NFT trading volume drops 63% since december

The NFT market has experienced a 63% reduction in trading volume since December.  

DappRadar reported that NFTs performed the worst since 2020 last year, with traders generating $13.7 billion in trades and completing fewer than 50 million sales.  

Although NFTs gained traction toward the end of 2024, their trading volumes plunged by over 60% last month compared to December, mirroring a downturn in the crypto market.  

On March 6, DappRadar’s Sara Gherghelas reported that NFT trading volumes hit $1.36 billion in December but declined by 26% in January and dropped another 50% in February.  

“While NFTs had been showing signs of a comeback in recent months, their momentum has slowed since the start of the year,” she said.

According to CoinMarketCap, the total market cap of cryptocurrencies soared to a record $3.71 trillion on December 9 last year, as numerous digital assets posted major price gains.  

Ahead of US President Donald Trump’s inauguration, Bitcoin spiked above $109,000 on January 20, surpassing its former all-time high of over $108,000 set on December 17.  

Most of the crypto market’s earlier gains disappeared in February, as escalating economic uncertainty over Trump’s trade tariffs triggered a downturn.  

Decentralized app engagement weakened in February, as daily unique active wallets fell by 8%, settling at about 24 million.  

While other sectors declined, DappRadar reported a 6% rise in NFT activity in February, as 3.5 million users engaged with NFT platforms and focused more on AI-powered assets.  

“The increasing integration of artificial intelligence into NFT projects signals a shift toward more dynamic, interactive digital assets with enhanced utility,” Gherghelas said.

“The evolving landscape suggests that while speculative trading may fluctuate, NFTs with strong utility, engagement, and real-world applications will drive long-term adoption in Web3,” she added.

Traders generated $243 million from 76,385 sales of profile picture NFTs, making them the most traded assets in the market.  

Ranking just behind profile picture NFTs, gaming NFTs amassed $41 million in trades and recorded 421,853 transactions.  

Sports NFT collectors dominated the sales category, conducting 659,097 transactions and generating a total trading volume of $7.7 million.  

The NFT sector faced its toughest year since 2020 in 2024, with traders producing $13.7 billion in trades and completing fewer than 50 million sales. In a January report, DappRadar attributed the decline partly to market swings and rising token costs.  

DappRadar reported that NFTs peaked in 2022, the year they became mainstream, with traders driving total trading volume to $57.2 billion and completing 121.7 million sales.