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After months of quiet activity, the non-fungible token (NFT) market seems to display signs of a comeback.
It is because weekly trading volume rose to $128 million while active buyers jumped by more than 50%, according to NFT industry data aggregator CryptoSlam.io.
However, a new report by web3 tool for decentralized applications DappRadar showed that NFT trading volumes fell sharply in the second quarter of 2025, marking the fifth consecutive quarterly decline.
NFT Trading Hits New Low
Trading activity dropped 80% year-on-year to $823 million, down from $4 billion in Q2 2024. The plunge marks the sector’s lowest performance since the peak of the NFT boom in 2022, according to a DappRadar report.
Despite the drop in trading volume, overall NFT sales rose by 78%, indicating that while interest remains, prices have significantly declined. Gaming NFTs dominated the quarter, with Guild of Guardians taking two spots in the top five collections, outperforming well-known collections like CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club.
Meanwhile, profile picture (PFP) NFTs saw a 72% decrease in volume, while Real World Assets (RWAs) moved up in ranking with a 29% rise. Domain NFTs also gained traction, particularly on the TON blockchain, where Telegram users purchased anonymous number-based domains.
The art category, on the other hand, recorded a 51% drop in volume but a 400% surge in total sales, suggesting broader accessibility at lower price points.
Lastly, the number of monthly NFT traders increased by 20% to 668,598, signaling renewed participation from users exploring different use cases beyond traditional collectibles.
Will There Be an NFT Comeback?
In a report from insidebitcoins.com, it noted that the NFT market is showing signs of recovery in the first week of July, with total trading volume reaching $128.4 million, marking a 1.84% increase from the previous week.
According to data from CryptoSlam.io, the number of NFT buyers also surged to over 1.06 million, up 50.56%, while the number of sellers and transactions also saw notable growth.
As of writing, in the past 24 hours, the global NFT market is still showing strong upward momentum, with sales volume reaching $18.07 million, an increase of 23.66%. The number of NFT buyers rose by 21.71% to 96,382, while sellers grew by 4.90% to 6,830. Transactions also saw a healthy rise, climbing 9.19% to a total of 216,887.
In addition, from July 3 to July 9, 2025, Ethereum led NFT blockchain sales by volume with $23.7 million, up 5.39%, followed closely by Polygon at $23.6 million, which grew 12.33% and recorded the largest number of buyers at over 110,600—a 35.63% increase. Mythos Chain came in third with $14.3 million in sales, while Bitcoin posted a strong 41.41% surge to $12.7 million, continuing its rising momentum in the NFT space. BNB Chain recorded $9.3 million in sales.
Meanwhile, Immutable, once a top performer as per the report from insidebitcoin, dropped by 35.08% to $5.9 million in the past week.
In a response to BitPinas inquiry, Jopet Arias, a known Filipino NFT artist and the co-founder of TLYR Collective, weighed in on the recent spike in NFT sales, pointing to web3 gaming as the likely driver behind the renewed market activity.
“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.”
Jopet Arias, NFT Artist and Co-Founder, TLYR Collective
The Filipino NFT artist noted that many of the projects show early promise, with previews and websites suggesting teams are actively building playable and engaging experiences. Arias emphasized that if the current sales data reflects real interest in gaming NFTs, it could signal a healthy shift in the space, one that encourages exploration of new formats and economic models.
However, Arias expressed caution, noting that many web3 games remain in their early development stages. He pointed out that these projects often still lack refined gameplay, cohesive storytelling, and strong world-building, key elements that define lasting game IPs. While the interest is promising, he has yet to try these games himself, as most are still finding their footing.
Looking ahead, Arias said he is most interested in seeing these projects mature and evolve beyond speculative hype.
“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.”
Jopet Arias, NFT Artist and Co-Founder, TLYR Collective
Top NFT Projects
In the past seven days, CryptoSlam.io shows that NFT trading activity has remained concentrated among a few standout collections, with Courtyard, DMarket, and DNS leading the rankings by sales volume.
The top five NFT collection rankings by sales volume include Courtyard, which led with $17.56 million, even with a small drop in activity. DMarket came second with $9.13 million and the most transactions, showing steady user engagement. DNS was the biggest gainer, jumping 334% to $4.88 million in sales, though it had only a few buyers. However, PGNFT and Guild of Guardians Heroes both saw big drops in sales and users.
Courtyard
Courtyard is a blockchain-powered platform that transforms physical collectibles, such as trading cards and memorabilia, into NFTs, allowing users to buy, sell, and trade them digitally.
Each item is securely stored in a vault and backed 1:1 by a token on the Polygon network, ensuring authenticity and ownership. Collectors can redeem the physical item at any time by burning the NFT or continue trading it online.
DMarket
DMarket is an NFT marketplace focused on esports and in-game collectibles such as skins, weapons, and armor from popular multiplayer games like CS:GO, Dota 2, Team Fortress 2, and Rust.
It allows users to tokenize and trade virtual items as NFTs, offering features like instant sales, bidding, and even face-to-face trading without transferring assets off-platform. It supports over 40 payment methods and has processed more than 40 million transactions since its launch. DMarket appeals primarily to gamers and esports fans, blending blockchain technology with the gaming economy.
DNS
A DNS NFT, often referred to as an NFT domain, is a blockchain-based alternative to traditional domain names managed by the Domain Name System (DNS). Instead of being controlled by centralized registrars, NFT domains are stored on a blockchain and are represented as NFTs.
This gives the owner full control and permanent ownership of the domain, which can be used as a human-readable wallet address or to host decentralized websites. Unlike DNS domains, NFT domains are not subject to renewal fees and cannot be seized or censored by third parties.
PGNFT
It refers to a large-scale NFT project called PGNFT CLUB, with its most notable collection being the Civilization Rabbit (PCCR) series. Hosted on the BNB Smart Chain, this collection features over 123,000 NFTs inspired by Chinese civilization, drawing from elements like historical landmarks and cultural customs. Each NFT is represented as a BEP-721 token and can be traded on platforms like OpenSea (BNB Chain).
Guild of Guardians Heroes
Guild of Guardians Heroes NFTs are digital assets representing playable characters in the mobile fantasy RPG Guild of Guardians. Built on the Immutable zkEVM blockchain, these NFTs allow players to truly own their in-game heroes, which can be used in gameplay, traded on marketplaces, or rented to other players. Each hero has unique traits, abilities, and rarity levels, contributing to team strategy and performance in dungeon battles.
Top Collectible Sales
On the other hand, one collection dominated the top NFT collectible sales last week, with all entries in the top 10 coming from the CryptoPunks collection.
The top two sales, Punk #1831 and Punk #9778, each fetched 150 $ETH. Beyond the top two, there is a noticeable drop in sale prices. Punk #4868, ranked third, sold for 76.5 $ETH, nearly a 50% decline in USD value from the top sale.
The rest of the top 10 sales ranged between 48.5 and 70 $ETH.
This article is published on BitPinas: NFT Trading Hits New Low, But Sales and Users Rise
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