DappRadar has returned with the April edition of its deeply informative blockchain reports. This time around, highlighting the phenomenal growth of the Solana Network, a return to favour of NFTs, and a surge in the Terra Network, while prominent collections such as Moonbirds and Otherdeeds steal the show. Read on for a lowdown on April’s performance in the blockchain sector.
Moonbirds and Solana Send NFTs Soaring
Despite major publications reporting to the contrary, NFTs have seen a surge in activity over the last month. As a result, during April non-fungible tokens saw a trading volume of over $6 billion for only the third time in history. Of this incredible figure, market leader OpenSea generated $3.4 billion worth of trades, while plucky upstart, LooksRare, turned over an impressive $2.5 billion.
Solana’s mighty rise also continued unabated, recording a superb 91% increase based on March figures. Much of this attributed to OpenSea’s venture into the network and the popularity of NFT collectibles, the Okay Bears and DeGods. As a result, the highly efficient blockchain saw $300 million in NFTs traded on the network. However, the success was marginally clouded at the end of the month by a seven-hour outage caused by heavy bot traffic on the Metaplex Candy Machine.
A large part of the rejuvenation of the NFT industry can be traced back to a certain set of pixelated owl collectibles. As such, the utility heavy Moonbirds saw incredible levels of activity. Since the launch, seeing a mind-boggling half a billion dollars in trading volume. Consequently, becoming the 11th most traded NFT collection ever recorded, all in under a month of operations.
Otherdeeds Cause a Ruckus on the Blockchain
Elsewhere on the Ethereum blockchain, another project sent shockwaves through the industry. Bored Ape creator, Yuga Labs, dropped possibly the most anticipated project in the blockchain era. As a result, launching 55k Otherdeed plots of land for its bespoke NFT ecosystem, causing widespread chaos in the process.
Once the dust had settled, Yuga Labs had taken $340 million worth of $APE coins as payment, as well as around $21 million in secondary sale royalties. The drop left a bitter taste for many however, as gas fees rose to over 2.5 ETH per transaction, topping out at a whopping 56 ETH ($150m) in total. As a result, sending Ethereum miners into fits of ecstasy.
In addition, the drop saw casual collectors hit the hardest, with the drop recording around 14k in failed transactions, totalling approximately $4.5 million in fees. However, Yuga Labs has pledged to refund all fees to those affected.
Terra Asserts its DEFI Dominance
DeFi has continued to struggle in today’s unpredictable market, with key blue-chip protocols continuing to see their TVL shrink. As a result, the market in total saw a 12% reduction over the month of April, currently sitting at around $198 Billion.
Despite all this, Terra’s DeFi presence grew to an impressive 15% of the industry, while increasing its TVL to a grandiose $29 billion, in stark contrast to the general trajectory of DeFi as a whole, additionally followed suit by a number of smaller, less used protocols such as NEAR, Cronos and Aurora.
Blockchain Games are Where the Magic Happens
Blockchain enhanced video games continue to be a major driving force in the industry. Much in thanks to their interactive and fun nature. As a result, accounting for over 50% of the Unique Active Wallets (UAW) in existence. Of the chains involved, BSC, Polygon, Wax and Hive all see the lion’s share of activity. While, both Avalanche and Harmony made significant gains over the last 30 days.
Of the games operating in the sphere, most of the top titles maintain their positions on the blockchain gaming leaderboard. However, both Axie Infinity and Crazy Defense Heroes lost ground on their competitors.
The Monetization of Everyday Life
One interesting sector making waves on the blockchain comes in as a gamification of lifestyle interactions. Therefore, offering monetary rewards for users going about their every day lives. Currently, walk-to-earn platform Stepn leads the pack, offering NFT sneakers which then tracks movement via an app to allow owners to earn $GST through walking, jogging and running.
Following in its footsteps, a number of additional dapps will look to utilize this move-to-earn mechanic. As a result, Fitfi, Genopets, Dustland, Dotmoovs and more all look to make an impact in the near future.
So, NFTs are fine, and there’s no need to panic just yet. As the industry evolves, expect more innovation and diversification, while developers find new and innovative ways to utilize the incredible tech.
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*All investment/financial opinions expressed by NFT Plazas are from the personal research and experience of our site moderators and are intended as educational material only. Individuals are required to fully research any product prior to making any kind of investment.
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