After a prolonged period of subdued activity, the non-fungible token (NFT) market is beginning to show signs of resurgence. Recent data indicates that weekly trading volume has reached $128 million, with the number of active buyers increasing by over 50%, based on insights from NFT data aggregator CryptoSlam.io. In contrast, a new analysis from DappRadar, a web3 tool for decentralized applications, revealed a significant downturn in NFT trading volumes during the second quarter of 2025, marking the fifth straight quarterly decline for the sector.
NFT Trading Experiences Significant Decline
The NFT trading landscape suffered an 80% year-on-year decrease, plummeting to $823 million from $4 billion in the same quarter in 2024. This decline represents the lowest performance metrics seen since the height of the NFT boom in 2022, as reported by DappRadar. Despite this drop in trading activity, overall NFT sales experienced a remarkable increase of 78%, suggesting that while interest in NFTs persists, the prices have undergone substantial decreases. The gaming sector emerged as a leading force during this period, with titles like Guild of Guardians securing two positions within the top five NFT collections, surpassing iconic collections such as CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club. Conversely, profile picture (PFP) NFTs faced a 72% drop in volume while Real World Assets (RWAs) gained traction with a 29% increase. Domain NFTs also saw a rise, particularly on the TON blockchain, where Telegram users acquired anonymous number-based domains. In contrast, the art category experienced a 51% decline in volume but an impressive 400% increase in total sales, indicating broader accessibility at lower price points. Additionally, the number of monthly NFT traders grew by 20%, reaching 668,598, which signifies a renewed interest from users looking to explore applications beyond mere collectibles.
Signs of a Possible NFT Recovery
A recent report from insidebitcoins.com highlighted that the NFT market is showing potential signs of recovery, particularly in the first week of July, with total trading volume climbing to $128.4 million, reflecting a 1.84% increase from the previous week. According to CryptoSlam.io, the number of NFT buyers surged to over 1.06 million, marking a growth of 50.56%, while both sellers and transaction counts also experienced notable increases. Over the past 24 hours, the global NFT market maintained strong upward momentum, with sales volume hitting $18.07 million, a rise of 23.66%. The number of NFT buyers increased by 21.71% to 96,382, while sellers grew by 4.90% to 6,830. The total number of transactions also saw a healthy uptick, rising 9.19% to 216,887. Between July 3 and July 9, 2025, Ethereum led NFT blockchain sales with a volume of $23.7 million, up 5.39%, closely followed by Polygon, which saw $23.6 million in sales, a 12.33% increase and the largest number of buyers at over 110,600—a 35.63% rise. Mythos Chain secured third place with $14.3 million in sales, while Bitcoin experienced a notable surge of 41.41% to $12.7 million. BNB Chain also reported $9.3 million in sales. In contrast, Immutable, previously a top performer, saw a 35.08% decline to $5.9 million in the past week.
Gaming Sector Drives NFT Market Activity
In response to inquiries from BitPinas, Jopet Arias, a prominent Filipino NFT artist and co-founder of TLYR Collective, shared insights regarding the recent uptick in NFT sales, attributing much of this activity to the web3 gaming sector. “The recent spike in NFT sales appears to be coming mostly from the gaming sector—specifically from collectibles tied to web3 games… After looking into it, some of these games do seem decent. While they’re not AAA-level in terms of polish, there’s something intriguing about them.” Arias pointed out that several projects exhibit early promise, with previews and websites indicating that development teams are actively working to create engaging and playable experiences. He emphasized that if current sales trends reflect genuine interest in gaming NFTs, it could signify a healthy shift in the market, prompting exploration of innovative formats and economic models. However, he also expressed caution, noting that many web3 games are still in their initial developmental phases and often lack refined gameplay, cohesive narratives, and robust world-building—elements crucial for establishing enduring game intellectual properties. While the interest shown is encouraging, he has yet to personally try many of these games since they are still in their formative stages. Looking ahead, Arias expressed a desire to witness these projects mature and evolve beyond mere speculation. “What I’m looking forward to is seeing these projects mature—to move beyond hype and inflated valuations, and just be called what they are: games. Games that people enjoy not because they’re tied to tokens, but because they offer something meaningful, fun, or emotionally resonant. The web3 label shouldn’t be the main selling point. The experience itself should be.”
Leading NFT Projects and Collections
Over the past week, data from CryptoSlam.io indicated that NFT trading activity has been largely concentrated among a few standout collections, with Courtyard, DMarket, and DNS leading the sales volume rankings. Courtyard topped the list with $17.56 million, despite a small decline in activity. DMarket secured second place with $9.13 million and the highest number of transactions, reflecting consistent user engagement. DNS experienced the most significant growth, skyrocketing 334% to $4.88 million in sales, although it had a limited number of buyers. Conversely, both PGNFT and Guild of Guardians Heroes faced substantial drops in sales and user activity.
Overview of Notable NFT Platforms
Courtyard is a blockchain-based platform that digitizes physical collectibles such as trading cards and memorabilia into NFTs. Users can buy, sell, or trade these items digitally, with each being securely stored in a vault and backed 1:1 by a token on the Polygon network, ensuring authenticity and ownership. Collectors have the option to redeem the physical item by burning the NFT or continue trading it online.
DMarket serves as an NFT marketplace specializing in esports and in-game collectibles, including skins, weapons, and armor from popular multiplayer titles like CS:GO, Dota 2, and Rust. It allows users to tokenize and trade virtual items as NFTs while offering features such as instant sales and face-to-face trading without transferring assets off-platform. With support for over 40 payment methods, DMarket has processed more than 40 million transactions since its inception, appealing mainly to gamers and esports enthusiasts.
DNS refers to NFT domains, representing a blockchain-based alternative to traditional domain names managed through the Domain Name System (DNS). These domains, stored on a blockchain, afford owners complete control and permanent ownership, usable as human-readable wallet addresses or for hosting decentralized websites. Unlike conventional DNS domains, NFT domains do not incur renewal fees and are immune to seizure or censorship by third parties.
PGNFT denotes a large-scale NFT initiative known as PGNFT CLUB, notable for its Civilization Rabbit (PCCR) collection. Hosted on the BNB Smart Chain, this collection comprises over 123,000 NFTs inspired by Chinese civilization, incorporating historical landmarks and cultural elements. Each NFT is represented as a BEP-721 token and can be traded on platforms like OpenSea (BNB Chain).
Guild of Guardians Heroes NFTs represent playable characters within the mobile fantasy RPG Guild of Guardians. Based on the Immutable zkEVM blockchain, these NFTs grant players true ownership of their in-game heroes, which can be utilized in gameplay, traded, or rented to other players. Each hero possesses unique traits and abilities, contributing to team strategies during dungeon battles.
Top Collectible Sales in the NFT Market
In the realm of collectible sales, the CryptoPunks collection dominated last week’s transactions, with all entries in the top ten coming from this renowned series. The highest sales were for Punk #1831 and Punk #9778, each fetching 150 $ETH. Notably, there was a significant drop in sale prices beyond the top two, with Punk #4868 selling for 76.5 $ETH, which represents nearly a 50% decline in USD value compared to the top sales. The remaining entries in the top ten sales ranged from 48.5 to 70 $ETH.
