Metaverse NFT Trading Volume Reaches All-Time High

The first quarter of 2023 saw a spike in virtual land trading with 147,000 trades generating $311 million in trading volume, according to a report by DappRadar. Trading in non-fungible tokens (NFTs) also increased across virtual worlds, totaling $311 million so far this year. The report noted that virtual land trading reached an all-time high during the past quarter with 147,000 trades. This was due to platforms like Yuga Labs' Otherside and MG Land that dominated the space. Otherdeed NFTs, linked to land in the Otherside metaverse, registered $222 million in trading volume in the first quarter, a 237% increase from the previous quarter. One Otherdeed NFT sold for 186 ETH, around $2.85 million at the time, which is the highest recorded sale for virtual land last quarter.

Another reason for the increase in trading volume is NFT marketplace Blur's "airdrop seasons and farming," according to Sara Gherghelas, blockchain analyst at DappRadar. "The NFT whales decided to farm [virtual] land, especially the MG Land project, which is an NFT collection."

The Sandbox, Axie Infinity, and Decentraland were also among the top virtual world decentralized apps (dapps) last quarter, though all were topped by lesser-known Createra Genesis Land with $14 million in trading volume. Createra Genesis Land raised a $10 million funding round in January 2023 led by A16z and focuses on enabling user-generated metaverse creations. Decentraland's upcoming Metaverse Fashion Week has increased the number of unique active wallets on Decentraland over the last week, the report says, and also boosted trading volume on the platform by 63%. Meanwhile, 10KTF, a digital fashion shop launched in 2021 and acquired by Yuga Labs in November 2022, also experienced a major spike in trading volume last quarter across several of its collections. According to DappRadar, $417.5 million was invested in blockchain gaming and metaverse projects in Q1 2023.