September Sees Continued Decline in NFT Sales Amid SEC Scrutiny

NFT sales continued to decline in September, with monthly sales volumes failing to rebound.

NFT sales totaled $296 million, marking a 20% decrease from August’s $373 million, according to CryptoSlam. This figure represents a staggering 81% drop from March’s peak of $1.6 billion, which was the highest sales month for digital collectibles in 2024.

The last time monthly sales volumes fell below $300 million was in January 2021, when they plummeted to $109 million. Additionally, the total number of NFT transactions dropped by 32%, falling from 7.3 million in August to 4.9 million in September.

Despite these declines, the average value of NFT transactions saw an increase, rising 18% from $50.71 in August to $60 in September.

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Meanwhile, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has begun focusing on the NFT market. On August 28, OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer disclosed that the platform received a Wells notice from the SEC, which alleged that some NFTs may be classified as unregistered securities.

On September 16, the SEC imposed a $750,000 fine on the NFT-themed restaurant Flyfish Club for similar reasons. However, SEC commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda criticized this enforcement action, asserting that the NFTs sold by Flyfish were merely a different method of selling memberships.

Luca Schnetzler, CEO of the popular NFT collection Pudgy Penguins, dismissed the SEC’s actions, labeling them “nonsense.” In a previous discussion, he suggested that if the SEC targeted OpenSea, it would also need to address larger entities involved in NFTs, such as Sotheby’s, Nike, and Pokémon.

Kosta Gushterov

Kosta has been working in the crypto industry for over 4 years. He strives to present different perspectives on a given topic and enjoys the sector for its transparency and dynamism. In his work, he focuses on balanced coverage of events and developments in the crypto space, providing information to his readers from a neutral perspective.