NFT Market Shows Signs of Recovery as Weekly Sales Rise 2% to $61 Million

Weekly Trading Volume Climbs Amid Market Recovery

The global non-fungible token market demonstrated modest growth this week, with trading volume reaching $61 million between January 12 and January 18, representing a 1.98% increase from the previous week ^[2]. This uptick signals early signs of recovery following a significant downturn that saw NFT trading volumes and active traders decline by more than 70% from their peak ^[2].

Despite the market's incomplete recovery, buyer participation increased substantially, with over 140,000 traders purchasing digital collectibles during the week ^[2]. The market downturn was attributed to multiple factors, including escalating U.S.-China trade tensions, macroeconomic pressures, fundamental utility and security issues, large futures market liquidations, and shifting market sentiment toward fear ^[2].

Ethereum Leads Blockchain Networks in NFT Trading

Ethereum maintained its position as the dominant blockchain for NFT transactions, generating $29 million in trading volume during the week, marking a 12% increase from the prior period ^[2]. Bitcoin-based NFT collections, including Ordinals, Runes, and BRC-20 tokens, secured second place with $9.5 million in volume, though this represented a 7.39% decline week-over-week ^[2].

BNB Chain claimed third position with $7.6 million in trading volume, up 3.1% from the previous week ^[2]. Immutable X, an Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution utilizing StarkWare's zero-knowledge rollup technology, recorded $4.1 million in volume with a 10% weekly increase ^[2]. Panini blockchain, a private network developed by Panini America using Hyperledger Sawtooth for digital trading cards, rounded out the top five with $2.6 million in volume, up 4.32% ^[2].

HV-MTL Collection Surges Over 100% Following Token Strategy Announcement

The HV-MTL NFT collection experienced dramatic growth after entrepreneur Adam Weitsman announced plans for a new token strategy. The collection recorded 2.28 ETH in 24-hour trading volume, representing a 73% increase from the previous day ^[1]. Over longer timeframes, the collection climbed 118% in seven days, 119% over two weeks, and 229% over 30 days ^[1].

The HV-MTL floor price jumped from 0.05 ETH to 0.07 ETH on January 18, settling at 0.06 ETH at the time of reporting ^[1]. Originally launched by Yuga Labs in 2022, the collection features 30,000 unique NFTs representing mechs with evolving traits unlocked through seasonal gameplay ^[1]. After being acquired by Faraway Games, Weitsman purchased the intellectual property in late 2024 for further development and integration into the Otherside metaverse ^[1].

Weitsman announced in a January 18 blog post that his company partnered with Token Works to launch the new strategy, scheduled for January 26, 2026 ^[1]. Token Works has developed innovative NFT Strategy protocols including PunkStrategy and PudgyStrategy, which transform static NFTs into cash-flowing assets through automated trading strategies, fee collection, NFT buybacks, and token burns ^[1].

Top Performing Collections

Yes Bond, created on BNB Chain, led all collections with $3.1 million in weekly volume, up 13% from the prior week ^[2]. CryptoPunks, the collection of 10,000 pixelated digital items now managed by Infinite Node Foundation, generated $2.7 million despite a 12% weekly decline ^[2].

Bored Ape Yacht Club, Yuga Labs' collection of 10,000 profile pictures, recorded $1.7 million in trading volume with a 29% weekly increase ^[2]. Bitcoin-based BRC-20 collection $X@AI saw significant momentum with $2 million in volume, surging 48% week-over-week ^[2].

Market Outlook

Industry forecasts suggest the global NFT market could reach hundreds of billions by the mid-2030s, driven by increased adoption in gaming, entertainment, and institutional investment ^[2]. Key growth drivers include metaverse integration, utility expansion beyond collectibles, celebrity involvement, and machine learning technologies for price forecasting ^[2]. However, experts predict the market will likely rise differently than during the 2021 boom ^[2].