NFT companies were a big M&A target during first half of the year

Companies operating in the non-fungible token market are seeing their presence in crypto deal-making increase, according to data compiled by The Block. 

Around 38% of merger and acquisitions among non-fungible token (NFT) and so-called game finance (GameFi) companies occurred over the past two quarters. 

Fifty-three M&A deals in NFT and GameFi occurred since 2013, a July 13 report published by John Dantoni from The Block Research found. The first and second quarters of 2022 saw eight and twelve deals respectively. These 20 deals making it the largest uptick in M&A deals in these industries ever. 

The record twelve deals in the second quarter of 2022 occurred during an NFT market cool down, in which floor prices and market volume fell considerably. 

At the beginning of the year, NFTs were largely thought to be insulated from market conditions since they provide more functionality, such as access to an exclusive community or in-game usage, than other types of crypto tokens. These assets—like art or release estate—are also more illiquid, meaning more difficult to sell. This insulation did not last, but it seems that NFT companies are still an M&A target in the bear market. 

In fact, the highest M&A deal of the 2022’s second quarter involved NFTs and GameFi, specifically OpenSea’s acquisition of Gem for $238 million.