Transfers of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on Ethereum have outpaced transfers of stablecoins and altcoins, while the supply of Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) has remained relatively stagnant. since the end of last year.
These are two of the main conclusions of the last update the State of the Network from Coin Metrics. It details how ERC-721 transfers outperformed stablecoins and altcoins on Ethereum as of last July and have continued to widen the spread between them ever since. ERC-721 is the standard token for NFTs on the Ethereum network.
NFT transfers topped 50,000 daily on average starting in late July and haven’t dipped below that line since. Daily NFT transfers now average over 300,000, a 600% increase since July.
By contrast, transfers of ERC-20 tokens, including altcoins and stablecoins, have been steadily declining since the end of July.. Altcoin transfers have fallen 39%, from 42,000 a day to about 30,000. Stablecoin transfers are down from about 24,000 in July to 18,000 today, a 25% decline.
The numbers make the message quite clear: NFTs are more popular than ever. Demand in markets for NFT transactions has never been higher, according to data from DappRadar.
OpenSea is currently the all-time leader in NFT trading volume with $21.85 billion in value traded, but the LooksRare market threatens OpenSea’s dominance. In the last 30 days, LooksRare has recorded a volume of $11.6 billion, compared to $4.13 billion for OpenSea.
Contributing to this popularity is the expansion of the professional sports and music industry of NFTs and the growth of virtual real estate.. NFL superstar Tom Brady raised $170 million on January 19 to help expand his NFT Autograph market. On Feb. 3, artist John Legend launched an NFT platform for musicians to tokenize their work.
WBTC supply stagnates
WBTC is an ERC-20 token that has enjoyed a surge in total transactions since July. After reaching a low of 110,000 daily transfers on July 9, transfers peaked on November 3 at 557,700. There are currently some 232,000 daily transfers, according to CoinMetrics.
WBTC acts as a stablecoin that is pegged 1:1 to the value of bitcoin, and can be redeemed at any time for a BTC real.
Although the total supply of WBTC on Ethereum is close to its all-time high of 271,000, which is equivalent to around 1.4% of the total supply of BTC, CoinMetrics shows that token minting pace has flattened since early February.
However, the total number of Ethereum addresses holding WBTC is currently at an all-time high of 43,290 walletsaccording CoinMetrics.
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