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NFT sales decline fourth consecutive week amid surging crypto trading volumes

NFT sales decline fourth consecutive week amid surging crypto trading volumes
Snapshot
Bitcoin NFT sales declined 18% last week.
By
Mike Millard
  • NFT sales volume falls fourth week in a row.
  • OneCoin ex-legal chief gets four years behind bars.
  • Pantera Capital crypto fund has 66% Q1 return.

NFT sales decline amid soaring crypto trading volumes

NFT sales volume marked another week-on-week decline on Friday with an almost 14% drop, Bitcoin.com reported.

The fourth consecutive week of falling NFT sales stood in sharp contrast to record-high numbers of other crypto sectors for the month of March.

For example, the combined trading volume on centralised crypto exchanges in March almost doubled to a record $9.1 trillion, according to Nasdaq.com.

This was consistent with Bitcoin’s bullish surge and the buildup to the halving event that is anticipated later in April, the report said.

Still, as both centralised and decentralised crypto exchanges were reaching peak trading volumes in March, NFT marketplaces sagged with weekly declines.

This continued through the week to April 5, as six leading blockchains in NFT sales posted downturns, Bitcoin.com said, citing data from CryptoSlam.

Bitcoin NFT sales were about $67 million, an 18% drop from the previous week.

Ethereum was next with $64 million in sales, but still a 9% decrease.

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OneCoin former legal chief gets 4 years in $4bn fraud

Irina Dilkinska, former head of legal and compliance for the infamous OneCoin scam, was sentenced to four years in prison by US District Judge Edgardo Ramos for her role in the $4 billion fraud, according to the US Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York.

Dilkinska, a citizen of Bulgaria who pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, was also ordered to forfeit $111 million as restitution.

OneCoin defrauded investors by marketing and promising guaranteed returns on its own fake cryptocurrency, DL News has reported. It also resembled a pyramid scheme in that it sold “educational courses” on crypto investing and offered buyers rewards for bringing in more participants, according to prosecutors.

The Bulgarian company was founded in 2014 by Ruja Ignatova and her associate Karl Greenwood, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence. Ignatova disappeared in 2017, after a US federal warrant was issued for her.

The FBI added Ignatova to its most-wanted list in 2022, offering a $250,000 reward for information leading to her arrest.

She travels with armed guards and may have had plastic surgery to alter her appearance, the notice says.

Still, there have also been reports that Ignatova was killed in 2018 on the orders of a Bulgarian mafia member.

Pantera Capital crypto fund has 66% return in Q1

Pantera Capital’s $300 million Liquid Token Fund had a 66% return in the first quarter, boosted by Solana, which almost doubled in value, Bloomberg reported.

Gains in RBN, Aevo and STX also contributed to the returns, according to a shareholder letter cited by Bloomberg.

Crypto market movers

  • Bitcoin is up 0.68% today at $69,388.00.
  • Ethereum is up 1.05% today at $3,388.12.

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