Quick Take

• The total number of art and collectibles NFT sales recorded last week was just 86,870, three times less than weekly totals in October.
• Yet the average price of these works has never been higher, topping $127,000 per sale a few weeks ago.

The second week of November was one of the worst for art and collectibles non-fungible token (NFT) sales this year.

The number of NFTs sold in these categories totaled just 86,870 last week, the lowest number of weekly sales since the first week of January this year,according to The Block Research.

The data may point to a dropping off in demand for digital art after it skyrocketed during the summer of 2021.

Weekly art and collectibles NFT sales consistently topped 250,000 in October. The highest weekly total for art and collectibles sales this year came in early June when 515,880 items were purchased.

It should also be noted, though, that theaverage price of an art and collectibles NFT salehas never been higher – topping $127,000 for the first time ever in the last week of October and still hovering around that mark.

This in part explains why trading volumes in art and collectibles NFTs haveremained fairly steadyat just over $200,000 for the past month; the vast amounts paid by collectors for the rarest items have compensated for the lower number of sales. Beeple’s latest work HUMAN ONE, for example, justfetched a cool $29 million.

NFT collector and commentator Jason Bailey, who goes by the pseudonym Artnome, suggested that festivities at the conference NFT.NYC may have distracted collectors last week.

“That said, I anticipate a cooling-off period at some point,” he said. “I often describe crypto and NFTs not as a bubble but more like a bubble gun, meaning it goes through ever-growing extreme peaks and valleys.”

Bailey added that he thinks NFTs based on the blockchains Tezos and Solana – which promise lower transaction fees – will eventually lower the barrier to entry for collectors.

Sales of gaming-related NFTs outstripped art and collectibles sales considerably last week, with 439,700 notched, although that too was the lowest number recorded for several months. The average price of gaming NFTs has stayed consistently low throughout the year at just a few hundred dollars.