Web3 Domain Names Are Overtaking Apes in Trading Volume on OpenSea

Trading volume for domain names for Web3 sites has overtaken digital art pieces from the famous Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) non-fungible token (NFT) collections.

Based on trading data from NFT marketplace OpenSea, ENS has now become the top NFT project on Ethereum (ETH) in terms of seven-day trading volume. Notably, this means that the domain name service has surpassed even wildly popular NFT collections such as BAYC, CloneX and Moonbirds.

The trading volume recorded for ENS names reached 3,762 ETH, or USD 6.6m, on OpenSea in the last seven days. For comparison, BAYC recorded a trading volume of 2,417 ETH (USD 4.2m), while other popular NFT collections such as Otherdeed for Otherside and CloneX saw trading volumes of 2,920 ETH (USD 5.1m) and 981 ETH (USD 1.7m), respectively.

Top 5 Ethereum NFT projects by trading volume on OpenSea:

Among the biggest players in the Web3 domain name space is Ethereum Name Service (ENS) and Unstoppable Domains.

For example, ENS allows users to register domains that exist on the Ethereum blockchain. The domains are programmable and can interact with decentralized applications (dApps) on the Ethereum blockchain. ENS domains follow the “name.eth” naming convention, while those from Unstoppable Domains can take multiple forms, including “name.crypto,” “name.nft,” “name.bitcoin,” and others.

Commenting in an article published by Forbes this weekend, Unstoppable Domains’ Senior Vice President Sandy Carter said: “I’m most excited about how NFT domains can become your single name for Web3 that allows you to own your digital identity.”

“In the future, your NFT domain will allow you to carry your reputation across all your favorite apps, games, and metaverses, all without giving up control of your data,” she added.

Web3 domains names have become popular among speculators, with many seeing them as potentially lucrative investments if for instance large companies later shows interest in establishing a Web3 presence.

Likely helped by the surge in interest in Web3 domains, Ethereum Name Service’s own utility token ENS has gained more than 12% over the past 7 days, and was as of 10:40 UTC trading at USD 15.42.

ENS price past 90 days: