According to Forkast Labs, Ethereum non-functional token (NFT) issuance, or the value of initial sales generated by mining NFTs, fell to a record low of US$17.55 million in September, down 12.4 per cent from US$20.05 million in August.

NFTs are blockchain-based digital assets that can provide information about digital ownership. Notable collections such as Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) traded at a minimum price of 128 ETH (US$211,000) in May 2022 before falling more than 60% along with other notable NFT collections such as CryptoPunks, which fell 60.4% to 45 Eth (US$72,727) from an all-time high of 113.9 Eth (US$184,080) recorded on 9 October 2021.

Reflecting the overall bear market for NFTs, the Forkast ETH NFT Composite index, which measures the performance of the 250 largest NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain, fell 48% over the past year to an all-time low of 715.22 points recorded on 28 September.

NFT mining volume on the Polygon blockchain fell to a seven-month low of $4.7 million in September, down from a yearly high of $14.44 million in August. Year-to-date, NFT production at Polygon is up 219 per cent from US$1.47 million in January. Despite the rising performance, the Forkast POL NFT Composite index has fallen more than 46% over the past year.