According to a report from Decrypt, data from the analysis platform CryptoSlam shows that in December 2023, the NFT trading volume on the Solana blockchain was approximately $3.665 billion, close to the historical high set in October 2021, and for the first time surpassed Ethereum’s monthly trading volume of $3.532 billion.
CryptoSlam’s “organic” trading data, which excludes suspicious transactions marked as “wash sales”, excluded approximately $381 million in Ethereum trading volume, while Solana’s trading volume only excluded $10.1 million.
Furthermore, the number of independent buyers and sellers on Solana doubled in December, and the total number of NFT transactions also increased significantly. According to the CryptoSlam report, there are 218,000 sellers and 279,000 buyers on Solana, with nearly 6.6 million NFT transactions. In comparison, there are approximately 114,000 sellers and over 143,000 buyers on Ethereum, with 698,000 transactions.
The NFT trading volume on Ethereum in December was basically flat compared to the nearly $350 million total in November, while the Solana NFT trading volume increased significantly from around $83 million in November.
The increase in the price of SOL may be part of the reason for the surge in Solana NFT trading volume in December, but this does not explain the threefold increase in the number of independent traders and the sixfold increase in monthly NFT transactions. Furthermore, the average transaction amount for Solana NFTs actually decreased from $74 in November to less than $56 in December.
The surge in users and trading volume may be due to broader momentum surrounding Solana, as well as the hype surrounding specific projects associated with potential airdrops and other incentives. For example, the NFT project Tensorians related to the Solana marketplace Tensor had a trading volume of $28 million in December, while the popular Solana PFP NFT series Mad Lads had a trading volume of $24.5 million.