<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace volumes had been steadily decreasing between August and November 2021. December broke that trend, according to <a href="https://www.theblockresearch.com/december-by-the-numbers-2-128922">The Block Research</a>. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Monthly NFT volumes for Ethereum-based marketplaces increased 16.6% from November to December, reaching $2.26 billion in the last month of 2021. </span></p> <p><img class="size-medium wp-image-128994 aligncenter" src="https://www.tbstat.com/wp/uploads/2022/01/Screen-Shot-2022-01-03-at-10.41.11-AM-800x416.png" alt="" width="800" height="416" /></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Possible explanations for December’s rise in sales volume could be increased interest in Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and gaming-focused NFTs during that month. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In late </span><a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/125483/moonpay-concierge-celebrities-nft"><span style="font-weight: 400;">November</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, the UK-based crypto payment firm MoonPay introduced a service that allowed celebrities to purchase expensive NFTs such as BAYC. By December 2, celebrities such as Post Malone, Jimmy Falon, Diplo and DJ Khaled had purchased an Ape using </span><a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/126088/nft-moonpay"><span style="font-weight: 400;">MoonPay’s services</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">While BAYC rose to record highs, gaming-focused NFTs also rose in prominence in December. As The Block’s data shows, gaming NFTs followed a similar trend to NFT marketplace sales volume; weekly transaction volume for gaming NFTs declined steadily from August to November before increasing from November to December. </span></p> <p><iframe frameborder="0" height="420" src="https://embed.theblockcrypto.com/data/nft-non-fungible-tokens/gaming/weekly-gaming-nft-transactions/embed" title="Weekly Gaming NFT Transactions" width="100%"></iframe></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In December, Twitch’s co-founder Justin Kan </span><a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/127360/twitch-co-founder-justin-kan-to-launch-a-gaming-nft-marketplace-called-fractal"><span style="font-weight: 400;">announced</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and </span><a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/128189/gaming-nft-platform-fractal-launches"><span style="font-weight: 400;">launched</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> a gaming-focused NFT platform called Fractal and the gaming giant </span><a href="https://www.theblockcrypto.com/linked/126668/gaming-giant-ubisoft-is-testing-in-game-nfts-through-a-new-platform"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Ubisoft</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> began experimenting with NFTs.</span></p>