With the cryptocurrency market having lost around 66% of its value in 2022, it brought forth the question of whether blockchain technologies such as NFTs were still relevant or if their supposed hype finally died down. Yet, 2022 was a year of evolution for NFTs with many new platforms, collaborations, users, and traders being brought into the space.

A new record for OpenSea trading volume

Despite 2022 being considered a time of "crypto winter," the overall NFT volume was only slightly less than that of the bullish year of 2021. The market generated around $24.7 billion in organic trading volume, only slightly less than the $25.1 billion generated the year prior. This was in part possible due to the launch of Yuga Labs' new collection, Otherside, which helped OpenSea set a new single-day trading volume record of $467 million. 

BAYC continues as a blue chip

With the rise and fall of so many collections, the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) continued its dominance as one of the blue-chip Ethereum NFT collections in 2022. The collection was able to rake in more than $1.5 billion worth of trades, largely due to their ability to sustain the hype with the launches of related projects: ApeCoin (APE) and Otherside. While most of this volume was traded in the first half of the year, with prices peaking in April and bottoming in November, BAYC was still able to maintain its place as the year's top-selling NFT project.

Major companies dive into the metaverse and NFTs

The metaverse continued to gain mainstream traction in 2022 as large technology companies such as Meta (formerly known as Facebook) and Microsoft continued the development of their own metaverse platforms. NFTs play an essential role in creating these virtual worlds as they provide users with digital assets like virtual land, clothing, and art. These assets get integrated into metaverses for users to wield however they want. Other metaverse platforms that reached new heights of popularity in 2022 are Decentraland (MANA) and The Sandbox (SAND), due to their partnerships with major financial institutions such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. and HSBC, respectively. Major fashion labels like Tiffany & Co. and Burberry also released their own NFT collaborations and luxury items within the metaverse.

While 2022 started strong, many unfortunate events, such as the collapses of Terra's LUNA and UST and the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, heavily hurt markets in the latter half of the year. Though a slight recovery in market volume was seen in the last month of the year, the direction the NFT space will move in 2023 is still very up in the air. Despite the uncertainty, the continued investment and interest of both small and big players highlight the potential that NFTs have in creating a more meaningful impact on today's world. 

Sources:

https://theblockbrain.io/research/state-of-crypto/january-2023-end-of-crypto-winter/ 

https://decrypt.co/118438/2022-versus-2021-nft-sales

https://decrypt.co/116995/biggest-nft-collections-2022

https://cointelegraph.com/news/an-overview-of-the-metaverse-in-2022 

Image Sources:

https://theblockbrain.io/research/state-of-crypto/january-2023-end-of-crypto-winter/ 

https://twitter.com/decentraland/status/1640941256191934470 

https://opensea.io/collection/boredapeyachtclub/analytics