The NFT market has reached its lowest point in a year and a half, suggesting a long winter with digital collectibles going forward. According to a new report from Dappradar, sales volume for the second quarter of 2025 fell to $823 million, down from $4 billion in the same period in 2024.
This is a 19% decline since the first quarter of this year, marking the fifth consecutive quarter decline. this Continuous bust Draw bleak pictures for digitally collectible investors and creators.
So far, 2025 is the worst year in NFT history, with no actual recovery prospects. Almost every part of the industry is upset by the sudden decline, from established collections such as the boring Ape Yacht Club to new, small projects competing in to prove their value and utility.
There are several reasons behind the decline, experts say. Over the past few months, interest has waned among retailers who have gathered for digital collectibles in search of speed. Ethereum’s high gas prices, a decline in media talk, and increased skepticism about the long-term value of NFTs also didn’t help. In other words, fewer people buy, sell, or talk about digital collectibles.
When NFT platform loses users, hype fades
The NFTS collided with the mainstream in 2021 and 2022. They created an overnight billionaire from artists, creating a new generation of digital collectors. Landmark sales are most notable Beeple Auction at Christie’swhich of It won $69 million and made headlines around the world. In this golden age, digital collectible trading volumes skyrocketed above $500 billion a year, with some crude cartoon images changing hands for over $500,000.
But the gold rush didn’t last forever. But as quickly as the NFTS rose, they began to roll. Prices began to fall in mid-2022, erasing billions of dollars worth. The once-high-profile collection is now available for sale at a mere fraction of its peak prices. Today, many investors are holding onto assets that are inherently worthless.
The decline in traffic and trading activity has affected even major NFT markets such as Opensea, which was once the dominant platform for collectors. Others, including Lookrare and Blur, are hanging heavy incentives to make users almost useless.
From basketball players to internet stars, even the bands and celebrities who once promoted digital collectibles the most aggressively, don’t make a loud noise. Many projects launched during the hype period have been claimed to be dead or fraudulent. By reducing buyer sentiment, the atmosphere of digital collectibles has even been transformed into cautious optimism and skepticism.
Trump launches NFT but fails to revive the market
And one of the last famous figures still pushing digital collectibles is US President Donald Trump. Since taking the political stage again, he has released four NFT collections. All of this can seem like he has a bold and sometimes humorous interpretation of himself, a superhero outfit, a gold stick, or even a symbolic embrace of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin.
Each of his previous releases sold out within hours. Trump also had something special NFT holdersThe 2023 dinner attracted a lot of media coverage. The NFT Drop has become part of his fundraising strategy, politics, pop culture and code mishmash.
But even the Trump celebrity draw hasn’t reversed the wider tide. The Bitise Blue-chip NFT Collection Index, which measures the performance of top NFT art and collection projects, has fallen 52% since January 2024, when Trump’s reelection campaign began to heat up. This means that stocks could drop from new infections, but could lead to a blip of interest in the first place, but doesn’t seem to bring the market back to sustainability.
Meanwhile, other segments of the cryptospace have proven more resilient. Meanwhile, Bitcoin and Ethereum rebounded at prices in 2024 thanks to institutional investment and optimism in Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs). However, the NFT has not benefited from its bouncing back.