Recently, there's been a pretty interesting phenomenon: the NFT market is showing signs of a rebound at this point in time. You’re not seeing things—it's mid-2026, and this market, which was once dismissed countless times, still has people playing in it.

Honestly, the story of NFTs over the past few years has been somewhat tragic. Multi-million dollar auctions have turned into neglected images, project teams have collectively fled, and even top-tier events like NFT Paris have quietly shut down. Logically, this story should have been over long ago, but in the past week, the market unexpectedly stirred—prices rebounded, trading volume increased. According to CoinGecko data, the overall market cap of NFTs grew by over $220 million in the past week. Some projects even saw triple- to quadruple-digit gains.

But I have to say, this rebound seems more like a game of limited capital within a small scope rather than real new capital entering the space. Liquidity exhaustion remains the market’s fatal flaw. Just look at the trading data: out of over 1,700 NFT projects, only 6 have trading volumes reaching the million-dollar level, 14 projects have hundreds of thousands of dollars, and only 72 projects have tens of thousands of dollars. Most projects are simply not being traded. A report from The Block also shows that in 2025, NFT trading volume dropped to $5.5 billion, a 37% decline compared to 2024; market cap shrank from $9 billion to $2.4 billion. So, this so-called recovery doesn’t really change much—NFTs have long become old assets.

Interestingly, although the on-chain NFT market is bleak, the capital hasn't disappeared; it’s just shifted battlegrounds. OpenSea no longer insists on JPEG images, turning toward token trading; Flow has pivoted from public chains to explore DeFi; Zora abandoned traditional NFT models and embraced “content as tokens.” Even big names in crypto are voting with their feet—Beeple shifted to physical robot creations, Wintermute co-founded a $5 million purchase of dinosaur fossils, and Animoca Brands’ founder splurged $9 million on a famous piano. This shift tells us one thing: compared to virtual images, physical assets and top collectibles are now more popular.

So, what NFTs are still being bought today? I’ve observed and roughly categorized them:

First are “golden shovels” NFTs with airdrop expectations. Essentially, these are financial certificates aimed at obtaining future token airdrops or whitelist access. But they carry risks—once the airdrop is distributed, if the project doesn’t gain new momentum, the floor price often plummets. Suitable for short-term trading, not for long-term holding.

Second are NFTs endorsed by celebrities or top projects. Driven by attention economy—for example, HyperLiquid’s Hypurr NFT has been rising steadily since launch, and Vitalik’s switch to a Milady avatar caused the floor price to jump significantly. These rely on fame and liquidity to create short-term premiums.

There are also NFTs with genuine value support. For example, CryptoPunks, which have been incorporated into MoMA’s permanent collection, have moved beyond hype logic. Their investment value leans more toward cultural recognition and collectible attributes, serving as long-term value storage. Or projects like Pudgy Penguins and Moonbirds, which were revalued after acquisition, with market expectations that their IP monetization capabilities will strengthen.

Finally, there are NFTs with practical use cases. For example, Pokémon card platforms that link real-world assets, allowing users to trade physical ownership on-chain; or NFT ticketing, DAO voting rights, AI on-chain identities—these utility-based applications.

Overall, capital is flowing into assets with high risk-reward ratios or clear value support. Small images with no real value are long out of favor. After the bubble burst, the NFT market is undergoing deep segmentation—projects without value support continue to zero out, while those with actual utility, celebrity backing, or clear upward potential are surviving.

Ultimately, the NFT market of 2026 is no longer the era of 2021 where FOMO alone could make you money. It’s become more mature and rational, but also more brutal. If you still want to play here, you need to truly understand what makes an NFT valuable, rather than blindly following the trend.