What happened?
NFT trading volumes have dropped for the fifth straight quarter, plummeting 80% to $823 million in Q2 2025 from $4 billion during the same period last year. This marks the weakest NFT market performance since its peak in 2022, when annual trading volumes exceeded $50 billion. Despite this downturn, the number of NFT sales has actually increased by 78%, suggesting that while prices have fallen, interest in NFTs remains strong.
Who does this affect?
This decline in NFT trading volumes affects various stakeholders in the NFT ecosystem, including creators, traders, and marketplace operators. Major platforms such as Bybit, Solsniper, and LG Art Lab have shut down their NFT operations due to declining trading volumes and strategic shifts. On the flip side, user interest remains, as evidenced by a 20% increase in the number of active NFT traders, indicating a shift in user intent within the market.
Why does this matter?
The continued decline in NFT trading volumes has significant implications for the market, highlighting a shift away from speculative trading towards more utility-driven use cases. As dominant platforms exit the market or restructure, this consolidates market leadership to more resilient players like OpenSea. Additionally, the collapse of the NFT lending market by 97% underscores the diminished appetite for speculative investments, prompting a reevaluation of NFT value propositions and opportunities for new entrants focusing on functional applications of NFTs.