The biggest NFT platform in the world is still reeling from the crypto flash crash — value of CryptoPunks slashed in half

• The biggest non-fungible platform by market cap in the world, OpenSea, is yet to recover from the crypto flash crash of September 7.
• Transaction volumes on the portal are continuing to fall, dipping below $50 million for the first time since August.
• The top five most valuable NFT projects on OpenSea are in the red with CryptoPunks being the worst hit.

It seems the downturn in Bitcoin’s prices over the past two days is leading to a drop in the popularity of non-fungible token (NFT) auctions too. OpeaSea, the largest NFT platform globally, saw daily transactions volumes fall to below $100 million amid the crypto flash crash — and it shows no signs of slowing down so far.


Today, on September 9, the daily volume has fallen to below $50 million as per collated on Dune Analytics. The last time OpenSea’s numbers were this low was on August 19.

It’s not just that people aren’t buying and selling NFTs, but the value of popular NFT projects like Loot (for Adventurers), CryptoPunks and Bored Ape have also taken a dive.


Of the top 10 NFTs on the platform, only three have recorded growth in the last 24 hours and only one has recorded growth in terms of seven-day averages.

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Downturn in OpenSea’s volume has been suggested by some to be a sign that the overall market is falling. According to NFT tracking platform NonFungible, there has also been a significant downfall in the number of active wallets in the market since the beginning of the month.

However, it may be a little early to actually call this a downfall. The NFT market has surged in the last two months, hitting highs that it has never seen before.

This could suggest that the current downturn could be more of a settling down period rather than a real fall. It’s important to remember that NFTs don’t trade the same way as cryptocurrencies, so their volumes are drawn from user interest and the availability of coveted NFTs.

As with any trend, this one may have reached its peak and is settling down into one of those things we sort of take for granted on the Internet… like memes.

OpenSea gets buggy

The decline on OpenSea also coincides with a serious bug that Ethereum Name Service (ENS) lead developer, Nick Johnson, found on the platform yesterday. The bug led to the accidental destruction of 42 NFTs, which were worth $100,000 in total.


The bug basically sent certain NFTs to a burn address, which is a blockchain address that is controlled by no one. As a result, these NFTs cannot be accessed or moved ever again.

Johnson said he discovered the bug when he tried to move the first ENS name ever registered — rilxxlir.eth, a palindrone — to his own account. He tried to use OpenSea at the time and realized what was happening.

“A frantic call to OpenSea later, it transpires I was the first and apparently only victim of a bug introduced to their transfer page in the past 24 hours, which affected all ERC721 transfers to ENS names. Ownership of rilxxlir.eth is now permanently burned,” he tweeted

ENS is a service that allows users to put blockchain addresses with domain names, making them easier to interact with.

Between OpenSea’s bugs and a general downturn amidst cryptocurrencies, it’s possible that the NFT market has also slowed down proportionally. But just like the crypto space, it may be too early to write this phenomenon off.

For a more in-depth discussion, come on over to Business Insider Cryptosphere — a forum where users can deep dive into all things crypto, engage in interesting discussions and stay ahead of the curve.

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