The sale of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) continued its downward trend in September, with monthly sales of digital collectibles showing no signs of recovery.

According to data from CryptoSlam, NFT sales in September totaled $296 million, marking a 20% drop from the $373 million in August. These figures represent a massive 81% decline from the peak volume of $1.6 billion in March, which was the strongest sales month for digital collectibles in 2024.

NFT sales reach lowest point in years

With sales volume falling below $300 million in September, NFTs saw their worst month since January 2021, when monthly sales dropped to just $109 million. In addition to the revenue decline, the total number of NFT transactions also saw a sharp drop of 32%, falling from 7.3 million in August to 4.9 million in September.

Increase in average transaction value

Despite the negative overall trends in the NFT ecosystem, the average value per transaction increased. The average transaction amount rose by 18%, from $50.71 in August to $60 in September. This suggests that while there were fewer transactions, the remaining ones had higher values.

NFTs under SEC scrutiny

This downward trend in the NFT market coincides with growing attention from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). On August 28, Devin Finzer, CEO of NFT marketplace OpenSea, reported that the company had received a Wells notice from the SEC. The agency alleged that certain NFTs on the platform may be considered unregistered securities.

On September 16, the SEC fined the NFT-focused restaurant chain Flyfish Club $750,000 for selling NFTs. This move drew criticism from SEC commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda, who argued that the NFTs sold by Flyfish were merely an innovative way to sell memberships and should not fall under securities regulations.

Reactions to the SEC‘s actions

Despite the SEC‘s tough stance on NFTs, Luca Schnetzler, CEO of the popular Pudgy Penguins NFT collection, dismissed the regulator's actions as “nonsense.” In a previous interview with Cointelegraph, Schnetzler described the SEC‘s measures as a “nothing burger,” arguing that if the SEC targets platforms like OpenSea, it would also need to pursue larger organizations such as Sotheby‘s, Nike, and even Pokémon, all of which have dabbled in the NFT space.