The non-fungible token (NFT) sector has exploded this year, according to new data from crypto analytics firm Chainalysis.
The firm notes in a new report that nearly $27 billion worth of crypto has funneled into ERC-721 and ERC-1155 contracts in 2021 so far. ERC-721 and ERC-1155 contracts are both associated with NFT marketplaces and collections.
Explains the firm,
“Notably, we see significant increases in both total value sent and average transaction size, suggesting that NFTs as an asset category are gaining value as they attract new users.”
The NFT marketplace OpenSea has received $16 billion in crypto in 2021, ahead of other marketplaces by “a wide margin,” according to Chainalysis.
CryptoPunks is the most popular NFT collection, seeing more than $3 billion in transaction volume since March.
Web traffic metrics from NFT marketplaces indicate North America and Central/South Asia are the two regions where NFTs are the most popular, according to the analytics firm.
Chainalysis also notes on Twitter that compared to other crypto sectors, NFT trading tends to be more driven by retail traders.
“The vast majority of these NFT transactions are at the retail level, transferring less than $10,000 in cryptocurrency. More than 80% of NFT-related transfers fall under this category.
And compared to other types of crypto trading, small players are big participants in NFTs. Retail transactions account for 11% of NFT volume but less than 1% of total crypto trading volume.”
Read the analytic’s firm full NFT report here.
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