Blockchain is the technology used by cryptocurrencies to track, record, and timestamp their transactions. In 2009, Bitcoin was the first successful cryptocurrency built on the blockchain. Since then, a lot of innovative blockchain use cases have emerged.

Blockchain

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), being certificates of authenticity, can be used to prove the ownership of any digital asset: concert tickets, video game items, artworks, or even digital properties. This section will help you to understand and explore the different ways you can use NFTs.

At NonFungible.com, we provide trusted NFT data and tools so that you can develop personal strategies that are best suited to your needs. This section will teach you how to use our Market Tracker to screen the latest NFT market trends and make informed decisions.

Analytics

Navigating through the NFT ecosystem requires separating signals from noise. Established in 2018, NonFungible.com has been a key stakeholder in the NFT industry since its infancy. Over time, we have developed a solid understanding of the way the NFT community works, backed by our trusted data &amp; experience.

Ecosystem

Our Tools


<p>To observe the activity related to decentralized applications, there are several indicators to take into account in order to understand the state of the market. The first figures announced by the projects generally are the total volume of exchanges carried out, converted into dollars. Behind sometimes very large figures are hidden sales, fees, and the number of weekly or monthly users.</p>



<h2>Our Methodology</h2>



<p>It is possible to consult the sales history of NFTs directly on our site thanks to our<a href="https://nonfungible.com/market-tracker" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&nbsp;Market Tracker</a>. Several indicators are available, here is how we defined them:</p>



<ul><li><strong>Sales USD</strong>: USD volume related to NFT sales, including all the fees except gas fees.</li><li><strong>Number of sales</strong>: Number of NFT sales only. Doesn&#8217;t include transfers.</li><li><strong>Number of buyers and sellers</strong>: Number of unique wallets who bought or sold an NFT over a period of time.</li><li><strong>Number of active addresses</strong>: Number of&nbsp; unique wallet addresses which interacted at least once with an NFT over a period of time.</li></ul>



<p>To allow a more detailed reading, it is also possible to consult the number of sales and USD sales on the primary or secondary market. Regarding the average USD price, this average takes into account primary and secondary sales.</p>



<p>By combining this information, it is possible to establish a first overview of the activity status of the different Decentralized apps (Dapps) on a weekly basis. Of course, it is possible to go more in-depth by taking into account the activity of the past weeks in order to have a broader perspective.</p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img loading="lazy" width="1795" height="654" src="http://nfcms1/app/uploads/2022/07/how-to-download-nft-data-global.jpg" alt="download NFT USD Sales data" class="wp-image-287519" srcset="http://nfcms1:80/app/uploads/2022/07/how-to-download-nft-data-global.jpg 1795w, http://nfcms1:80/app/uploads/2022/07/how-to-download-nft-data-global-300x109.jpg 300w, http://nfcms1:80/app/uploads/2022/07/how-to-download-nft-data-global-1024x373.jpg 1024w, http://nfcms1:80/app/uploads/2022/07/how-to-download-nft-data-global-768x280.jpg 768w, http://nfcms1:80/app/uploads/2022/07/how-to-download-nft-data-global-1536x560.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 1795px) 100vw, 1795px" /><figcaption><em>Number of sales and Sales USD &#8211; All Segments &#8211; 7 last days</em></figcaption></figure></div>


<p>By default, we propose you to see what the previous week&#8217;s activity looks like on a daily moving average. You can change it by clicking on the three vertical dots on the top right corner of the chart.</p>



<ul><li>Timespan represents the period of time you want to see.</li><li>Moving average represents the data during the previous to (and including) the date displayed</li></ul>



<p>In the example chart above (number of sales + Sales USD, 1 week timespan with a daily moving average), you will see the total Sales USD spent during <strong>7 days previous to (and including) the date displayed, on a daily basis.</strong></p>



<h2><strong>Sales</strong>&nbsp;</h2>



<p>Separating sales from the rest of the market is fundamental to better analyze the activity of a Dapp. Indeed, zooming in on this aspect of the activity makes it possible to establish more precisely the behaviors that may be taking place. There can be malicious behaviors such as wash trading, but above all, it allows new trends to be discovered or explained transparently.</p>



<p>Sales are not only an indicator to take into account when analyzing the activity of a Dapp. They are also used to make a fair assessment of the different NFTs that can be traded in the markets. They are therefore just as important from a global point of view to understand all the activity of a Dapp as for users who need a &#8220;macro&#8221; view before buying or selling an asset.</p>



<h2><strong>Total Volume</strong></h2>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large"><img src="http://nfcms1/app/uploads/2022/07/nonfungiblecom-activity-all-time.jpg" alt="NonFungible.com - Top sales - All Segments - 7 last days" class="wp-image-39663"/><figcaption><em>Top sales &#8211; All Segments &#8211; 7 last days</em></figcaption></figure></div>


<p>Depending on what you are looking for from an analysis, the total volume is useful for getting an overview of a common indicator (dollars, transactions &#8230;) It allows you to see global volume but not a specific project or segment.&nbsp;</p>



<p>You will also see the last highest sales that have occurred on the market in the last 7 days.</p>



<h3><strong>Number of Sales</strong></h3>



<p>The number of sales allows you to see how many unique NFT sales have taken place over a given period. This indicator includes the different sales of NFTs but can also include loans, flash loans, and certain wash trading practices.</p>



<h3><strong>Sales USD</strong></h3>



<p>This indicator is the most commonly used. It is the volume generated by sales in USD. However, only using this indicator to find out about the state of the market is misleading. To have a better understanding of the market, the best way is to look at the number of sales and unique buyers and sellers.&nbsp;</p>



<h3>Average USD Sales</h3>



<p>Unlike USD Sales, the Average USD indicator measures the difference between the prices of a collection and the Average USD value of the segment to which that collection belongs. This metric allows you to know if an asset&#8217;s price is above or below the average price of a segment or a collection.</p>



<p>For example, if the average price of a CryptoPunks is 100 ETH, finding one at 80 ETH would be a good opportunity. If you find a CryptoPunks below 20 ETH, it might be suspicious and due diligence will need to be performed to understand why the price is so low. If the price is above 150 ETH, maybe it’s because this CryptoPunks is rarer than the other ones.</p>



<h3><strong>Active Market Wallets (or Unique Wallets)</strong></h3>



<p>The unique number of wallets is used to determine the number of addresses that have been active on the NFT market. Knowing that a user can control several wallets, this indicator only shows an upward estimate of the number of users who have interacted with NFTs.</p>



<p>This metric is important to understand the health of a community. If a lot of wallets interact with a specific collection, this means a lot of users are using it. If the number of active wallets is low, it’s either because the supply is low or the project isn’t active anymore.</p>



<p>Keep in mind that many addresses can be created with a single wallet.</p>



<h3><strong>Primary Sales</strong></h3>



<p>The number of primary sales corresponds to the first sale of an NFT on the market (or the number of sales on the primary market). Transfers between wallets are not counted and mints that occurred on-chain are counted as a primary sale.. This indicator allows you to see the performance of the launch of a project.</p>



<p>For example, if a collection has 10,000 NFTs to mint, it will be sold out when 10,000 primary sales are reached.</p>



<h3><strong>Primary Sales USD</strong></h3>



<p>The primary sales USD indicator allows you to understand the volume generated by primary sales in USD. This indicator complements the number of primary sales. Depending on the segment, combining these two indicators makes it possible to know how much an NFT presale has generated and also the price of NFTs that have never been sold before.</p>



<h3><strong>Secondary Sales&nbsp;</strong></h3>



<p>The number of secondary sales refers to all sales that follow the primary sale (also called the number of sales made on the secondary market). Here too, transfers are not taken into account. Depending on the segment analyzed, secondary sales are a good indicator of whether the project is of proportional interest to people.</p>



<p>The number of secondary sales is a metric to have an overview of the liquidity of a project. If the number of secondary sales is high, it means that people are actively buying and selling the collection. On the other hand, if the number of secondary sales is low, it can mean two things: people aren’t interested in the collection or there are very few assets on sale.</p>



<h3><strong>Secondary Sales USD</strong></h3>



<p>This indicator complements the number of secondary sales. Depending on the segment, combining these two indicators makes it possible to know how much all the sales made on the secondary market have generated.</p>



<p>For example, if there’s a low number of secondary sales volume but a high secondary sales USD volume, this means NFTs are expensive. If there’s a high secondary sales volume but a low secondary sales USD volume, this could mean that there’s a high NFT supply and the value is diluted.</p>



<p>If the two volumes are high, the collection is very hyped. On the other hand, if the two volumes are low, no one is buying the NFTs.</p>



<h3><strong>Unique Buyers</strong></h3>



<p>The number of unique buyers (or single buyers) differs from the number of unique wallets. This indicator allows you to see the number of unique wallets that have purchased an NFT. It should be put into perspective with the number of unique sellers to know the overall state and health of the market.</p>



<p>Since a unique buyer is a trader who pays the listed price to a seller, this metric indicates the buying strength of the market. As long as there are more buyers than sellers, there’s interest in this market.</p>



<h3><strong>Unique Sellers</strong></h3>



<p>Just like the number of unique buyers, the number of unique sellers indicates the number of wallets that have sold NFTs. If the number of sellers exceeds the number of buyers, this indicates a downward trend in the number of users looking to buy NFTs.</p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img loading="lazy" width="88" height="31" src="http://nfcms1/app/uploads/2023/03/CC-BY.png" alt="" class="wp-image-288164"/></a></figure></div>


<p class="has-text-align-center">This work is licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License</a>.</p>


Learn how to make the most of our market tracker to explore the sales history of your favorite projects & screen the latest NFT transactions in real-time

Market Tracker

Metrics


<p>Metadata simply put is data that describes data. Although it has become an NFT buzzword, metadata within computing is certainly not new. For instance, an HTML document may hold data but the &lt;header&gt; is its metadata.&nbsp;</p>



<p>In the non-fungible token world, metadata and token attributes are key elements that make each token unique and collectible. It can be data that describes a token&#8217;s image, origin, author, quantity, and a multitude of other elements.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Each NFT has its own smart contract which points to its metadata which makes up the asset. A loose example is that we ourselves are non-fungible, each with our own set of properties and characteristics which could be classed as metadata making up who we are as individuals.</p>



<h2><strong>The Value of Token Metadata&nbsp;</strong></h2>



<p>Although a relatively simple concept in itself, token metadata are an integral part of the accessible value behind any non-fungible token offering authorship, provenance, and rarity including many other complex attributes which can add value to a token.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Platforms and marketplaces also read token metadata enabling them to display a rich version of the token and a correct version of the NFT on their platform. For instance, an Axie’s token metadata would describe its color, shape, gene pool, and other attributes such as its name and image.&nbsp;</p>



<p>On the other hand, token metadata can also describe actioned attributes that can power such things as licensing agreements, intellectual property rights or perpetual royalties to the author, rights that are cryptographically linked to legally enforceable agreements, and much more.</p>



<h2><strong>Describing the Digital &amp; Physical&nbsp;Attributes of an Asset</strong></h2>



<p>The early days of tokenizing digital collectibles such as <a href="https://nonfungible.com/news/analysis/the-cryptopunks-evolution" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CryptoPunks</a> and <a href="https://nonfungible.com/news/collectible/cryptokitties-the-final-clap" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CryptoKitties</a> were a precursor for the start of a whole universe of digital and physical possessions being described by its metadata, with verifiable ownership and traceability backed by cryptography. The potential for many different types of assets backed this way is immense with many use cases as of yet unexplored. From complex legal agreements to gaming assets, art, and financial products, it remains to be seen how integrated NFTs and their metadata become into our physical lives in the future.</p>



<h2><strong>NFT Metadata standards</strong></h2>



<p>There have been different metadata standards that have been proposed for specific applications. Metadata standards establish a common way of structuring and understanding data, including the standards principles, implementation methods, and likely issues.</p>



<h3><strong>ERC-721</strong></h3>



<p>The first non-fungible accepted standard was ERC-721, which itself evolved from the ERC-20 fungible token standard. ERC-721 ensures the absolute ownership and uniqueness of digital assets. Tokenized non-fungible digital assets are interoperable across multiple ecosystems, including digital marketplaces and environments where they can be used such as games, virtual worlds, and financial systems. </p>



<p>ERC-721 standard does not restrict the addition of extra functions and therefore developers are free to build complex descriptions into their tokens. Both the ERC-20 and ERC-1155 require the deployment of an entirely separate contract for each token type and collection.</p>



<h3>ERC-1155</h3>



<p>Building on the ERC-721 established framework the ERC-1155 standard focuses on contracts that can manage multiple token types, one standalone contract could include endless combinations of both fungible and non-fungible tokens and can also contain other configurations such as semi-fungible tokens.&nbsp;</p>



<p>As mentioned above the ERC-20 and ERC-1155 require a separate contract for each token type which can be limiting for certain functions. With the development of new use cases for tokenization, there is a need for a new type of flexible standard which can support thousands of token types.</p>



<h2><strong>On-chain or Off-chain Storage?</strong></h2>



<p>Where token metadata is stored is of some controversy in the NFT world, with both off and on-chain solutions having pros and cons, with their own cost, security, and interaction implications. It is certainly one of the first decisions any developer will have to make when creating a token.&nbsp;</p>



<p>The tokens’ smart contract points to the metadata and some of that data can be held on-chain and is included with the token smart contract and some can be held off-chain.</p>



<p>Storing data on-chain is currently costly but very secure whereas storing some of the data off-chain can greatly reduce costs but can mean that data can be lost over time and is not able to change in line with on-chain logic updates.</p>



<p>The risk of the token and its metadata becoming separated in the future is particularly true when centralized servers are used to store a part of an NFTs data, if the server goes down or the company goes out of business then the NFT will no longer function or vital parts of its information, such as the image file, will be lost forever.</p>



<p>Currently, there are compromises to be made in regards to which solution is best. For example, <a href="https://opensea.io/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">OpenSea </a>marketplace has implemented a centralized server to host certain files for their NFT service. On the other hand, <a href="https://knownorigin.io/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Known Origin</a>, utilizes the <a href="https://ipfs.io/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">InterPlanetary File system</a> (IPFS) which is a distributed peer-to-peer file sharing system that works well in partnership with blockchain technology.</p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img loading="lazy" width="88" height="31" src="http://nfcms1/app/uploads/2023/03/CC-BY.png" alt="" class="wp-image-288164"/></a></figure></div>


<p class="has-text-align-center">This work is licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License</a>.</p>



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<div class="wp-block-image market-tracker"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><a href="https://nonfungible.com/market-tracker" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img loading="lazy" src="http://nfcms1/app/uploads/2022/08/Nonfungible_NFT-Market-Tracker-1x14-1-1024x1024.png" alt="What are the best performing NFT projects this week? Try our market tracker" class="wp-image-66361" width="512" height="512" srcset="http://nfcms1:80/app/uploads/2022/08/Nonfungible_NFT-Market-Tracker-1x14-1-1024x1024.png 1024w, http://nfcms1:80/app/uploads/2022/08/Nonfungible_NFT-Market-Tracker-1x14-1-300x300.png 300w, http://nfcms1:80/app/uploads/2022/08/Nonfungible_NFT-Market-Tracker-1x14-1-150x150.png 150w, http://nfcms1:80/app/uploads/2022/08/Nonfungible_NFT-Market-Tracker-1x14-1-768x768.png 768w, http://nfcms1:80/app/uploads/2022/08/Nonfungible_NFT-Market-Tracker-1x14-1-1536x1536.png 1536w, http://nfcms1:80/app/uploads/2022/08/Nonfungible_NFT-Market-Tracker-1x14-1.png 1650w" sizes="(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" /></a></figure></div>


Metadata and token attributes are key elements that make each token unique and collectible. It can be data that describes a token's image, origin, author, quantity, or other elements.

Metadata or Token Attributes


<p>As we have seen in the previous chapters about the <a href="https://nonfungible.com/academy/blockchain/wallet-type-usage" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">wallet type or usages</a>, several users can have interacted with a single wallet but a user can also have several wallets.</p>



<p>This difference is quite significant in the sense that if an entity made up of several individuals decides to carry out a growth hack to bias a vote on the blockchain, it can completely influence the results especially when they are displayed in real-time publicly. Another important aspect of this difference is that because of the pseudonymous nature of the blockchain, we can only assume that it is indeed the user who ‘should’ be behind a signature that signs.&nbsp;</p>



<p>It is therefore an element to keep in mind when a community seems very large compared to the others or when a certain volume of wallet activity begins to grow very quickly from one week to the next.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="http://nfcms1/app/uploads/2022/07/dapp-activity-1.jpg" alt="NFT Weekly Dapp activity - NonFungible.com" class="wp-image-39691"/><figcaption>Dapp Activity &#8211; NonFungible.com</figcaption></figure>



<p>In this example, each buyer and seller are counted for each project listed, while in the other column, it is the users who have used their portfolio at least once.&nbsp;</p>



<p>An important piece of information regarding the number of addresses that have interacted with <a href="https://nonfungible.com/market-tracker/mooncatrescue" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MoonCatRescue</a> is that less than 1085 of them have bought or sold one. This reflects a significant craze around a project running on an auction system but which has been distributed to less than a third of potentially interested users to obtain one.</p>


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full"><a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><img loading="lazy" width="88" height="31" src="http://nfcms1/app/uploads/2023/03/CC-BY.png" alt="" class="wp-image-288164"/></a></figure></div>


<p class="has-text-align-center">This work is licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License</a>.</p>



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<div class="wp-block-image market-tracker"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><a href="https://nonfungible.com/market-tracker" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img loading="lazy" src="http://nfcms1/app/uploads/2022/08/Nonfungible_NFT-Market-Tracker-1x14-1-1024x1024.png" alt="What are the best performing NFT projects this week? Try our market tracker" class="wp-image-66361" width="512" height="512" srcset="http://nfcms1:80/app/uploads/2022/08/Nonfungible_NFT-Market-Tracker-1x14-1-1024x1024.png 1024w, http://nfcms1:80/app/uploads/2022/08/Nonfungible_NFT-Market-Tracker-1x14-1-300x300.png 300w, http://nfcms1:80/app/uploads/2022/08/Nonfungible_NFT-Market-Tracker-1x14-1-150x150.png 150w, http://nfcms1:80/app/uploads/2022/08/Nonfungible_NFT-Market-Tracker-1x14-1-768x768.png 768w, http://nfcms1:80/app/uploads/2022/08/Nonfungible_NFT-Market-Tracker-1x14-1-1536x1536.png 1536w, http://nfcms1:80/app/uploads/2022/08/Nonfungible_NFT-Market-Tracker-1x14-1.png 1650w" sizes="(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" /></a></figure></div>


A common mistake is to assume that only one user is behind a wallet. But several users can interact with a single wallet and one user can have several wallets. Which metric should we use?

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