NFT Debrief - June 2023

GM! Welcome to our monthly coverage of NFTs and the metaverse. This month:

• Blend captured 93% of the NFT borrow volume market share in May, facilitating over 45.4k loans totaling $650M in volume.

• Nike Virtual Studios announced a collaboration with EA Sports Games to launch immersive experiences via .SWOOSH NFTs.

• We highlight Spice Finance’s new innovations to lower the entry barriers to NFT lending.

🚨State of the Market

May witnessed a decline in the trading volume of NFTs on Ethereum, falling below $650M. This decline marked the third consecutive month of reduced trading activity. The primary reasons for this lack of interest among market participants can be attributed to the relatively low volatility of NFTs, and the negative sentiments prevailing in the broader crypto market. While the overall trading volume has been steadily declining since February, Blur maintained its dominant position in the market, accounting for 61% of the volume in May. OpenSea followed behind with a 21% share, while OpenSea Pro captured 4%.

However, it’s important to consider that the reported metrics are inflated due to BLUR incentives. Considering the absence of new narratives, it is expected that the trading volume of NFTs will likely decrease further. This could present an opportunity for serious collectors to acquire NFTs at cheaper prices.

Other notable developments:

• Bitcoin Miladys, the Bitcoin-based derivative of the popular Miladys NFT collection, introduced the BRC-721E token standard in collaboration with Ordinals Market and Xverse, allowing users to bridge and convert their ERC-721 NFTs on Ethereum to BRC-721E tokens on the Bitcoin network.

• Magic Eden partners with Robox to launch a new “Buy Now, Play Later” feature, allowing Robox traders to purchase Solana NFTs on Magic Eden with as little as a 30% downpayment.

• On May 30th, 2023, the largest airline in Japan, All Nippon Airways (ANA), launched an aeronautical-themed NFT marketplace with its subsidiary, ANA Neo. The new platform is the airline’s attempt to improve the value of the customer experience.

• Ethereum remains the dominant blockchain in terms of NFT sales, with nearly 59% of all NFT sales volume originating from it. Bitcoin takes 2nd place this month with a 19.2% volume share as Bitcoin Ordinals and BRC-20 tokens continue to gain steam. Solana secures the top 3 spots with a 6% volume share this month. May saw the highest number of Bitcoin Ordinals being inscribed daily, averaging more than 250k since the start of the month. Since it first gained steam in February, total ordinal inscriptions on the Bitcoin network have also surpassed 11M and are showing no signs of stopping.

• Mythos, a permissioned EVM chain with a focus on gaming, has been steadily climbing through the ranks with the introduction of DMarket, which allows gamers to trade virtual items from games like CS:GO and DOTA2 on the platform. A total of more than 76k buyers and 71k sellers changed hands on the platform to generate over $33M in sales over the past month, surpassing blockchains like Polygon, Immutable X and BNB in sales volume.

• In slightly over a month, Blend has captured 93% of the total borrow volume market share across NFT lending platforms on Ethereum while facilitating over 45.4k loans totaling $650M in volume. Aside from strong product market fit, Blend’s lending points incentive allows users to earn points that add up towards their Season 2 BLUR rewards.

• Furthermore, the introduction of Blend also enables “Buy Now, Pay Later,” lowering the entry barrier for retail NFT participants and allowing them to access blue-chip collections without the need to pay upfront. Before Blend, weekly NFT lending volume across NFT platforms averaged around $22M. After Blend’s entry into the market, weekly NFT lending volume skyrockete