Solana NFT Sales Up 170% As Year 2000 Completes Delayed Rollout

Sale of NFTs on Solana blockchain fell by 50% in October after a strong September, which had been helped by the initial launch by buzzy profile picture (PFP) project, y00ts. But November could see a return to fervent activity if today’s early trading is any indication, following the delayed reveal of y00t’s artwork.

Trading volume for NFTs minted on Solana has jumped 170% over the past 24 hours compared to the previous time frame, per data from Tiexo, up to around 229,000 SOL across the market. That’s over $7.5 million worth.

The vast majority of this trade revolves around y00ts, the successor to popular DeGods project at Solana. The y00ts collection spans over 15,000 unique profile pictures, each with a different mix of design features. The project minted its NFTs – called y00ts mint t00bs – at the beginning of the following September a hyped endorsement list campaign which attracted celebrities and influencers.

Each t00b NFT can be burned (or permanently destroyed) in exchange for the actual PFP NFT. This process was originally scheduled to begin shortly after the mint in September, but creator DeLabs – led by the pseudonymous DeGods creator Frank – opted to scrap all the existing artwork and start over, causing a delay of nearly two months.

Finally, this morning, y00ts opened the process to trade t00bs for y00ts NFTs, revealing the artwork and sending secondary trading volume soaring in the process. Both the unrevealed t00bs and y00ts avatars are seeing skyrocketing demand right now, based on data tracked by top Solana marketplace, Magic Eden.

The secondary sale of y00ts mint t00bs has increased by 496% in the last 24 hours, with trades worth 74,000 SOL (about $2.46 million) so far. The cheapest available mint t00b NFT available on the market is listed at almost 100 SOL, or around $3300.

Meanwhile, the revealed y00ts profile pictures have surpassed t00bs in collective trading volume today, with approximately 78,000 SOL ($2.6 million) transactions so far since this morning’s rollout. The cheapest available y00ts NFT is listed at 72 SOL (about $2400).

An NFT is a blockchain token which represents ownership of a unique item – in this case a unique profile picture with distinctive visual elements. Other NFT use cases include artwork, collectibles, event tickets and memorabilia, and interactive video game items.

All in all Solana NFT trading fell hard in October according to data from DappRadar, which reported organic deals worth $67 million compared to $134 million the previous month. It is worth noting that DappRadar numbers remove any wash trade— that is, trades made between a user’s own wallets at exorbitant prices to manipulate marketplace data.

Beyond declining activity after September’s millennials and potential increasing competition from NFTs on the new blockchain platform Aptossentiment around the Solana site also seemed to dip in October as marketplaces rejected royalties from creators — either ignoring them outright or making them optional for merchants to pay.

Magical Eden initially resisted the movebut changed course after market share fell due to royalty-dodging rivals. Creators typically charge a fee of between 5% and 10% of the sale price on NFT resale. Since its royalty flip-flop, Magic Eden has recaptured its former market share: The marketplace handled about 93% of Solana’s trading volume in the last 24 hours, per Tiexo.

Amid these market movements last month, DeLabs the cut creates royalty on both DeGods and y00ts mint t00bs NFTs to zero, with plans to do the same for the last y00ts NFTs. The team suggested there was no point in setting royalties if they couldn’t be enforced on-chain, calling it the “next experiment” for the often fluctuating projects.

Ultimately, however, DeLabs changed course for y00ts: the NFTs have a 3.33% royalty. But the studio indicated that it won’t seek to penalize or restrict buyers in any way for buying from marketplaces that don’t honor royalties — an idea Frank previously discussed.

“There will be no enforcement if you don’t pay royalties,” the project tweeted.