NFTs experienced their lowest performance year since 2020: DappRadar

A recent report from blockchain analytics firm DappRadar shows that non-fungible tokens (NFTs) had their worst year in terms of trading volume and sales in 2024 since 2020.

NFT trading volume recorded a 19% decline from 2023 to $13.7 billion, and sales decreased 18%, according to the firm’s Jan. 14 report. DappRadar also noted the impact of growing token values, which has made NFTs more expensive and less accessible to users worldwide. 

The overall trading volume saw a 4% rise in Q1 2024, hitting $5.3 billion compared to Q1 2023 market report. However, volumes started to drop to $1.5 billion in the third quarter and showed a minor recovery in the last quarter of 2024 by reaching $2.6 billion.

Comparison with previous NFT market highs

The NFT market’s struggles are evident in comparison to its peak year of 2022 when trading volumes reached $57.2 billion and sales totaled 121.7 million. Despite a crypto market recovery in 2024, driven by Bitcoin’s remarkable 125% increase, the NFT field struggled to catch up.

The report shone the spotlight on the impressive performance gaming-related NFTs, which “clearly dominated” in 2024, with collections such as ‘God Unchained’ leading the way. Last year, the trading card game generated $152 million in sales volume. This was, however, still a 27% decrease from 2023. Sales for the game fell 18% to 3.86 million as well.

Pudgy Penguins was the leading NFT collection, with its higher volume and demand. Its trading volume increased 140% to $786 million last year. Despite a 44% decrease in sales volume, Pudgy Penguins recorded a 114% increase in its floor price. Its success can be ascribed to its practical applications. The collection grew into real items, including plush toys sold at Walmart and Selfridges, as well as a mobile game and sports sponsorships. 

Raoul Pal says NFTs will be bigger than AI coins

While many NFTs might have had their worst year since 2020, Real Vision co-founder and CEO Raoul Pal is still optimistic towards the future of these unique digital assets. When asked whether AI cryptos are bigger than NFTs in a recent Twitch stream interview with ThreadGuy, Pal responded by saying no. 

“You can’t ascribe the value of OpenAI and say oh, crypto AI should be worth the same,” he said. “The value to crypto is the use of the blockchain and the number of transactions that it creates and the value on exchanges,” he added.

He went on to predict that the NFT market could replicate the impressive performance of meme coins seen in recent months. Pal also speculated that NFTs will soon enter “their own recovery cycle based on a bunch of things,” and said AI will not be one of these factors. He continued by saying that OpenAI will be the sole company that will monetize the launch of agentic AIs.

The market capitalization for AI cryptos pumped more than 7% in the last 24 hours, according to CoinGecko data. Meanwhile, the total valuation for the NFT space only rose over 2% during the same time period.

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