They were thought fit for the digital museum, stored away in the drawers of the 2021 bull market. Yet, NFTs haven’t said their last word. After months of lethargy, the market is regaining color and even surprising crypto players. Better still, they have just overtaken DeFi in number of active users, reversing a well-established trend. Behind this rebound are diverse uses and a strategy that appeals as much to brands as to seasoned investors.
In July, DeFi achieved a feat: $270 billion in total value locked (TVL), a historic record. But this financial triumph masks an unexpected reality: in terms of users, NFTs have taken the lead. 3.85 million daily active wallets interacted with NFT dapps, slightly more than DeFi, out of a total 22 million.
The explanation partly lies in the hegemony of Blur, capturing up to 80% of ETH volume, attracting professional traders and loan enthusiasts through its Blend protocol. OpenSea, on the other hand, remains the leader in daily active users (27,000 traders) thanks to a multichain and diversified offering. Zora attracts creators with a low-cost mint via its Layer 2 solution and its $ZORA token.
As DappRadar notes:
NFT trading volumes surged by 96%, propelling the sector ahead of DeFi in user numbers.
July figures speak: +96% trading volume ($530 million) compared to June, but -4% in transactions. Result: an average price doubled, rising from $52 to $105.
Blue-chip collections, like CryptoPunks (+25% in one month), drive this rebound: 9 of the 10 biggest NFT sales in 24 hours were Punks. Brands are not staying behind. Nike teams with EA Sports to launch virtual sneakers, Louis Vuitton and Rolex explore blockchain authentication, while Coca-Cola China tests digital collectibles.
Use cases are expanding: digital identity, event ticketing, gaming, tokenization of real assets. According to DappRadar:
NFTs are evolving from a simple trend to utility, shifting from collectibles and culture to identity, ticketing, gaming, and tokenization of real assets.
This shift towards utility marks a strategic change: fewer impulse buys, more integration into digital services.
In the crypto ecosystem, the sector hierarchy changes fast. In July, gaming represented 22.4% of dapp activity, ahead of AI (18.7%) and NFTs (17.5%). DeFi, although declining in users, remains essential for capital: ETH surged 60% in a month – Ethereum’s crypto recently crossed the $4,000 mark -, and staking rewards reached 29.4% APY.
On Solana, Hyperliquid generated 35% of blockchain revenues, managing 60% of daily perpetual volume and $5.1 billion bridged in USDC. But not everything is rosy: exploits and hacks cost $132 million in July, a +16% increase from June.
Figures that redraw the Web3 ecosystem:
Facing this picture, regulation advances: in the United States, the GENIUS Act and the CLARITY Act pave the way for smoother integration between decentralized and traditional finance. “Project Crypto”, presented by the SEC, even plans specific standards for DeFi.
NFTs are no longer just a trend: they are establishing themselves as a lever for transformation in the crypto universe. By diversifying their uses, they are creating new bridges between digital assets and traditional markets. A dynamic that could, in the long term, profoundly change how exchanges and trading are organized in Web3.
