Non-fungible token (NFT) sales saw a significant decline in the first quarter of 2025, dropping 63% compared to the previous year. However, some notable collections managed to buck the trend and achieve gains.
Total NFT sales amounted to $1.5 billion from January through March 2025, down from $4.1 billion during the same time frame in 2024. March witnessed the most dramatic drop, with sales plummeting 76% to $373 million compared to $1.6 billion last year.
Despite the overall downturn, collections like Doodles, Milady Maker, and Pudgy Penguins outperformed expectations, demonstrating resilience in a challenging market.
Pudgy Penguins, Doodles, Milady Show Resilience in Q1
Among the top NFT collections, CryptoPunks generated $60 million in sales in Q1 2025, a decline of 47% from $114 million in the same quarter of 2024.
Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) faced an even steeper drop of 61%. This monkey-themed NFT collection recorded just $29.8 million in sales during Q1 2025, compared to $78 million in the same quarter of the previous year.
Of the collections analyzed, Pudgy Penguins achieved the highest sales volume in Q1 2025, totaling $72 million, which reflects a 13% increase from $63.5 million during Q1 2024.
Doodles also managed to rise above market trends, with sales increasing to $32 million in Q1 2025, up from $22.6 million in the same quarter last year, likely bolstered by a growing public presence and a new partnership with McDonald’s.
Meanwhile, Milady Maker saw the most substantial percentage increase among leading collections, marking a 58% rise in sales. The Ethereum-based project, which has been endorsed by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, continues to capture significant attention on social media platforms.
This collection consists of 10,000 anime-inspired avatars and has gained notable visibility through endorsements from the controversial co-founder of Three Arrows Capital, Su Zhu.
Bitcoin NFTs See Increase in Average Price in Q1 2025
While the overall NFT market experienced a downturn, NFTs based on Bitcoin enjoyed a rise in average price, despite a substantial decrease in total sales volume.
However, sales of Bitcoin NFTs fell drastically to $291 million in 2025, which is a staggering 79% decrease. In Q1 2024, Bitcoin NFTs recorded sales of $1.4 billion.
In an earlier discussion, the co-founder of Bitlayer remarked that Bitcoin Ordinals have become one of the most overstated narratives within the Bitcoin ecosystem. The executive conveyed that while the asset class experienced meteoric growth, that phase is now “entirely over.”
Magazine: A bet between Trump and Biden led to an obsession with ‘idiotic’ NFTs — Batsoupyum, NFT Collector