The NFT saw explosive growth last year, the NFT collectors and art market have shown no signs of slowing down so far in 2022. The Ethereum NFT transaction volume on OpenSea, the leading market, skyrocketed earlier this year, only in second place behind the platform’s second-largest platform since December.

Ethereum NFT Transaction Volume Increased to Nearly $170 million on January 1 

According to public blockchain data compiled by Dune Analytics on January 2, OpenSea recorded more than $243 million in Ethereum transaction volume. That’s an increase from nearly $170 million on January 1 and $124 million on December 31, 2021.

Sunday’s transaction record was OpenSea’s third best day of trading in US dollars, following nearly $323 million on August 29, 2021, and the next day’s historic record of $267.5 million. In other words, yesterday was OpenSea’s best day in more than four months after the August surge gave way to a gradual decline in NFT transaction volume.

However, it continued its recent upward trend, and OpenSea released more than $3 billion in Ethereum transaction volume in December. The transaction volume last month is just under $3.25 billion, second only to August’s record of over $3.4 billion. This is also a nearly 37% increase over the Ethereum transaction volume of $2.37 billion on the platform in November.

Interestingly enough, OpenSea’s NFT transaction volume is increasing on Polygon. Polygon is Ethereum’s side chain extension solution that can reduce fees and speed up transactions. OpenSea’s Polygon NFT transaction value hit a record $76.1 million in December. According to Dune Analytics, OpenSea has grown for three months in a row with this statistic.

NFT is a blockchain-backed token that can be used as a property contract for digital projects. It can display content such as profile pictures, digital illustrations, video clips, and interactive video game projects. According to data confirmed by Venture Fund 1, Ethereum is currently the leading platform for NFT artwork and collectibles, with more than 90% of the market (including sidechains and Layer 2).

In mid-December, the blockchain analysis platform DappRadar estimated the NFT transaction volume for the full year 2021 at 22 billion US dollars, up from around 100 million US dollars in the previous year. The final numbers for 2021 are not yet known.

Bored Ape Yacht Club Leads the NFT Boom

The Bored Ape Yacht Club’s profile picture project has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of the NFT boom lately. According to CryptoSlam data, the Mutant Ape Yacht Club series generated $89 million in transaction volume over the past 7 days, while the original Bored Ape series added more than $83 million in transaction volume.

Yuga Labs’ initial collection of 10,000 NFT avatars – and the Mutant Ape Yacht Club’s subsequent collection – attracted increasing numbers of celebrity owners, including Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Curry. In the past few weeks rappers, Eminem and Snoop Dogg have also joined the club, although Snoop is already an avid NFT collector.

The original Bored Ape Yacht Club series, which launched last April, is the most valuable, and the lowest price on the secondary market – or cheapest NFT – is 73.5 ETH (about $276,000). It even outperformed the influential CryptoPunks project, which currently has a lower price limit of 67.7 ETH (nearly $255,000).

However, the value of the subsequent Mutant Ape Yacht Club project has increased recently, its current price base is 15 ETH (about $56,500) which is up 119% in the last 14 days. The floor of the Boring Ape Yacht Club has risen by almost 44% over the same period.