Due to Solana’s recent financial success, the non-fungible tokens market has seen an unexpected development. In December 2023, for the first time ever, the monthly sales volume of NFTs on the network surpassed that of NFT sales on Ethereum.
Comparative Analysis: Solana vs. Ethereum Non-Fungible Tokens Sales in December
In contrast to $353.2 million on Ethereum, Solana NFT sales in December were approximately $366.5 million, according to statistics from analytics site CryptoSlam. The “organic” sales figures provided by CryptoSlam do not include suspicious trades that are flagged as “wash trading.” Approximately $381 million in Ethereum sales are excluded, while only $10.1 million in Solana sales were removed.
According to CryptoSlam, Solana’s total trading value of $366.5 million almost equaled the network’s all-time record, which was roughly $373.5 million in October 2021 when the market was just getting started. While the daily Solana NFT sales volume has occasionally surpassed Ethereum, it has never done so over the course of a full month of trades.
In December, Solana witnessed over twice as many different buyers and sellers, as well as a much higher number of NFT transactions overall. Based on reports from CryptoSlam, there were around 6.6 million NFT transactions on Solana involving roughly 218,000 sellers and 279,000 purchasers. On the other hand, 698,000 transactions on Ethereum involved roughly 143,000 buyers and 114,000 sellers.
In comparison to November’s about $350 million total worth of NFT sales, Ethereum’s NFT sales volume in December was pretty much the same, whereas Solana experienced a spike from roughly $83 million worth at that time.
Solana’s And Ethereum’s Market Trends
Naturally, the cost of Solana has increased significantly in recent times. The price of SOL jumped by about 71% in the last month alone, and it has more than doubled in the last three months. On the other hand, in the last 30 days, Ethereum increased by 9% and by over 44% over the last three months.
No doubt, a price increase played a role in Solana’s higher NFT sales in December. Nevertheless, this explanation does not account for the almost three-fold increase in unique traders and the six-fold increase in monthly NFT transactions.
Exploring Factors Behind Increased Users and Transactions
There could be two reasons for the increase in users and transactions. These include the general buzz around Solana and the excitement surrounding specific projects that could grant access to airdrops and other benefits. For instance, the NFT project Tensorians, which is associated with the popular Solana marketplace Tensor, witnessed trades worth $28 million in December, whereas Mad Lads made $24.5 million in trades.
CryptoSlam reports that Pudgy Penguins, with roughly $18.3 million in trades, trailed the Bored Ape Yacht Club as the top Ethereum NFT project in December with $19.5 million in NFT trades.
Takeaways
In December 2023, Solana’s non-fungible tokens sales surpassed Ethereum’s in a significant development, with $366.5 million sold as opposed to $353.2 million for Ethereum. Solana’s NFT market performance appears to be driven by more than just token value, as evidenced by the increase in users and transactions.
