Non-fungible tokens (NFT) are taking the crypto world by storm and mobile NFT marketplaces like Binance, OpenSea, and NinjaFT are rocketing up Android’s global top charts. In this article, we use our app intelligence solutions to analyze the performances of three of the top mobile NFT Marketplaces in 2022.
Here’s what we’ll cover (click the links below to jump to the relevant sections):
The Top Mobile NFT Marketplaces in 2022
1. Binance: BTC NFTs Memes & Meta by Binance Inc.
- Short Description: Bitcoin, Crypto, NFTs, SHIB, DOGE. Get them all at the world's largest exchange.
- December Monthly Active Users (MAU): 7,609,740
- 30-Day Downloads: 3,093,399
- Total Downloads: 10,000,000+
2. OpenSea: NFT marketplace by OpenSea
- Short Description: Discover, collect, and sell NFTs on the largest NFT marketplace.
- December Monthly Active Users (MAU): 115,754
- 30-Day Downloads: 2,245,278
- Total Downloads: 1,000,000+
3. NFT Creator - NinjaFT by Staats Customs Inc.
- Short Description: Mint NFT & make trading cards swiftly and securely with in-app purchase.
- December Monthly Active Users (MAU): 32,029
- 30-Day Monthly Downloads: 333,338
- Total Downloads: 500,000+
Analysis of the Top Mobile NFT Marketplaces in 2022
Global Downloads (December 27th, 2021 - January 26th, 2022)
In the chart above you’ll find daily global downloads for the Android versions of Binance, OpenSea, and NinjaFT. In particular, this chart depicts downloads between December 27th, 2021 and January 26th, 2022.
Binance currently leads the pack with 3,093,399 downloads over the last 30 days. OpenSea and NinjaFT, meanwhile, drummed up 2,245,278 and 333,338, respectively.
In addition, Binance tallied 359,276 downloads on December 31st, 2021, their best single day performance of the month. OpenSea (145,574 downloads on January 21st) and NinjaFT (19,862 on January 23rd) haven’t managed to match this single-day output, but still generated impressive numbers over the last 30 days.
Notably, each of these apps experienced spikes around December 31st and January 5th. These dates seem to coincide with a slew of articles from online publications, like Financial Times, that opined on the rise of NFTs in 2021.
It’s also worth pointing out that downloads for these apps began to trend steadily upwards in mid-January. This correlates relatively closely with global Google search volume for the term “NFT.”
Monthly Active Users (MAU) (January 2021 - December 2021)
Below, you’ll find MAU trends for each of the top three NFT marketplace apps. If you’re not familiar with the term, then here’s a brief definition. MAUs are the number of unique users who have visited an app within a 30-day time frame. They are a common key performance indicator (KPI) in the digital space and are often used to measure the popularity of apps, websites, and other digital mediums, as well as the general health and performance of the businesses that operate them.
Binance
In December 2021, Binance had a record 7,609,740 MAUs, up from just 860,261 in January of the same year. That’s a near-ninefold increase in users over the course of 12 months. MAUs were especially high in the United States, France, Spain, Turkey, and the Philippines.
OpenSea
The first thing to note here is that OpenSea is a much newer app than Binance, having been launched on September 15, 2021. Nevertheless, the app notched 13,402 MAUs by the end of September. By December, OpenSea had 115,754 users. That’s a near-ninefold increase over the span of just three and a half months. Not too shabby.
NinjaFT
NinjaFT performed more modestly. While it had 8,251 MAUs in January 2021, it wrapped up the year with 32,029. In other words, it’s on a clear upward trajectory; and if downloads are any indication, then NinjaFT is primed for a strong opening salvo to 2022. Stay tuned ;)
Top Chart Rankings (December 27th, 2021 - January 26th, 2022)
Finally, let’s take a look at the top chart rankings in the United States for each NFT marketplace app between December 27th, 2021 and January 26th, 2022. Now, please note that OpenSea and NinjaFT are deemed “Art & Design” apps on Google Play, while Binance falls under the “Finance” category. (This information is visible in the 30-day summary image in the first section of this article.)
OpenSea and NinjaFT have maintained remarkably high rankings in Google Play’s top charts. OpenSea currently sits at 4th in the Art & Design category, and has held the position since January 15th. Meanwhile, NinjaFT is currently ranked 30th, but has climbed as high as 21st in the analyzed time frame.
Binance has also performed admirably, despite the fact that the Finance category is substantially more competitive than the Art & Design category. Indeed, with over 3,000,000 global downloads over the last 30 days, Binance has managed to climb as high as 57th and has never fallen out of the top 80.
Of course, downloads are ticking up for all three apps. So, there’s a good chance that each will continue to climb global top charts in the weeks to come, and for as long as NFTs capture the collective imagination of the online hoi polloi.
Final Thoughts
Like many blockchain technologies, NFTs have been met with a healthy mix of skepticism and enthusiasm. Put in simpler, albeit reductive terms, while critics are quick to question the extravagant price tags associated with pixelated images of bored apes, defenders are equally quick to point out that physical pieces of art don’t typically hold much intrinsic value either and are similarly extravagantly priced.
Nevertheless, NFTs are an interesting phenomenon because they solve one of the fundamental obstacles that cryptocurrencies face when it comes to wider adoption. Namely, they’re easy to understand and easy to interact with. They can be made, minted, bought, sold, or traded. Indeed, ask a layman to describe Bitcoin or Ethereum, and you’ll likely get a confused response about mining, wallets, the gold standard, the value of money — maybe even a diatribe against central banks. But ask said layman about NFTs and you’ll get something a little less perplexing — they’re like trading cards!
In any event, there’s no telling how long the NFT trend will last. But what’s obvious is that it’s only just getting started. The OpenSea app, for instance, was launched four months ago but has already generated millions of downloads and hundreds of thousands of MAUs. This tells us two things. The first is that there’s extraordinary demand for NFT marketplaces. The second is that competition in the space is wide, wide open and new players are bound to shake things up even further.
If you want to keep an eye on the most popular mobile NFT marketplaces, schedule a demo to learn more about the 42matters App Watchlist.
