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After experiencing a massive boom back in 2021, the NFT market is now officially all but dead.
According to a report from dappGamb, which used data provided by NFT Scan and CoinMarketCap, 69,795 of the 73,257 NFT collections the researchers examined had a market cap of zero ether, which is good for a rate of just over 95%.
There are both macro and micro examples of the collapse of the NFT market, as reports from earlier this summer revealed that the Bored Ape NFT that Justin Bieber purchased for $1.3 million was now worth around just $60,000.
“This daunting reality should serve as a sobering check on the euphoria that has often surrounded the NFT space,” the researchers said, according to Business Insider.
“Amid stories of digital art pieces selling for millions and overnight success stories, it is easy to overlook the fact that the market is fraught with pitfalls and potential losses.”
During its peak, in 2021 and 2022, there was an estimated $2.8 billion in monthly trading volume. Now, the research suggests an estimated 23 million hold these virtually worthless assets.
In the years since its peak in 2021, the NFT market has been compared to both a Ponzi scheme and an economic bubble, and it now appears that the bubble has burst.
The cryptocurrency market, in general, has taken a major hit in recent years, as it’s gone from a place of having celebrity endorsers such as Steph Curry and Matt Damon, to being virtually nonexistent in the cultural consciousness.
There was also the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange platform FTX, which had over one million users during its peak back in July 2021 and landed the naming rights to the Miami Heat’s arena.
FTX, however, would go on to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and would later be found to have committed multiple crimes, resulting in the arrest of founder Sam Bankman-Fried.