NFT Market Faces Severe Contraction: Marketcap Plummets to $2.5 Billion Amid December Downturn

December 2025 proved to be a challenging month for the NFT sector, with the industry’s overall marketcap shrinking dramatically to $2.5 billion—marking a significant 72% erosion from January’s $9.2 billion peak. Data from CryptoSlam reveals a troubling pattern of declining participation throughout the month, with weekly transaction volumes struggling to surpass $700,000 during the first three weeks, a notable retreat compared to November’s activity levels.

The diminishing buyer interest is evident in the participation metrics. Unique buyer counts experienced a sharp contraction, declining from 204,032 recorded at November’s close to just 184,302 in December’s opening week. By the third week, this figure had compressed further to 135,120, signaling accelerating market disengagement. Concurrently, the supply side of the market contracted even more severely, with unique seller numbers plummeting by 35.6%—dropping beneath the 100,000 threshold for the first time in recent history.

Transaction velocity reached concerning lows as well. Weekly trading volumes tumbled from approximately 1 million transactions at month’s start to a mere 800,000 by the third week, reflecting both reduced trading frequency and deal sizes.

Prominent blue-chip NFT collections bore the brunt of this downturn. CryptoPunks, Bored Ape Yacht Club, and Pudgy Penguins each registered price deterioration ranging from 12% to 28% over the preceding 30 days. This widespread weakness across flagship projects underscored the breadth of the market’s bearish sentiment.

A notable counterpoint emerged among art-focused NFT initiatives. Projects including Autoglyphs, Fidenza, and Chromie Squiggle demonstrated relative resilience during the downturn, maintaining stable floor prices and recording modest gains that stood in contrast to the broader market malaise.

In a significant reshuffle of the project hierarchy, Sports Rollbots ascended into the top ten projects by marketcap, displacing Mutant Ape Yacht Club from its previous position. The project currently trades at a floor price of $5,800, with a total valuation circling $58 million, representing one of the few positive momentum stories in an otherwise challenging market environment.