labs series such as BAYC (Bored Ape Yacht Club), MAYC (Mutant Ape Yacht Club), BACC (Bored Ape Chemistry Club), BAKC (Bored Ape Kennel Club), CryptoPunks, Meebits, Doodles, etc. The total value of NFT purchased from Whales were more than $70 million.

Whale’s NFT Collection Purchase Trend on May 1st, 2022 (NFTGo.io)

The Year of Yuga Labs

Market capitalization ranking (left) and share (right) by top 10 Ethereum-based NFT collections in 2022 (NFTGo.io)

The graph above shows the ranking of market capitalization and market distribution of the top 10 NFT collections of Ethereum chain in 2022. The BAYC collection, which can be called the main representation of the Yuga Labs series, ranks first with 830,000 ETH (832,434), accounting for 7.52% of the total market value. As for NFT collections from other Yuga Labs ecosystem such as CryptoPunks (810K ETH, 7.37%), MAYC (360K ETH, 3.26%), and Otherdeed for Otherside (340K ETH, 3.1%), The Sandbox Land, the land NFT from community-based metabus platform Sandbox, (230K ETH, 2.07%), digital art company RTFKT and world-renowned artist Takashi Murakami’s project Clone X – X TAKASHI MURAKAMI (190K ETH, 1.76%), PROOF’s membership NFT Moonbirds (140K ETH, 1.31%) are the Top 10 NFTs collections which represent 33% of the entire market value.

Based on the data, Yuga Labs had become the top of the industry, which succeeded in creating the most NFT collections regarded as blue chip NFTs and established the year 2022 for Yuga Labs. In addition, to the acquisition of CryptoPunks in March of 2022, which was once called the leader of the NFT ecosystem, Yuga Labs is steadily expanding its ecosystem and to this day.

Conclusion

In 2022, Yuga Labs has led the NFT market. However, even in the meantime, there were other successful NFT collections such as Moonbirds, which have recorded profits of over 100 million dollars. Moonbirds combined the concept of membership and the “Proof of time” concept into their NFT collections. Which have provided benefits based on the period of holding. Another project worth mentioning is “Clone X – X TAKASHI MURAKAMI” a successful NFT project with collaboration from world-class brands and artists which have established the project quality, artistic value, and brand power instantly. After the brisk market of January, the NFT market entered the state of the bear market leading to the gradual decrease of the capital inflows and NFT trading volume. The bear market continues to this day, but the market and the community are waiting for the next rebound of the market in the future. So, it is necessary to keep an eye on the movement of markets and its data in order to catch the rebound signal that will come along with next-generation projects that will lead the NFT market.