Bitcoin Price Sparked Record Ordinals Trading Volume—A Renaissance for BTC NFTs?

Key Takeaways

• Bitcoin price inching over an all-time high was accompanied by record Ordinals trading volume.
• CryptoSlam analysis finds that Ordinals sales volume has crossed the $2.6b mark.
• Upcoming Bitcoin halving is fueling anticipation about its price, can it pull up the NFT market?

Bitcoin surpassed an all-time high price level of $69K on March 4 before tumbling lower. The non-fungible token (NFT) trading volume for Bitcoin Ordinals also showed a resurgence around the time. With sales in major Ordinals marketplaces surpassing billions, is the trend coinciding with Bitcoin’s next halving?

March Sees a Spike in Ordinals Volume

Data from a Dune dashboard indicates a significant jump in Ordinals trading volume. So far, the marketplace volumes have surpassed $2.5b with more than 2m transactions.

The sector remained relatively quiet until the recent price rally in Bitcoin. According to CryptoSlam , sales volume for these unique digital assets involves over 371,900 buyers and 322,000 sellers at press time. The total sales transactions for March till now have crossed $161.25m. The figure was under $870m in December 2023 but lower in the adjacent months.

Recently, Bitcoin Ordinals-based NFTs known as NodeMonkes became the third most valuable NFT in terms of market capitalization. At press time, it has dropped to the fourth spot With Ethereum-based BAYC and MAYC NFTs taking over the place on CoinGecko charts . Bitcoin Puppets is next on the charts on spot 10.

The spike in Ordinals trading came with Bitcoin’s price recovery, supported by BTC ETF inflows and the pre-halving rally. This price momentum has not only rejuvenated interest in Bitcoin NFTs but also impacted the broader NFT market, as seen with a CryptoPunk selling for 4,500 ether, approximately $16 million.

Ordinals embed unique identifiers and additional data onto individual satoshis, facilitating the creation and trade of NFT-like assets on the Bitcoin blockchain.

Comparing Ethereum and Bitcoin NFT Volumes

The resurgence of Bitcoin NFTs could present a challenge to Ethereum’s dominance in the future. Over 30 days, Ethereum accounted for 52.2% of NFT sales volume, with Bitcoin closely following at 47.8% as per the Dune dashboard.

Despite the positive price action, the cost to transact on the Bitcoin network has not seen much change. Data from BitInfoCharts highlights that the average transaction fee on the Bitcoin network is currently close to $15 on March 6, higher than the February average but lower than the $37 peak recorded in December 2023.

At the same time, CoinGecko’s price floor charts show an increase in the market capitalization of Bitcoin NFTs, accompanied by a surge in volume and overall market cap across all blockchain networks at press time.

Can Bitcoin NFTs See a Resurgence?

The resurgence in trading volume for NFTs and the positive Bitcoin price can signal market improvement. With the Bitcoin halving event approaching in April and rising BTC prices, accompanied by increased interest in NFTs, can pull up Ordinals transcriptions in 2024. However, the sentiments around the broader NFT market will play a role.