Rising NFT sales volume pushes Cardano into the top three NFT protocols

Introduced in 2017, Cardano was intended as another 'Ethereum-killer' that aimed to improve on the functionality that Ethereum was initially missing. For a long time, it seemed like it would never reach the ambitious heights of its potential due to its slow development.

However, the network’s tides seem to be changing positively, and it is seeing a surge in adoption.

According to DappRadar, Cardano is currently one of the top three blockchains by non-fungible token (NFT) trading volume.

'In the past 30 days, the network’s NFT volume reached $191 million, placing Cardano as the third-largest NFT protocol behind Ethereum and Solana,' the blockchain and decentralised apps (dapps) analytics firm said on Thursday.

Cardano’s largest marketplace also saw its trading volume spike by over 40% this quarter to reach US$ 11.2 million. At the rate those numbers grew, Cardano could have toppled Solana and possibly challenged Ethereum regarding NFT sales volume. But it was hindered by the fact that none of the ten most popular marketplaces offered its assets, limiting accessibility for potential buyers and exposure for the digital assets themselves. 

The increase in Cardano network activity is attributed to the Vasil upgrade, which was activated on September 22 and was fully rolled out by September 27. The update kickstarted the launch of Plutus v2, the network’s smart contract language, which made it easier for developers to build on the chain.

Although the data from DappRadar covers September, the trend continues in the following weeks as interest in Cardano NFTs keeps rising. Some have speculated that NFT traders are dumping Solana NFTs for Cardano NFTs.

While increased activity is good news for Cardano faithful, the network still has ways to go before it can truly reach the level of the giants – Ethereum and Solana. Cardano’s Total Volume Locked (TVL) – a good indicator of the size and level of activity in a network – remains at a meagre US$ 66 million compared to Ethereum’s US$ 31.4 billion and Solana’s US$ 955.5 million.

Photo: Forbes