NFT crash: 95% of the market is now ‘worthless’, study finds – as value of ‘Bored Ape’ artwork owned by Justin Bieber plummets by 97%
- The vast majority of NFTs created are now worthless, according to a study
- And even the most popular and prestigious NFTs are down more than 95 percent
- Justin Bieber paid $1.3M for an ape NFT in 2022, but it’s now worth around $50K
More than 95 percent of NFTs created are now worthless, according to a new study – and many of the most hyped are down more than 95 percent on last year.
Out of 73,257 NFT collections identified by a study by crypto site dappGambl, 69,795 of them have a market cap of zero.
According to the study, around 23 million people hold the worthless assets in these collections.
And even among the 8,850 most valuable NFT collections by market cap, 18 percent of NFTs were found to be worthless, and 41 percent are priced between $5 and $100.
In January 2022, Justin Bieber bought a ‘Bored Ape’ NFT for around $1.3 million but its now worth around $37,000 – down 97 percent. Others have gone from being worth tens of thousand of dollars to less than ten.
For example, artwork ‘Winter Bear #1178’ was once sold for more than $35,000 in 2021. It is now worth around $6.50.
Another NFT – titled ‘GOOP 7803’ is currently worth around $0.50.
NFTs are digital collectibles that are often tied to pieces of online art. Between 2021 and 2022 there was an NFT goldrush, but the craze is seemingly over.
At the peak in January 2022, the NFT marketplace experienced a monthly trading volume of around $5.36 billion, according to data from The Block. In August the total volume was just $410 million – less than 8 percent of the high.
‘This daunting reality should serve as a sobering check on the euphoria that has often surrounded the NFT space,’ wrote the authors of the study.
‘Amid stories of digital art pieces selling for millions and overnight success stories, it is easy to overlook the fact that the market is fraught with pitfalls and potential losses.’
Musician Madonna was another celebrity to have got in on the action. She bought a different Bored Ape NFT for around $470,000 in March 2022. The highest offer made for it in recent months is around $50,000 – an 89 percent drop.
Nonetheless it is part of one of the most sought after NFT collections ever created which consisted of 10,000 cartoon images of monkeys.
In August, investors in Bored Ape NFTs, including Paris Hilton, Justin Bieber and Madonna, sued auction house Sotheby’s, claiming that they ‘misleadingly promoted’ the NFTs to ‘manipulate the price’ of the assets, according to a lawsuit.
Another highly popular NFT collection was CryptoPunks. While they are still trading for around $70,000, they were once selling for a minimum of around $300,000. Jay-Z famously bought one in April 2021 for around $130,000.
While the study suggests NFTs could experience some sort of revival, it found that 79 percent of all NFT collections are now unsold, and the surplus of supply over has created a buyer’s market.
The study did suggest, however, that in the future NFTs have some real world use – including for gaming, real estate and digital identity.