The worldwide non-fungible token (NFT) sector fell beneath $1.5 billion in whole market capitalization, returning to ranges final seen earlier than the sector’s speedy growth in 2021.
The retracement unfolded alongside a broader crypto market downturn over the previous two weeks, CoinGecko information exhibits. On Jan. 23, whole crypto market capitalization stood at about $3.1 trillion, earlier than falling to $2.2 trillion on Friday.
Main property like Bitcoin (BTC) slid from round $89,000 to about $65,000, whereas Ether (ETH) fell from $3,000 to close $1,800 all through the identical timeframe. Bitcoin and Ethereum are the highest two networks for NFTs by way of 30-day buying and selling quantity, in accordance NFT information aggregator CryptoSlam.
The NFT market cap drop follows a number of high-profile closures and exits, highlighting the sector’s continued contraction.
Rising provide collides with falling demand
The market reset has been compounded by a rising imbalance between NFT provide and purchaser demand.
As reported by Cointelegraph on Dec. 31, whole NFT provide continued to develop at the same time as gross sales and costs declined, pushing the sector right into a high-volume, low-price construction.
CryptoSlam information confirmed that the variety of NFTs in circulation rose to almost 1.3 billion in 2025, up by 25% in comparison with 2024. Whole NFT gross sales fell 37% year-over-year to $5.6 billion, whereas common sale costs slipped beneath $100.
The divergence means that whereas minting grew to become cheaper and obstacles to issuance fell, purchaser participation and spending didn’t sustain.
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Company exits and platform closures add strain
The drop follows a collection of high-profile retreats that mirror the market’s pullback. On Jan. 7, footwear big Nike quietly offloaded RTFKT, the digital collectibles studio it acquired on the peak of the NFT growth.
The reported sale adopted the corporate’s choice to close down operations amid an investor lawsuit.
As well as, market shutdowns have accelerated. Nifty Gateway, one of many earliest NFT platforms, mentioned it’s going to shut on Feb. 23 and has entered withdrawal-only mode. The Gemini-owned platform cited a protracted market downturn because it winds down.
On Jan. 28, social NFT platform Rodeo introduced it will stop operations after failing to scale sustainably. Rodeo mentioned it will transition to read-only mode earlier than shutting down fully in March.
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