The hype once driving the popularity of non-fungible tokens (NFT) may have finally settled, said Jeff Garzik, a former Bitcoin core developer and co-founder of software development company Bloq.

“I call the [NFT] market ‘pleasantly down to Earth,’” Garzik, who is also the founder of Web3 focused entertainment company NextCypher Productions, told CoinDesk TV’s “First Mover” on Tuesday.

While still nowhere near the volumes of last year, things have been picking up with NFTs. According to a report from online store for decentralized applications (dapp) DappRadar, the NFT market had a 137% increase in trading volume during the first quarter of this year. Despite a slight decrease of over 15% during March, the ecosystem reached $4.7 billion in total value for the first quarter.

New and emerging online marketplaces such as Blur led a substantial increase in the overall trading volume during the ecosystem’s first quarter. Garzik said projects like Blur are “fantastic” in that they will drive market competition, and are likely to “force other competitors in the market to improve and to get better.”

(By Fran Velasquez)