NFT Trading Volume $2 Billion in February ─ Blur Gains Popularity, Reaches High Level Before Terra’s Collapse | coindesk JAPAN | Coindesk Japan

The battle for market share in the NFT market may be having a positive impact after all.

According to a new report from Web3 data platform DappRadar, NFT trading volume reached $2 billion in February, the highest level before the Terra blockchain collapse in May 2022.

Zero transaction fees

Much of the volume surge is due to the popularity of the zero-fee marketplace Blur. The number of NFT transactions decreased by about 32% from January, but the volume increased by about 120%. Many of them involve incentivized deals in anticipation of Blur’s native token airdrop in mid-February.

But Sara Gherghelas, a blockchain research analyst at DappRadar, said that while Blur is gaining market share and challenging industry leader OpenSea, it is not bringing in new traders. rice field. Blur’s focus on professional traders, while Opensea targets individual traders, appears to be a factor.

“Blur will not lead to the spread of (NFTs). Currently, it is only generating excitement with NFT issuance. But what they are doing is impressive.”

Since its launch in October 2022, Blur has focused on traders buying large amounts of NFTs, with zero fees. Prior to the airdrop of native tokens in February, they launched an incentive measure that gives them the right to receive the native token “BLUR” by trading with Blur, and it quickly gained popularity. After the token airdrop, it surpassed OpenSea in daily trading volume for the first time on February 15th.

Related article: NFT trading volume, Blur surpasses OpenSea on 15th: Data

Efforts of Yugalabo

While Blur played a major role in February’s surge in NFT volume, DappRadar notes that Yuga Labs’ NFT collection contributed 30% of Ethereum (ETH)-based NFT volume in February. is also touched upon. The publication of Yugalabo’s “Dookey Dash” contributed significantly to this figure. Earlier this week, Dookey Dash-related NFTs traded for $1.6 million.

Yugalabo’s loyal customers don’t care about scarcity, which is typically important in NFTs, and will buy anything that goes on sale to be part of the community the company builds, Gergeras said.

He also noted that Yugalabo customers will be willing to purchase the upcoming Bitcoin NFT collection of generative art, “TwelveFold.”

Related article: Bored Ape’s Yugarabo Enters Bitcoin NFT

“TwelveFold is another new way for Yugalabo to try to dominate the market. It’s interesting why Yugalabo wanted to launch this… it could be something interesting that evolves the market.”

Evolution of Web3 games

A report from DappRadar notes that Yugalabo’s fan frenzy to play Dookey Dash with gaming elements is more than just a bullish sign for blockchain gaming.

The play-to-earn (P2E) model pioneered by Axie Infinity faded in 2022. But in 2023, Web3’s game projects will be able to focus on the metaverse and get support from game engines like Unity to develop great projects.

｜Translation: coindesk JAPAN
｜Editing: Takayuki Masuda
| Image: Blur.io
｜ Original: NFT Trading Volumes Hit $2B in February, Highest Since LUNA Crash, Thanks to Blur