NFT Sales Show May Rebound After Months of Decline
After a prolonged downturn, sales volumes in the non-fungible token market experienced their first monthly increase in 2025 during May, CryptoSlam data indicates.
Market Data Highlights
CryptoSlam’s latest figures reveal a significant 15% surge in NFT transaction volume during May, reaching approximately $430 million in sales compared to $373 million in April. This represents the highest sales tally recorded in 2025 and marks the first positive monthly shift after five consecutive months of declining activity.
Transaction volume saw an even more pronounced increase, hitting a record high 5.5 million deals in May.
Buyer-Seller Dynamics
The uptick in sales coincides with a notable change in market participants. While buyer activity intensified, with unique monthly NFT buyers surging by 50% to over 936,000 in May, the number of unique sellers saw a corresponding decline, dropping to approximately 284,600 — the lowest level recorded on the CryptoSlam platform since April 2021.
This divergence between rising buyer numbers and declining seller activity may indicate a market shift towards more competitive bidding scenarios, potentially leading to increased valuation power for successful transactions.
Expert Insights
CryptoSlam strategist Yehudah Petscher anticipates a market rebound but tempered expectations compared to recent peaks. “The NFT market will see a bounce back this year, probably just after BTC sees its top of the cycle,” Petscher stated.
Petscher added, “Don’t expect a repeat of the 21/22 euphoria that we saw in NFTs,” suggesting a more cautious outlook than NFT market peaks.
DappRadar analyst Sara Gherghelas noted the need for external catalysts to fuel a full recovery. “The sector needs new catalysts to fully rebound,” Gherghelas explained.
Potential Catalysts
Gherghelas highlighted real-world assets (RWAs) integrating with NFTs as a promising development. Earlier this year, the digital collections within the RWA marketplace Courtyard drove substantial NFT sales on the Polygon blockchain, exceeding Ethereum’s weekly performance figures.
This potential integration is viewed by some analysts as a critical pathway for NFTs to extend beyond speculative trading and into broader utility applications.
[Image 1: Chart demonstrating NFT monthly sales] Source: CryptoSlam data compiled by Cointelegraph
[Image 2: Chart demonstrating NFT buyer and seller activity] Source: CryptoSlam data compiled by Cointelegraph
“Don’t expect a repeat of the 21/22 euphoria that we saw in NFTs.”
