Entering 2024, the non-fungible token (NFT) market continues to be hot, becoming a highlight in the field of cryptocurrency. However, in the past May, the NFT market encountered a wave of major adjustments, and overall sales fell by 54%, which was unexpected.

Data shows that the total global sales of NFTs in May was only $624 million, a 54% drop from $1 billion in April. This sharp decline is not an isolated phenomenon. On the leading blockchain platforms, NFT sales performance is also generally sluggish.

For example, in the Bitcoin NFT market, sales have fallen 68% in the past 30 days; Ethereum and Solana have fallen 55% and 48% respectively. Meanwhile, among the top NFT collections, the Solana-based Mad Lads series fell 44%, and CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) on Ethereum fell 41% and 54% respectively.

Although CryptoPunks set sales records twice in March, total sales in May were only $15 million, a significant drop.

Analysts pointed out that this round of NFT market adjustment is mainly due to the overall downward pressure on cryptocurrencies. Major digital currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum suffered a sharp correction in May, and investors' risk appetite declined, and investment in emerging assets such as NFTs also decreased.

“It is not difficult to see that the performance of the NFT market is highly correlated to the trend of the cryptocurrency market to a large extent. When major virtual currencies rise or fall sharply, the NFT market will usually follow suit with corresponding fluctuations.” said a cryptocurrency analyst.

However, even though the overall trend in May was downward, a few NFT projects bucked the trend and rose. Among them, the social finance project Fantasy Top achieved substantial growth in May, driving the sales of the entire blockchain up.

In addition, the Immutable-based blockchain game Guild of Guardians saw its sales increase by 69% in May, alleviating the downward pressure on the market to a certain extent. In the Solana ecosystem, the DogeZuki Collection and Solana Monkey Business series grew by 130% and 74% respectively, which also reflects the resilience of some NFT projects.

Analysts point out that these NFT collections that have risen against the trend often have certain community or entertainment attributes, which can better attract user participation. Compared with pure investment-driven, these NFT projects with stronger "stickiness" can often remain relatively stable in market fluctuations.

"The NFT market may show a differentiated trend in the future. Some leading brands and popular series may remain relatively strong, but niche projects and highly speculative works are at risk of further decline." said the above analyst.

In general, the NFT market fell sharply in May, reflecting the overall periodic adjustment of cryptocurrencies. However, industry insiders are generally optimistic about the future development prospects of NFT and believe that it will become an important infrastructure in the Web3 era. The key lies in how to further enrich the application scenarios of NFT, improve its practicality in various fields, and attract more users to participate.