World

Pudgy Penguins

FIFA

when

Infinite

In 2021, a non-fungible token (<a href="/apenft-price-index" rel="noopener noreferrer">NFT</a>) by digital artist Beeple was sold for a <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/beeple-nft-auction-closes-at-record-setting-69-3m" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_self">staggering $69.3 million</a> at a Christie's auction. Roughly a year later, blockchain entrepreneur Deepak Thapliyal bought a <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/cryptopunk-transfer-amid-nft-market-decline" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_self">CryptoPunk NFT</a> for $23.7 million in one of the most expensive digital art pieces ever sold.
But those were the glory days of NFTs, when digital collectibles routinely commanded eight-figure prices and mainstream institutions rushed to legitimize the market.
In 2025, the market has changed, with NFT trading volumes down sharply from their 2021 peaks and buyers placing greater emphasis on utility, community and long-term relevance rather than headline-grabbing prices.
<figure>
 <img alt="Adoption, OpenSea, RWA Tokenization" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-12/019b4706-371b-7f1a-94f6-3377dc31acad.jpg" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Source: <a href="https://onlineonly.christies.com/s/first-open-beeple/beeple-b-1981-1/112924" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Christie’s</a>
 </figcaption>
</figure>
<h2 id="the-nft-market-in-2025">The NFT market in 2025</h2>
The NFT market <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/nft-sales-down-pudgy-penguins-milady-surge-q1-2025" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_self">opened 2025 under pressure</a>, with first-quarter sales falling 63% year over year to $1.5 billion, down from $4.1 billion during the same period in 2024. The downturn accelerated in March, when monthly sales plunged 76% to $373 million from $1.6 billion a year earlier.
In November, <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/nft-sales-hit-lowest-level-2025-market-cap-down-66-percent" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_self">NFT sales fell to their lowest monthly level of the year</a>, with digital collectibles down more than 66% in market capitalization from their January highs. CryptoSlam data <a href="https://www.cryptoslam.io/nftglobal?timeFrame=month" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">shows</a> monthly sales dropped to $320 million, roughly half of October’s $629 million.
Despite the broader slowdown, a small number of collections continued to attract buyers. Pudgy Penguins recorded $72 million in Q1 sales, up 13% year-over-year, potentially supported by a market transition beyond Web3 into a <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/plushies-saved-pudgy-penguins-nfts-bankruptcy" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_self">physical toy brand</a>.
<figure>
 <img alt="Adoption, OpenSea, RWA Tokenization" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-12/019b470a-89b5-7aa8-ab5b-d9f5761e2815.png" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Pudgy Penguins toys and apparel. Source: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/15E0E178-93ED-4DE6-A58C-837672E651C5" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Pudgy Penguins’ Amazon page</a>
 </figcaption>
</figure>
Long-running blue-chip collections have also leaned into cultural positioning rather than price momentum. In May, Yuga Labs sold the <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/yuga-labs-sells-crypto-punks-ip-infinite-node-foundation" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_self">intellectual property rights to CryptoPunks</a> to the nonprofit Infinite Node Foundation, a move aimed at placing one of the earliest NFT projects under long-term cultural stewardship.
CryptoPunks’ floor price now stands at 26.99 ETH (<a href="/ethereum-price" rel="noopener noreferrer">ETH</a>), down roughly 78% from its August 2021 peak of 125 ETH, but still enough to keep it ranked as the <a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/nft" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">top</a> profile picture (PFP) NFT collection.
At the time of writing, CoinGecko data showed that the total NFT market cap has fallen to about $2.56 <a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/nft/global-stats#nft-market-chart" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">billion</a>. At the peak of the NFT craze in April 2022, the market cap was about $16.8 billion.
<figure>
 <img alt="OpenSea, RWA Tokenization" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-12/019b4647-d5e0-74f7-b9ac-2fcd7467c5d3.png" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 NFT market cap. Source: <a href="https://www.coingecko.com/en/nft/global-stats#nft-market-chart" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">CoinGecko</a> 
 </figcaption>
</figure>
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/counter-strike-s-cosmetic-market-collapse-shows-use-case-for-nfts-in-gaming" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_self">Valve’s Counter-Strike 2 update crashes $5.8B economy, revives NFT debate</a>
<h2 id="nfts-shift-from-speculation-to-real-world-use">NFTs shift from speculation to real-world use</h2>
While interest in profile picture (PFP) NFTs has cooled across much of the crypto market, NFTs tied to real-world use cases continue to find traction.&nbsp;
Marketplaces such as <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/opensea-rejects-pivot-from-nfts-trade-everything-onchain" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">OpenSea have broadened their focus</a> to become universal onchain trading hubs, while newer activity in the space has centered on NFTs linked to tickets and physical goods.
International sports organizations keep experimenting with NFTs for event access, including <a href="https://collect.fifa.com" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">FIFA</a>, which is using blockchain-based <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/fifa-blockchain-tickets-scrutiny-swiss-nft" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_self">“Right to Buy” tokens</a> as part of its ticketing approach for the 2026 World Cup.&nbsp;
The NFTs give holders priority access to <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/swiss-regulator-gespa-fifa-nft-platform-complaint" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">buy tickets at face value</a>, rather than guaranteeing entry, as a way to limit price gouging in secondary markets. According to FIFA Collect <a href="https://collect.fifa.com/right-to-final" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">data</a>, reservation NFTs for matches involving teams such as Argentina, Spain, France, England and Brazil were priced at $999 and have sold out.
Another NFT segment showing resilience in 2025 is real-world collectible–backed NFTs, particularly trading cards. Platforms such as Courtyard.io have emerged among players in this niche by linking Pokémon cards to onchain tokens.&nbsp;
Courtyard stores authenticated cards in vaults, allows users to trade them as NFTs, and offers mystery packs that can be redeemed or resold, combining blockchain verification with traditional collecting mechanics.
Over the past 30 days, the company has processed more than 230,000 transactions and generated roughly $12.7 million in sales, according to CryptoSlam <a href="https://www.cryptoslam.io/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">data</a>.
<figure>
 <img alt="OpenSea, RWA Tokenization" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-12/019b4654-2341-7885-8faf-57d305481033.png" title="">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 NFT rankings by sales volume. Source: <a href="https://www.cryptoslam.io" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">CryptoSlam</a> 
 </figcaption>
</figure>
Nicolas le Jeune, CEO of Courtyard, told Cointelegraph that the company’s approach reflects a broader shift in how NFTs are being used, treating blockchain infrastructure as a means rather than the product itself.&nbsp;He said:
<blockquote>
 “We use Web3 as a tool, not a destination. The value we offer isn’t that something is on the blockchain — it’s the experience and the underlying asset.”
</blockquote>
He emphasized that tokenization alone does not create value, saying that “the cards you buy on Courtyard aren’t worth more because they’re NFTs. The value is the underlying asset — the NFT just gives you a better way to experience it.”
Magazine: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/big-questions-will-bitcoin-survive-10-year-power-outage/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_self">Big questions: Would Bitcoin survive a 10-year power outage?</a>

NFTs shifted to utility and culture as price faded in 2025

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