NFT thefts on the way down, but large marketplaces are still on the fence
The NFT market has recently been plagued by theft and fraud. However, there is good news for the sector, as theft cases fell by 30% in March. According to PeckShield, approximately 74.9% of the stolen NFTs were first sold on Blur, with another 19.5% on OpenSea.
The NFT market performed slightly better in terms of security in March, with a 30% decrease in related thefts compared to February.
PeckShield tweeted that the sector saw $10.9 million worth of NFTs stolen, down 30% from February’s $16.2 million. In January, 4.4 million dollars was stolen.
Blur Marketplace dominates the sale of stolen NFT resources
It also noted that half of the stolen NFTs were quickly sold on marketplaces within two hours. About 74.9% of the stolen NFTs were first sold on Blur, with another 19.5% on OpenSea.
PeckShield also tweeted an image showing that Blur has increasingly become a platform where thieves sell their NFTs. Mars is a particular outlier in this regard, with a large portion of stolen NFTs being sold on Blur. Previous months show weak growth, so it remains to be seen if this is a trend.
The NFT market has become a major target for hackers and bad actors, as it has grown so rapidly in a short period of time. Attackers will look at any avenue to steal these assets, whether it’s phishing or compromising websites. Victims include the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), which is a particularly lucrative target for attackers.
Blur takes over OpenSea
Perhaps the increased use of Blur by hackers to sell stolen NFTs is a result of Blur becoming more popular. The platform managed 69% of the monthly ETH volume last month, with OpenSea accounting for only 20% of the volume.
However, all is not well with the platform, as Blur has been accused of suspicious activity and market manipulation by CryptoSlam. Researchers from the latter state that the NFT market artificially inflates sales volumes.
NFTs reach $4.7 billion in sales in Q1 2023
While the NFT market reached $4.7 billion in sales volume, the number of daily unique active wallets has fallen by 9.7% compared to last quarter. The total dollar value of the assets stolen in the quarter was $373 million. This is a whopping 92.6% drop from last quarter’s $5 billion.
DappRadar’s report detailing these statistics gives a good picture of how the NFT market is moving. So far, it has been a bullish start to 2023 for the NFT market.
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