In 2021, a non-fungible token (NFT) by digital artist Beeple sold at Christie’s auction for a staggering $69.3 million. About a year later, blockchain entrepreneur Deepak Thapliyal purchased the CryptoPunk NFT for $23.7 million, one of the most costly pieces of digital art ever sold.
But these were the glory days of NFTs, when digital collectibles routinely fetched eight-figure prices and mainstream institutions rushed to legitimize the market.
In 2025, the market has changed, with NFT trading volume plummeting from its peak in 2021, and buyers placing greater emphasis on utility, community, and long-term relevance rather than headline-grabbing prices.
NFT market in 2025
The NFT market started 2025 under pressure, with first-quarter sales falling 63% year-over-year to $1.5 billion, compared to $4.1 billion in the same period in 2024. The downturn worsened in March, when monthly sales fell 76% to $373 million from $1.6 billion a year earlier.
In November, NFT sales dropped to their lowest monthly level of the year, and the market capitalization of digital collectibles dropped more than 66% from January’s highs. CryptoSlam Data can be seen monthly sales fell to $320 million, about half of October’s $629 million.
Despite the broader slowdown, a compact number of collections continued to attract buyers. Pudgy Penguins reported sales of $72 million in the first quarter, up 13% year-over-year, which may be due to the market’s shift from Web3 to a physical toy brand.
Long-term top-cap collections are also based on cultural positioning, not price dynamics. In May, Yuga Labs sold the intellectual property rights to CryptoPunks to the nonprofit Infinite Node Foundation, in a move intended to place one of the earliest NFT projects under long-term cultural stewardship.
CryptoPunks’ floor price is currently 26.99 ETH (ETH), down about 78% from its August 2021 high of 125 ETH but still enough to hold its position peak profile photo (PFP) NFT collection.
At the time of writing, CoinGecko data showed that the total NFT market cap has dropped to around $2.56 billion. At the peak of the NFT craze in April 2022, the market capitalization was approximately $16.8 billion.
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NFTs are moving from speculation to real-world employ
While interest in profile image (PFP) NFTs has waned across much of the cryptocurrency market, NFTs tied to real-world employ cases remain popular.
Marketplaces like OpenSea have expanded to become universal onchain trading hubs, while newer activity in the space has focused on NFTs tied to tickets and physical goods.
International sports organizations are constantly experimenting with NFTs for access to events, including FIFAwhich uses blockchain-based “Right to Buy” tokens as part of its approach to selling tickets for the 2026 World Cup.
NFTs give their holders priority access to purchase tickets at face value, rather than guaranteeing entry, in an effort to curb price gouging on secondary markets. According to FIFA Collect dataNFT tournament bookings for matches featuring teams such as Argentina, Spain, France, England and Brazil were priced at $999 and have sold out.
Another NFT segment showing resilience in 2025 is actual collector-backed NFTs, particularly trading cards. Platforms like Courtyard.io have emerged among players in this niche, combining Pokémon cards with onchain tokens.
Courtyard stores authenticated cards in vaults, allows users to trade them as NFTs, and offers mystery packs that can be traded or resold, combining blockchain verification with time-honored collection mechanics.
According to CryptoSlam, in the last 30 days, the company has processed over 230,000 transactions and generated approximately $12.7 million in sales data.
Nicolas le Jeune, CEO of Courtyard, told Cointelegraph that the company’s approach reflects a broader shift in how NFTs are used, treating blockchain infrastructure as a means rather than a product itself. He said:
“We use Web3 as a tool, not a destination. The value we offer isn’t something that’s on the blockchain – it’s the experience and the core asset.”
He emphasized that tokenization alone does not create value, saying that “the cards you buy on Courtyard are not worth more because they are NFTs. The value is the underlying asset – an NFT simply gives you a better way to experience it.”
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