OpenSea trading volume breaches $3bn for month of August

Trading volumes on NFT marketplace OpenSea for the month of August have reached dizzying heights following a flurry of interest in the thriving NFT space.

According to volume data from Dune analytics, OpenSea has recorded monthly volume figures of $3.3bn – approximately 1m ETH – for the month of August.

The record-breaking volume recorded for August overshadows the volume for July of $325m by more than 900% and marks the exponential rise in NFT interest throughout August.

OpenSea also saw record daily volume figures on Sunday August 29 with $322m of trading volume recorded over a 24-hour period. This astonishing figure equates to around 10% of the monthly volume in just one day.

Additional data from Dune Analytics shows the total number of users on OpenSea has reached an all-time high, with an estimated 213,000 now having made at least one transaction on OpenSea in August.

This figure coincides with the total amounts of NFTs sold on OpenSea in August. So far, an estimated 1.6m NFTs have sold on OpenSea in August, with additional data from DappRadar showing that 2.2m transactions took place over the past month.

The collections spurring the record volume

Following the re-emergence of the space, OpenSea has become an integral part of the recent success of NFTs. Currently, the most popular NFT collections are CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), which are now referred to as the “blue-chip” projects of the NFT space.

They remain highly sought-after and have both seen incredible monthly volumes of 215k ETH and 90k ETH respectively. The price floor for CryptoPunks now stands at 120 ETH ($411k), with BAYC now sitting at 25 ETH ($85K).

CryptoPunks have benefitted from recent interest from Chinese investors, where NFTs are seen more as a status symbol and the race to acquire as many rare NFTs continues to heat up.

The Bored Ape Yacht Club has also benefitted from a flurry of activity, including a novel NFT “airdrop” of a Mutant Serum, which allows BAYC owners to “transform” their ape into a new mutant variant.

Dubbed the “Mutant Ape Yacht Club“, the collection led to a surge of buyers before the event, attracting the likes of NBA players Steph Curry and Kevin Durant alongside popular social media personality and artist KSI.

A collection of BAYC NFTs is also being auctioned off at auction house Sotheby’s, with the sale starting on September 2nd.