LooksRare Monthly NFT Trading Volume Flash Crashes 97% In October: What’s Next?

The monthly trading volume of LooksRare, a decentralized non-fungible token (NFT) and digital collectible marketplace, is down 97%, crashing from $71.9 million registered in September 2023 to just $2.1 million in October, Token Terminal data shared by Web3 Academy on October 26, via X shows. 

The unprecedented drop in activity couldn’t be pinned on any particular LooksRare-related event when writing on October 26. This contraction is despite the broader cryptocurrency market recovering, rising as seen by the welcomed expansion of leading assets, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).

According to trackers, monthly volume has been falling steadily since April 2023. Then, the average volume exceeded $150 million, pointing to rising interest, especially from traders. At that time, it should be noted that most crypto assets were also growing.

Specifically, Bitcoin broke higher, touching $30,000, triggering demand and reviving hopes that the market was looking up again following the collapse in 2022. By June through September, the average monthly volume in LooksRare had more than halved before plunging to less than $3 million in October 2023.

The spike in monthly trading activity in April coincided with the release of LooksRare v2, which saw the platform’s developers reduce trading fees by 75% from 2% to 0.5%. The updated version is also more gas efficient, allowing traders to save up to 30% on gas compared to the previous edition. Moreover, with LooksRare allowing traders to place bulk orders when buying or selling, monthly volume rapidly rose in April.

With activity rapidly contracting, LOOKS, the native token of LooksRare, has also been flat-lining, looking at price action. The token trades around the $0.070 level at spot rates, retesting August highs. However, an inverted hammer suggests that the uptrend momentum could wane, and bears might reverse gains.

Despite concerns, LOOKS is up 60% from H2 2023 lows and may still rally in the months ahead. Looking at the candlestick arrangement in the daily chart, a close above $0.070 with expanding volumes could set the ball rolling for buyers who expect the token to retest 2022 lows at around $0.12.

Overall, NFT and digital collectible trading activity remains relatively lower, even with bullish traders expecting prices to turn around and rally in 2024. Recently, there was a brief increase in the floor prices of leading NFT collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), Azuki, and CryptoPunk. However, with trading volume and the number of new owners still at record lows, researchers put off the chance of an NFT bull run starting in Q4 2023.