Non-fungible tokens registered $946 million in trading volume in January 2023, up 38% from December, and the highest on record since June 2022, according to an updated Feb. 2 report by DappRadar, which tracks and analyzes the activity of NFT marketplaces. Non-fungible tokens, which provide proof of ownership of a digital asset like online artwork, surged in popularity in 2021 with the sale of a $69 million digital art piece by Beeple. Two large NFT art collections, including CryptoPunks and the Bored Ape Yacht Club, also saw a rise in popularity the same year.
“One reason for the surge in the NFT market in January is due to the success of Yuga Labs’ NFT collections, which accounted for 34.3% of the total NFT trading volume with a trading volume of $324.8 million,” said Sara Gherghelas, blockchain analyst at DappRadar, in an email to MarketWatch. Yuga Labs are the creators of the Bored Ape Yacht Club, a 10,000 piece collection featuring cartoon apes. In March 2022, Yuga Labs raised $450 million to build a media empire, at a $4 billion valuation. Its holders include Justin Bieber, Jimmy Fallon, Serena Williams, and other prominent figures. In January, Yuga Labs launched a product called the Sewer Pass access pass, which grants holders acce …