The global non-fungible token (NFT) market has shed almost half its value over the past 30 days, dropping from $6.6 billion to $3.5 billion.
This sharp 45% decline comes even as trading activity increased throughout October, signaling that investor confidence remains fragile, reports Cointelegraph.
Data from CryptoSlam showed $631 million in NFT sales during the month, up 13% from September, driven by renewed interest in Bitcoin and Base NFTs, which grew 9% and 24%, respectively. Meanwhile, other blockchains fared far worse—BNB Chain and Polygon saw losses of 82% and 86%, while Ethereum, the largest NFT ecosystem, dropped 25.5%. The market’s downturn underscores how speculative volatility continues to dominate digital collectibles despite brief rebounds in activity.
Blue-chip NFT collections struggle to hold value
Even leading “blue-chip” NFT projects were not immune to the sell-off. Data from NFT Price Floor revealed steep losses across high-profile collections such as CryptoPunks, whose floor price plunged from $214,000 to $117,000 in just one month—a 40% decline. Moonbirds saw even steeper drops, with prices falling from $14,700 to $6,500, while trading volume sank by 63%.
Interestingly, some collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and Pudgy Penguins experienced higher volumes—up 30% and 83%, respectively—but still lost nearly 50% of their floor value. Analysts say this divergence between trading activity and price strength highlights how NFT liquidity is speculative rather than fundamental, driven by short-term flipping and declining long-term conviction among collectors.
Industry pivots as NFT hype cools
As valuations collapse, major industry players are repositioning beyond NFTs. In October, OpenSea, the largest digital collectible marketplace with more than 522,000 traders, announced plans to evolve into a universal onchain trading hub, expanding beyond digital art into broader tokenized assets. The company rejected claims it was “pivoting away” from NFTs but acknowledged that diversification was crucial to sustainability.
Meanwhile, Animoca Brands, a key investor in Web3 gaming and metaverse projects, confirmed plans to list on Nasdaq, signaling traditional finance’s growing interest in blockchain-based entertainment despite the NFT slowdown. These developments suggest that the NFT market’s future may lie in integration with gaming, tokenized assets, and utility-driven ecosystems rather than pure digital art speculation.
Recently we wrote that the non-fungible token (NFT) sector is entering a new chapter in 2025, moving far beyond the speculative frenzy that characterized its early years.
Source: https://tradersunion.com/
