NFT Sales Declined by 44% During Crypto Market Slump, While Meme Coins Soared in Q2, 2024

Meme coins recorded a massive inflow of celebrity, sports, political, and animal-themed meme coins in Q2 2024 despite the broader crypto market downturn. 

Notably, this broader crypto market downtrend affected NFT, with sales volume falling to $2.32 billion in Q2, 2024, a 44% decline from the $4.14 billion recorded in Q1. 

This market-wide downturn coincides with Bitcoin’s 15% decline from its March 14 all-time high of $73,750. Top altcoins followed a similar pathway, while meme coins appeared unscathed. 

Meme Coins Taking Mind Share Away from the NFT Sector

The surge in meme coins may have affected NFT sales, as it took investors’ Mind Share away from the product. For context, Mind Share is the popularity of a particular product among consumers and investors.

While NFT sales are declining, meme coins are now the center of attention with a surge in their trading volume. CoinGecko data reveals that the trading volume of meme coins has reached $3.6 billion in the last 24 hours. 

Most of the trading volume stems from PolitiFi meme coins, whose popularity has increased following the anticipation of the US 2024 presidential election. Moreover, the Solana and Ethereum networks have also witnessed a spike in new celebrity meme tokens.

Among the coins that experienced a significant price surge in Q2 are the frog-themed meme coin Pepe and the Donald Trump-linked token MAGA (TRUMP). PEPE recorded new all-time highs in May, with the highest point of $0.00001718 attained on May 27. 

Similarly, MAGA’s price soared following Trump’s pro-crypto declarations during his campaign, reaching a new all-time high of $17.52 on June 1. MAGA has declined nearly 63% from its new record high.

Another meme coin that soared significantly in Q2 2024 is Gamestop GME, which reached an all-time high of $0.03207 on June 7 before declining 75% to $0.0077.

Billionaire Mark Cuban’s Wallet Dumping NFTs After Two Years of Inactivity

Amid the declining NFT sales, a crypto wallet linked to billionaire Mark Cuban, inactive for almost two years, dumped some NFTs. Its last sale before doing dormant occurred on January 13, 2022, when Cuban sold one Roc Aero Pitch Deck NFT at $33.73.

However, the wallet address tagged markcuban.eth recently sold Pudgy Penguin alongside others such as Euler Beats Genesis and Wrapped MoonCats.

In June, the billionaire sold about 14 NFTs for an estimated value of $38,533. The Pudgy Penguin NFT, worth $39,578, is the most expensive NFT on his sale list. The most recent NFT sales were in the $22-$1,800 price range. 

Meanwhile, the billionaire still plans to sell other high-value NFTs in his collection. He posted his hashtag NFT #MFFL, worth 15 Ether, for sale with an estimated value of $50,000. 

Cuban also listed his BibleNFT, Deuteronomy 25:4, for sale at 5 ETH (approximately $16,000). If he sells both NFTs, his total sales will increase to $100,000.

Although the reason for Cuban’s NFT sales is unknown, it coincides with a security breach on his Gmail account. Cuban revealed that his Gmail account was compromised after he received a fraudulent call. However, with Google’s help, Cuban recovered his Gmail account on June 25. 

Moreover, Mark Cuban lost almost $900,000 to fraudsters in 2023. So, the recent NFT sales could likely be preventive measures. Nevertheless, given the rising interest in meme coins, the sales might have triggered other investors to dump their NFTs.

This is not the first of such a decline in sales in the NFT market. Marker data reveals that NFTs faced a similar decline in 2023 before rallying to record over $3 billion in sales in the last quarter.