PANews reported on January 15 that according to Decrypt, the NFT market suffered a dismal year in 2024, with trading volume and sales numbers falling to their lowest levels since 2020. According to a report from the blockchain analysis platform, NFT annual trading volume fell by 19%, and the number of sales fell by 18% compared to 2023. At the beginning of the year, NFT trading volume reached US$5.3 billion in the first quarter, a modest increase of only 4% compared to the same period in 2023. However, this momentum was fleeting, with trading volume plummeting to US$1.5 billion in the third quarter before recovering slightly to US$2.6 billion in the fourth quarter. Despite these fluctuations, the number of annual sales has fallen sharply, which indicates a broader trend: although individual NFTs have become more expensive as the price of crypto tokens has risen, overall market participation has decreased.

The report noted that NFT platforms such as Blur dominated market activity, leveraging zero-fee transactions and active airdrop activity to capture the largest share of trading volume. In contrast, competitor OpenSea faced regulatory resistance and declining market sentiment, forcing the company to make large-scale layoffs before the end of the year. By the fourth quarter, Blur and OpenSea were evenly matched in market share, but Blur had the advantage with its ability to generate high activity from a smaller, more active user base. Although trading volumes at the end of 2024 hinted at a potential recovery (sales reached $562 million in November, the highest since May), overall trends suggest that affordability, accessibility, and practicality will be key to continued growth in 2025.