Q3 NFT & Marketplace Industry Report

Ethereum NFT volume surpassed $2 million. WAX leading user activity.

At DappRadar we track daily active wallets and transaction volume. This data gives us a window into how each blockchain and category is performing.

N.B. Transaction volume represents all aggregated activity within the smart contracts.

NFT and Marketplace category activity is currently concentrated on the Ethereum and WAX blockchains. However, activity remains driven by just a few dapps so it is vital to report the unprecedented growth registered across both categories in Q3.

Key Takeaways

• Ethereum and WAX are responsible for almost 100% of the daily active wallets and transaction volume within the NFT and Marketplace categories in Q3 2020.
• Ethereum stands as the most significant blockchain in Q3 2020 in terms of total transaction volumes.
• Ethereum generated 96% and 92% of the NFT and Marketplace category transaction volume respectively.
• The most significant dapps in regards to activity and volume contribution running on the Ethereum blockchain were CryptoPunks and Rarible.
• GoPepe and AtomicMarket were the biggest contributors to the WAX protocols surge in activity.

Ethereum: NFTs

Ethereum NFT volume surpassed $2 million.

The Ethereum NFT category daily active wallets increased by 350% in Q3 2020 compared to Q2 2020. In terms of transaction volume, the category surged by 57% in Q3 2020 compared to Q2 2020. The dapp behind the growth was CryptoPunks.

In Q3 2020, CryptoPunks stands first in both daily active wallets and transaction volume. The dapp generated a volume of $2.24 million and accounted for 96% of the total transaction volume.

Ethereum: Marketplaces

Ethereum Marketplaces excelled to an all-time high volume of $20 million.

Ethereum’s marketplace category has faced challenges similar to the games category due to high gas prices. However, the marketplace category increased its daily active wallets and transaction volume.

By the end of Q3 2020, the marketplace category grew dramatically by reaching more than 2,000 wallets daily.

The dapp majorly responsible for such an increase in daily activity is Rarible. At the end of Q3 2020, Rarible stands number one with 1,139, Open Sea second with 502, and Axie Marketplace third with 341 daily active unique wallets.

Transaction volume followed the same trend increasing by 368% reaching an all-time high figure of $20 million.

Of course, half the volume generated came from Rarible. The release of the RARI governance token further proved the impact of yield farming as a powerful tool for Marketplaces as well.

WAX: NFTs

WAX NFTs hold 91% of the total daily active wallets in Q3 2020.

At the end of Q3 2020, WAX holds 91% or 1,958 of the 2,146 daily active wallets in the NFT category.

Daily active wallets in the NFT category increased by 24,375% and transaction volume increased by 10,086% compared to Q2 2020 generating more than $90,000.

GoPepe is the main reason for the growth of the collectibles category. It was released in mid-September and has gathered a good audience on a daily basis.

By the end of Q3 2020, GoPepe had more than 1,300 daily active wallets with a transaction volume of $81,000. Holding a 90% share of the category’s total volume.

WAX: Marketplaces

Marketplace daily active wallets grew by 1,269%.

While NFTs have thrived on the WAX blockchain, Marketplaces are equally important to drive secondary sales and further NFT activity. The daily active wallets and transaction volume skyrocketed in Q3 2020.

The category grew by 1,269% in daily active wallets and 226% in transaction volume compared to Q2 2020. There are a total of 7 dapps in the category, of which AtomicMarket, Myth.Market and Collectables.io drive the biggest contributions.

AtomicMarket has the biggest contribution in terms of both daily active wallets and transaction volume. By the end of Q3 2020, the dapp surpassed 600 daily active wallets and generated $1.3 million in transaction volume.

Conclusions

Ethereum and WAX are the biggest contributors to the NFT and Marketplace categories.

Ethereum stands as the most significant protocol in NFTs and Marketplace categories.

WAX is driving daily active wallets to unseen levels. Daily active wallets in the WAX NFT category grew by 24,375% and transaction volume increased by 10,086% compared to Q2 2020.

The WAX Marketplace category grew by 1,269% in daily active wallets and 226% in transaction volume compared to Q2 2020.

Although, both Ethereum and WAX’s activity is driven by a few dapps. It is believed that NFT Collectibles and Marketplaces are going to be the next big accelerators of industry growth.