NFT volumes are soaring again after a dull second-half last year. In Jan 2023, NFT sales increased by 38% from a month earlier as per DappRadar. Today, we present key trends in this space and suggest how you, as an investor, can benefit.

1. Top NFT brands still command a considerable share

Sales of NFTs topped $946m last month, according to data across multiple blockchain networks and marketplaces. That marks the largest market-wide total since June 2022 according to DappRadar.
The key point to note is that top collections are still the key element of this surge – Yuga Labs’ ecosystem contributed to more than one-third of all sales volume in January.

2. NFT space is slowly moving towards utility

According to a research by Ark Invest, while NFT volumes are dominated by large collections such as Bored Apes, new NFT mints are more utility oriented. On-chain domain names (such as ENS), digital memberships are all part of this utility NFT creation. Big brands such as Starbucks and Nike are looking at NFTs as a starting point of their loyalty programs globally. Social media platforms including Twitter and Facebook are also creating avenues for mass adoption.

3. Ethereum is the king; Solana and Polygon are other leading contenders

More than 78% of all transactions were recorded on Ethereum blockchain. In spite of rise in alternative blockchains offering cheap fees to trade NFTs, Ethereum continues to be most sought after given the ecosystem that has already developed in the blockchain. Solana (9% share) and Polygon (5% share) are playing catching up for now.

While volumes are bigger in Ethereum, it is pertinent to note that, in terms of traders over time, Polygon is not far behind. Ethereum has just over 2.5m traders on OpenSea (the leading NFT exchange) compared to 1.6m for Polygon.

4. Emergence of Blur and new marketplaces

Opensea is currently the leading marketplace and commands a 58% share of NFT volumes. Blur, a new competitor, has emerged to quickly gain a 20% share. This is due to an upcoming airdrop of BLUR, its token, that will be given to all users who have traded NFTs on its platform by February 14, 2023.

Popular global crypto exchanges, such as Coinbase, are also creating their own marketplaces.

That leads us to: How can you the investor benefit?

There are multiple ways to engage and gain from the growth in NFTs. Some are listed below:

- Invest in blockchains and its tokens that support NFT growth – ETH, SOL and MATIC are the key contenders today.

- Interact with marketplaces to gain upcoming airdrops such as BLUR.

- Sign up to be one of the first users of revamped loyalty programs that use NFTs – the perks can be disproportionately high at the start.

- Own domain names such as ENS to simplify your Web3 interactions.

- Support India specific artists and NFTs – cricket based NFTs have been around for a while, AR Rahman has recently launched ‘Katraar’ platform – and benefit from early hype.

But as always, DYOR and don’t get too risky.