Bitcoin Ordinals' Trading Volume Plummets Over 97% Post-Hype

The trading volume and active wallet count for Bitcoin Ordinals, also known as Bitcoin NFTs, have experienced a severe decline since peaking in May 2023.

Bitcoin Ordinals' Trading Volume Plummets Over 97%

As reported by Coin68, Bitcoin Ordinals emerged as one of the hottest narratives in Q1 2023.

According to data from DappRadar, the trading volume for Bitcoin Ordinals surged throughout the early months of the year, reaching a peak of $452 million in May.

However, the hype quickly faded, and market interest shifted to other trends, leading to a significant drop in attention towards NFTs on Bitcoin. By June, trading volume had decreased by 76.5% to $106 million. July saw a further decline of 66.9%, bringing the volume down to $35 million.

As of mid-August, three months after the peak, Bitcoin NFTs have nearly disappeared from the public eye. The trading volume now stands at just $3 million, a staggering 97% decrease from the May high.

DappRadar analysts noted in their report:

"The decline raises concerns about the future of NFTs on the Bitcoin blockchain."

In addition to the trading volume, another indicator of waning community interest is the number of unique active wallets (UAW), which typically represents the number of active users.

After peaking at over 79,000 wallets in May, Bitcoin's UAW has dropped to around 6,700 by mid-August, marking a 92% decrease from its all-time high.

It’s worth noting that the downward trend is not unique to Bitcoin NFTs but is observed across the entire NFT space on various blockchains. For instance, blue-chip NFT collections have dropped 83% from their peak prices, and both the number of NFT transactions and the volume have seen record declines since 2021.

While Ethereum and Polygon NFTs also show a decline in UAW over the same period, Bitcoin NFTs have experienced a more severe drop.

DappRadar's report also highlights that the top NFT collections on the Bitcoin network are primarily PFPs (Profile Pictures) used for social media avatars. While using NFTs as profile pictures is a common application, Bitcoin Ordinals still lag behind Ethereum and Polygon in terms of utility and functionality.