NFTs are making a comeback

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are clawing back to life after an awful year, but the aftermath of the prolonged crypto winter is brutal. The trading volume for NFTs across all sectors, from art to gaming, is still deep below the values seen last year, and NFT collections have lost billions of dollars in value.

NFTs are making a comeback

According to data presented by BitcoinCasinos.com, the market cap of the world's second most valuable NFT collection, Bored Ape Yacht Club, has been slashed by a whopping $1.5bn year-over-year, the biggest drop of all top NFT collections.

Market cap dipped 47% YoY to $1.62B in February

Since the crypto market crash, NFT collections have plunged in value, and BAYC NFTs are the perfect example of how deep that dive was.

The NFTgo data show the market cap of Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT projects available on the Ethereum blockchain and listed on OpenSea was worth roughly $3.11bn in February last year. This value jumped by another 16% in the next two months and hit $3.63bn in April.

However, after its peak in early 2022, the entire NFT market nosedived in the year's second half. In July, the market cap of all BAYC collections dipped to $1.74bn, only half the value seen in February.

August brought a slight recovery, but it was downhill from there. The market cap of BAYC collections continued falling in the following months, and in December, it hit a 2022 low of $1.54bn. Although this figure rose to $1.62bn in February, this still represents a massive 47% dip compared to the same month a year ago.

Combined market cap of top five NFT collections plunged by $3.3B YoY

Although Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT projects suffered the biggest market cap decrease in 2022, most other top NFT collections have also seen a double-digit drop.

The NFTgo data show the market cap of Crypto Punks plunged by 34% YoY to $1.69bn as of last week. Otherdeed for Otherside saw an even bigger decline. In May 2022, the market cap of Otherdeed collections stood at $1.34bn. Since then, this figure plunged by 42% and hit $774.8 million last week. Mutant Ape Yacht Club saw a 36% decline, with its market cap falling from $1.17bn to $742.8 million in this period.

Art Block was the only one among the top NFT collections whose market cap slightly increased year-over-year, rising from $825 million to $847 million.

Statistics show the top five NFT collections have collectively lost $3.3bn in market cap year-over-year. In February 2022, their combined market cap stood at $9bn, and now it's around $5.6bn.