NFT trading plummets following SVB crisis: Report
- NFT trading volumes took a massive hit following the collapse of SVB last week, as per a recent DappRadar report.
- There were only 11,440 active NFT traders on the day after the FDIC took control of SVB, the lowest count since November 2021.
There were only 11,440 active non-fungible token (NFT) traders on 11 March, the day after the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) took control of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). It was the lowest count since 20 November 2021.
According to a report published on 16 March by the decentralized app data aggregation platform DappRadar, NFT trading volumes took a massive hit following the collapse of SVB last week as traders fled the markets fearing the ramifications of a major U.S. bank failure.
On 11 March, single NFT trades totaled 11,440, the lowest daily total so far this year. Since the beginning of March, NFT trading volume has dropped 51%, while sales have dropped 15.88%.
Before the collapse of SVB on 10 March, NFT trading volume was floating between $68 million and $74 million; it then fell to $36 million on 12 March. The drop was accompanied by a 27.9% fall in daily NFT sales during 9-11 March.
Blue-chip NFTs not affected by the SVB crisis
Despite the overall decline in NFT trading, the floor prices of blue-chip NFTs such as BAYC and CryptoPunks were hardly affected.
It was on 8 March that SVG announced its decision to cease operations.
The floor price of BAYC NFTs fell from 71.3 ETH on that day to 67.99 ETH on 11 March (a 5% drop).
The floor price of CryptoPunks NFTs fell from 66.99 ETH on that day to 64.99 ETH on 11 March (a 3% drop).
The fall in prices has not been drastic, showing the resilience of these top-tier NFTs.
A Twitter handle compared CryptoPunks to USDC, saying that it was more stable than USDC, which lost its peg to the U.S. dollar following the collapse of SVG.
The NFT collective Moonbirds, on the other hand, was severely harmed as a result of its exposure to SVB.
Moonbirds has lost 18% of its value over the weekend since the news broke. However, its floor price has risen slightly, hitting $6,642.83 (3.86 ETH).
An Ethereum whale sold nearly 500 Moonbirds NFTs on 11 March for losses ranging from 9% to 33%. The address incurred losses ranging from 9% to 33% when selling in batches, with 200 Moonbirds sold for a loss higher than 32%.
Yuga Labs, the collective behind BAYC and CryptoPunks has “super limited exposure” to the collapsed bank, said CEO Greg Solana; it meant that the fallout will have little effect on the company’s finances.
The DappRadar report added that the success of Yuga Labs has been boosted by its investment in CryptoPunks as well as its ability to create a community.
