2022 has proven to be a tumultuous year for nonfungible tokens (NFTs), with speculations of the NFT bubble bursting amid the persistent crypto winter. Q3 2022 saw only $3.4 billion in sales compared to $8.4 billion in Q2.
In December, the numbers plunged further. Over the year, investor interest and media coverage also plunged. Nonetheless, the December Google trends analysis indicates that there is a renewed interest in NFTs, suggesting that they might just become popular once more in the coming year.
Are Interests In NFTs Rising Once More?
Based on Google trends data, searches for the term ‘NFT’ scored 100 in January, before plunging steeply over the months. It reached an all-time low score of 10 in the week of December 4 to 10. Similarly, Cryptoslam data shows that December NFT sales dropped by around 80% compared to last December. While the sales reached $4.9 billion in January 2022, it has only reached about $570 million so far in December.
Nonetheless, Google trends analysis indicates that there was a recent surge in searches for ‘NFT’. To explain this further, in the week of December 11 to 17, the score surged to 20. But, it plunged again the following week to 14. The renewed interest may be because of the holiday season. Some investors and users might even have been seeking NFT Christmas gifts.
NFTs Are Not Dead?
For starters, nonfungible tokens did not exactly ‘die’. Even though the NFT bubble might have burst, it has just enabled the sector to focus on more valuable projects. In other words, just speculation or hype alone is no longer enough to attract investors. NFT collections require to do a lot more – they need to offer some distinct utility and real-world activations and experiences. In that context, undoubtedly, 2023 will be an important year for the industry.
