The non-fungible token (NFT) market showed early signs of recovery after a steep sell-off wiped out about $1.2 billion in market capitalization during the crypto market crash on Friday.
According to CoinGecko data, the sector’s overall valuation fell from $6.2 billion on Friday to $5 billion on Saturday. This erased almost 20%, or about $1.2 billion, in market capitalization for digital collectibles across all blockchain networks.
The sector experienced a rapid recovery as crypto markets rebounded. On Sunday, NFTs reached $5.5 billion, marking a 10% gain following the crash. At the time of writing, the overall market cap was almost $5.4 billion.
The sell-off highlights the NFT sector’s sensitivity to wider crypto volatility. With the market dropping sharply on Friday, NFT floor prices followed suit as liquidity dried up and speculative demand went down.
Top NFT collections remain in the red
Despite the partial recovery, many top NFT collections are down over seven- and 30-day periods.
Top Ethereum-based projects, such as the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) and Pudgy Penguins, are still down 10.2% and 21.4%, respectively, over the past week. Collections like Infinex Patrons and Fidenza by Tyler Hobbs recorded double-digit losses on the monthly charts.
CryptoPunks, the top NFT collection by market capitalization, is down by 8% on the weekly charts and nearly 5% on the 30-day NFT performance chart.
While most of the top 10 NFTs are down, some collections showed a slight recovery on the 24-hour charts. This includes Hyperliquid’s Hypurr NFTs, which posted a 2.8% gain in the last 24 hours, and the Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) collection, which posted a 1.5% gain.
The slight recovery hints that, despite the crash, buyers may be selectively returning to the market.
Related: Judge tosses lawsuit against Yuga Labs over failure to satisfy Howey test
Crypto products recover after Friday market crash
On Friday, Bitcoin plunged to $102,000 in the Binance perpetual futures pair as US President Donald Trump announced a 100% tariff on China as the country attempted to place export restrictions on rare earth minerals.
As the markets crashed, the sector saw liquidations of up to $20 billion, outpacing previous crypto market crashes, including the FTX collapse.
CoinGecko data showed that the overall crypto market capitalization dropped from $4.24 trillion on Friday to $3.78 trillion on Sunday, a nearly $460 billion wipeout in two days.
The market recovered to a valuation of $4 trillion on Monday. At the time of writing, crypto markets are valued at $3.94 trillion.
Despite the market crash, crypto investment products attracted billions in inflows.
On Monday, CoinShares reported that crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) saw $3.17 billion in inflows last week despite the flash crash on Friday. This highlights the funds’ resilience to market panic caused by the liquidations and the sell-off.
Magazine: Digital art will ‘age like fine wine’: Inside Flamingo DAO’s 9-figure NFT collection
