NFTs that once fetched astronomical prices are now mostly just obscure little images with no demand, and many NFT project teams have left the scene amid waves of transitions, sales, and shutdowns. The event NFT Paris has recently announced its discontinuation in a disappointing manner and has even become embroiled in refund disputes. After years of a downward cycle, hot money has exited and narratives have failed, making “NFTs are dead” seem to have become the market consensus. However, in early 2026, the NFT market unexpectedly showed signs of recovery, with prices rebounding and trading volumes warming up.
Have NFTs truly made a comeback? What are the players who have remained in the market up to now actually doing? As 2026 approaches, the long-silent NFT market has finally begun to show some long-awaited ripples. According to data from CoinGecko, the overall market capitalization of the NFT market has increased by over $220 million in the past week since the beginning of 2026. Data from NFT Price Floor further shows that hundreds of NFT projects have experienced price recoveries in the past week, with some projects even recording increases in the hundreds or thousands of percent.
For players who have endured multiple years of a downward cycle, their fantasies have long been shattered, and this market situation feels like a scene from another world. Although it is merely a drop in the bucket compared to historical peaks, the long-awaited green rally still provides some comfort to the players who have held on through the bleak period expected by the end of 2025. However, peeling back the curtain of rising prices, the current market recovery seems more like a game of existing capital within a very limited scope, rather than a genuine revival driven by new inflows of capital. The extreme lack of liquidity remains a critical and inescapable flaw for the current market.
From the weekly trading volume perspective, among more than 1,700 NFT projects, only six reached a trading volume in the millions of dollars, 14 projects achieved trading volumes in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and only 72 projects reached trading volumes in the tens of thousands of dollars. Overall, the numbers are very limited. Even for top projects with relatively high trading volumes, the proportion of active-trading NFTs to the total supply is only in the single digits. For the majority of NFTs, the number of transactions is in the single digits or even zero.
In this prolonged deep winter cold snap, from infrastructure to blue-chip projects, various survival strategies are being played out in different forms. For example, the trading leader OpenSea is no longer fixated on JPEG images, instead transitioning to token trading through airdrop incentives. The once-dominant NFT blockchain Flow is now exploring DeFi as a new growth area. Zora has abandoned the traditional NFT model, shifting toward a new track of “content as tokens”. Even the iconic NFT Paris event was canceled due to a lack of funds and was exposed for being unable to refund sponsorships, clearly illustrating the industry’s current difficulties. Even those top-tier NFTs that still retain a hint of vitality have fallen into the paradox of “high acclaim but poor sales,” where brand influence has not translated into a price moat. For example, Pudgy Penguins, although successfully establishing its IP reputation in the mainstream world and enjoying strong sales of physical toys, still could not escape the gravitational pull of declining floor prices and token values. Meanwhile, the resolute exit of Web2 giants, such as Reddit ceasing its NFT services and Nike selling its subsidiary RTFKT, has further shattered the market’s last illusion of mainstream adoption.
However, the decline of NFTs does not signify the disappearance of collecting or speculative demand; the capital has simply moved to a different battlefield. Compared to virtual images on the blockchain, physical markets outside the crypto space—such as collectible toys and trading cards—remain highly popular. For example, the trading volume of Pokémon TCG (Trading Card Game) has exceeded $10 billion, with revenue surpassing $1 billion. Not only ordinary collectors, but even crypto elites are also starting to vote with their feet, returning to physical assets and top-tier collectibles.
For example, crypto artist Beeple has turned his attention to physical robot art, and his robotic dogs featuring celebrities like Musk were quickly sold out. Wintermute co-founder Yoann Turpin jointly invested $5 million to purchase a dinosaur fossil. Animoca founder Yat Siu spent $9 million to acquire a Stradivarius violin. Tron founder Justin Sun paid $6.2 million to purchase the expensive banana artwork “Comedian,” among others.
In the current market environment, ordinary investors need to face the reality of NFT liquidity depletion more seriously. After experiencing the baptism of the bubble burst, the NFT market has not fallen into a complete liquidity crisis, but rather shifted toward assets with high risk-reward ratios or clear value support. Speculative and Arbitrage Demand: Some players believe the market has hit a bottom and buy in, attempting short-term trading by capturing price mismatches. “Golden Shovel” Attribute: These are currently the NFTs with the highest market participation and the best liquidity.
In essence, these NFTs are no longer mere collectibles but financial instruments for obtaining future token airdrops, often granting holders airdrop or whitelist eligibility. However, once expectations materialize, it becomes a negative factor. Once the snapshot is completed or the airdrop is distributed, if the project team does not provide new utilities or value to the NFTs, the floor price often plummets rapidly, and in some cases, even drops to zero. Therefore, these NFTs are more suitable as short-term investment or arbitrage tools rather than long-term value storage assets.
Endorsement by celebrities or top-tier projects: The value of such NFTs is driven by the attention economy, and endorsements from celebrities or leading projects often significantly boost their visibility and liquidity, thus creating short-term premiums. For example, the NFT series Hypurr NFT, airdropped by the top DEX HyperLiquid to early users, has continuously appreciated in value since its launch. Recently, after Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin changed his profile picture to a Milady NFT, the floor price of that collection clearly rose. Top IP: Such NFTs have often moved beyond simple speculation, with investment logic leaning more toward cultural identity and collectible value.
Their prices are relatively resilient to declines and they possess long-term value storage potential. For example, CryptoPunks, which were officially incorporated into the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York at the end of last year. Acquisition Narrative: When a project is acquired by a more powerful investor, the market will reprice it, expecting enhanced IP monetization capabilities and a stronger brand moat, which will drive the price upward. For example, Pudgy Penguins and Moonbirds both experienced significant price increases after being acquired.
Integration of Real-World Assets: By tokenizing real-world assets, NFTs can gain clear physical value support, while reducing downside risks and enhancing their potential to reach broader audiences. For example, recently popular platforms like Collector Crypt and Courtyard, which tokenize Pokémon cards, allow users to trade ownership of the cards with the physical items held in custody by the platform. Practical functions: NFT-based ticketing, using NFTs as voting rights for DAO decision-making, and AI on-chain identities (such as Ethereum’s ERC-8004, which introduces NFT-based AI agent identities). From this perspective, compared to chasing meaningless small images, NFTs with practical utility or clear upward potential are gradually becoming the focus of capital attention.
Leave a Reply