I just checked Polymarket and bettors are quite optimistic about the return of NFTs in 2026. The odds reached 65%, the highest level recorded, with over $1.12 million in the contract. It increased by 30% just in the past week, so something is changing in the sector's perception.

The NFT market capitalization remains at $3 billion despite falling more than 2% today. Trading volume rose 26% in 24 hours, reaching $4.5 million. Major projects like CryptoPunks and Bored Apes are pulling back, although CryptoPunks is still 80% below its 2021 peak and Bored Apes lost 95%. So even with these rebounds, many holders are still deeply in the red.

Now, I don’t know if we will really see an NFT resurgence this year. The sector would need to multiply by five to return to the $15 billion level of 2022, and that’s quite ambitious. Additionally, OpenSea shifted focus toward crypto aggregation, X2Y2 recently shut down its NFT service, and Nike sold its subsidiary RTFKT. The lack of utility remains the fundamental problem. Several users criticize that there isn’t enough activity to drive the return of NFTs.

Last week, they canceled NFT Paris, citing the market collapse as the reason. So although the odds on Polymarket sound optimistic, there are plenty of signals that the NFT recovery might not be as easy as it seems. We’ll see what happens for the rest of the year.