Interest in NFTs down more than 75% in May – Google Trends

According to data from Google Trends, interest in Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) related topics have dropped to new lows in May 2022. This means that the term “non-fungible token” plunged below the value of 25 in the last days of May – a more than 75 per cent drop from the peak interest of 100 reached in January 2022. 

This is indicative of a decline in the NFT market, which peaked in 2021 and early 2022. The decline can also be said to be a reflection of the general outlook of the crypto market which has had a difficult five months into 2022. 

Going by Google Trends metrics, interest over time comprises the number of Google searches in NFT content represented by a number between 0 and 100. A value of 0 or close to 0 means there is little or no interest. Meanwhile, a value of at least 50 means that the term constitutes a substantial part of searches by world population. 

Data obtained from The Block Crypto also buttresses this point. Last updated on May 30, the total monthly volume of major NFT marketplaces in the last days of May is less than $4 billion, equating to over 75% decline from an all-time high of $16.54 billion in January 2022. 

The predominant NFTs that propelled January’s surge in value are Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC), Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and Axie Infinity. They are all having their fair share of the downturn. 

According to data from CryptoSlam, MAYC had a sales volume of  $163.96 million in May, approximately a 40% decline from $252.33 million in January.

BAYC NFT sales volume is currently in the region of $200 million, a 36% decline from over $300 million in January.

Axie Infinity had a $126.49 million sales volume in January. Now in May, the figures are around 6.9 million, a 94% decline in four months. 

So, what was once called the next big thing in the finance ecosystem is now showing signs of declining interest.

Also, in early May, NFTs sales fell to 19,000 according to NonFungible, the world’s largest NFT data resource. That number was 225,000 in September.

NFTs and the crypto market

The crypto market crash of 2022 is the likely cause of the decreased investor interest in digital collectibles by the global NFT population. 

This decline is also likely due in part to NFT owners, who are finding they aren’t getting the return they hoped for on the investments.

The most popular of these is the NFT of Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s first tweet, originally purchased by crypto entrepreneur Sina Estavi. 

It sold for $2.9 million, but when Estavi attempted to resell it at auction with the promise he would use a portion of the profits towards Covid-relief efforts in Africa, no one offered more than $280 for it.

ApeCoin, the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT, also saw a rough debut in March when it took a nosedive, going from a high of $39.40 to a low of $7.75 on March 17.

The atmosphere in the crypto world has not been favourable. Negative sentiment in the crypto market has been ramping up in the last few months but investor sentiment has turned worse than expected. 

And, according to the recent readings provided by the Crypto Fear & Greed Index, indicators show that the market is now in extreme fear, meaning that investors are wary of playing in the space.

The index currently displays a score of 16 which is one of the lowest levels that it has been in the last six months. The last time the index was this low was in January when the market was still recovering from the December 4 crash. 

The dwindling of the crypto market can be attributed to a combination of factors such as regulatory scrutiny, turbulent traditional markets, geopolitical unrest, interest hikes. These continue to have an adverse effect on the market performance but hopefully, June brings good tidings.

Despite the decline in interest, many are still determined to move forward with manufacturing and selling NFTs. We will keep you updated so you see how that goes.