Investor interest in non-fungible tokens (NFTs) has declined significantly for the first time since early November.

Despite the market downturn, Solana (SOL) became the second-largest network for the asset class.

According to data provided by CryptoSlam, the global NFT sales volume witnessed a 42% plunge in the past 24 hours, falling to $64.3 million. The total number of NFT transactions also declined by 21%, closing down to the 350,000 mark.

NFT sales and wash trades volume – Dec. 18 | Source: CryptoSlamThe notable plunges come three days after the NFT sales volume hit a 20-month-high of $132.3 million on Dec. 15 — a level last seen in mid-May 2022

Per CryptoSlam data, while the amount of wash trades declined by 16.5% — currently standing at $6.5 million — the number of wash transactions witnessed a significant surge of 90.7%, surpassing the 30,000 mark in a day.

Solana’s rally

Ethereum has been dominating the NFT scene since the creation of digital collectibles until the Bitcoin (BTC) Ordinals arrived, making Ethereum take the second spot

However, CryptoSlam data shows that Solana surpassed Ethereum by a slight difference, becoming the second-largest blockchain for NFTs with a 24-hour trading volume of $9.58 million. Ethereum took the third spot with a $9.57 million sales volume.

One of the key points for the fall of the NFT sales volume could be the downward momentum of the broader crypto market. Per a recent report, last week digital investment products saw a total of $16 million outflows for the first time after 11 weeks