Despite enduring a prolonged slump spanning four consecutive weeks, eight prominent blockchain networks collectively amassed a staggering $3.77 billion in non-fungible token (NFT) sales during the first quarter of 2024. Emerging as the frontrunner in this domain, NFTs revolving around the Ethereum ecosystem accounted for a substantial portion, totaling $1.4 billion or 37% of the overall NFT sales during Q1 2024.

Recent data unveils a flurry of activity within the digital collectible market, with transactions amounting to a noteworthy $1.15 billion in the past month alone. Drawing insights from cryptoslam.io as of April 1, Coin98 Analytics sheds light on the leading eight blockchain networks in terms of NFT sales during the first quarter.

According to these findings, Ethereum-based NFTs commanded a lion's share of $1.4 billion in total sales over the course of three months. Notably, Ethereum also recorded a substantial volume of $970 million attributed to wash trades, a distinction elucidated by Coin98 Analytics categorizing sales into 'organic' and 'wash volume'.

Fundamentally, wash trading entails the repetitive trading of an asset by the same entity on an NFT platform, with the aim of artificially inflating the asset's value. Unfortunately, this practice of cyclically selling NFTs, often across multiple iterations, to artificially bolster perceived value and sales volume, remains prevalent within the industry.

NFTs emanating from the Bitcoin blockchain amassed a commendable $1.2 billion in genuine sales, alongside a negligible $3 million attributed to wash trades. Securing the third position in the Q1 rankings, Solana witnessed a remarkable $699 million in organic NFT transactions.

Furthermore, Solana encountered approximately $228 million in wash trading volume, as revealed by the data. Polygon, on the other hand, registered $179 million in organic sales juxtaposed with $62 million in artificial volume, while Mythos garnered $81 million in sales, with a mere $800,000 in wash trades.

Avalanche mirrored Mythos in terms of organic sales, amounting to $81 million, albeit with a higher wash trade volume totaling $37 million. BNB, the native token of the Binance ecosystem, tallied $70 million in NFT transactions, accompanied by a nominal $300,000 in wash trades. Immutable X made its mark with $68 million in genuine sales, devoid of any wash trade volume.