The non-fungible token (NFT) market has just recorded its two strongest months since February, fueled by renewed interest and growing adoption, pushing trading volumes to their highest levels of the year.
According to a Thursday report from blockchain analytics platform DappRadar, NFT trading volumes rose 9% while sales counts fell 4%, indicating that “fewer assets traded hands, but collectors are paying more per sale.”
Data from CoinGecko shows NFT trading volumes surged over 25% in the past 24 hours, hitting a peak of $7.9 million.
Adoption fuels the comeback
DappRadar analyst Sara Gherghelas attributed the market’s resurgence to increased adoption. Notable examples include Ibiza’s nightclub Hï, which opened the first permanent NFT art gallery inside a club, featuring works by artists like Beeple and Mad Dog Jones.
Another factor driving the uptick is the Coinbase layer-2 network Base, which has become the third-largest chain by trading volume, boosted by low minting costs and speculation around airdrops.
However, Gherghelas noted that Ethereum “remains the powerhouse,” maintaining a 61% share of the NFT market. In August, developers also rolled out “trustless agents.”
“This innovation could enable AI systems and decentralized apps (DApps) to safely identify and interact with each other using NFT-based IDs and reputation layers,” she explained.
NFTs have also gained attention from celebrities. In July, American rapper Snoop Dogg sold nearly 1,000 NFTs on Telegram in just 30 minutes, fueling conversations about a potential market revival.
Investors and collectors return to NFTs
NFT trading activity picked up in August, with $578 million in volumes and 5.5 million sales, up slightly from July’s $530 million in trading and 5.2 million sales, according to DappRadar.
Earlier in the year, January saw the highest trading volumes of 2025 so far, reaching $997 million across 3.1 million sales, followed by February with $498 million in trading and 2.7 million sales.
Gherghelas said in the report, “This makes July and August the strongest months since February 2025 for NFTs, both in volume and in sales count.”
“The signs are clear: people are returning to the NFT space.”
CryptoSlam strategist Yehudah Petscher told Cointelegraph in May that he expected the NFT market to rebound, albeit with a more cautious outlook compared to its previous peaks.
The NFT market has faced a turbulent few years. Cointelegraph reported in April that NFT trading volumes fell 61% in the first quarter of 2025 to $1.5 billion, while 2024 was considered the worst year for NFT trading and sales since 2020, a year marked by volatility and rising token prices.
Despite this, the market is showing signs of recovery. In August, NFT market capitalization surged past $9.3 billion, a 40% increase from July, driven by rising prices of Ethereum-based collections and Ether (ETH).
Top NFT collections
The largest NFT collection by market capitalization, CryptoPunks, recorded a 24-hour trading volume of $1.2 million across five individual sales, according to CoinGecko.
The second-largest collection, Infinex Patrons—which gives holders governance voting power over the Infinex protocol—saw a 24-hour trading volume of $7,733 with two sales.
Rounding out the top three is Yuga Labs’ Bored Ape Yacht Club, which posted a 24-hour volume of $208,617 across five sales.
