More than $10bn in volume has now been traded on OpenSea in 2021

Leading NFT marketplace OpenSea has now handled more than $10 billion in sales and trading volume since the start of 2021 following the August explosion of fervour and interest in the NFT space.

OpenSea breached the $10bn milestone over the weekend as incredible amounts of volume and capital continue to flood into the ever-maturing space which has rocketed in popularity since a record-breaking August saw $3.6bn of volume injected in NFTs.

So far in November, OpenSea has seen $370m in trading volume, which is seemingly following the trend of declining volume in the past few months on the marketplace.

NFT markets have seen a lull in volume and trading activity due to Ethereum reaching new all-time highs and early buyers taking profits and redistributing NFTs to the wider market.

However, while volume has been declining, the number of unique users who have made at least one transaction on OpenSea continues to rise – indicating that NFTs are starting to be picked up by new participants in the thriving space.

Additionally, OpenSea has now facilitated a transaction for at least 634,000 users, with the number expected to rise as NFT prices gradually consolidate and become more affordable for newcomers.

The incredible volume figures recorded by OpenSea can be attributed to rampant interest in NFT collections such as Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks, which have contributed to a combined 908k ETH ($4.26bn) – approximately half – of all OpenSea’s volume.

Mainstream exposure in the form of celebrities like Reese Witherspoon and Jordan Belfort alongside adoption from Sotheby’s and McDonald’s have also seen the NFT space continue its impressive growth in popularity and market interest.

Despite upcoming competition from Coinbase, FTX, Binance and the Gemini-owned Nifty Gateway, OpenSea looks set to remain as the leading marketplace as new NFT enthusiasts continue to flood into the emerging space.