As the crypto market prepares for turbulence amid the tariff wars, the NFT market seems to be in a worse position.

Trading volumes are declining and marketplaces shutting down.

The once-hyped world of non-fungible tokens, which analysts once boldly projected could balloon to over $264 billion by 2032, now seems to be limping along. Weekly trading volumes have been falling like dominoes for weeks, scaring off capital and dragging the market back to levels not seen since its explosive 2020 debut.

Blockchain analytics firm DappRadar shows that trading volumes in 2021 were riding high, hitting nearly $3 billion.

Fast-forward to the first quarter of 2025. That figure has nosedived 93% to just $23.8 million as “active traders have vanished,” blockchain analyst Sara Gherghelas noted.

“This rapid growth coincided with global shifts driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, accelerating the adoption of digital platforms and pushing artists to explore innovative methods of engaging with their audiences. However, three years later, the hype around Art NFTs has significantly decreased.”

Sara Gherghelas

The data backs her up. In 2024, trading volume dropped nearly 20% from the year prior, while total sales declined 18%. As Gherghelas put it in her 2025 research, it was “one of the worst-performing years since 2020.”

Still speculative assets

In an interview with crypto.news, OutsetPR’s legal officer Alice Frei implied that regulation is still a mess as “governments are still undecided on how to classify NFTs.”

In the U.S., they’re often treated like securities, meaning platforms must walk a legal tightrope. In the U.K., they’re seen more like collectibles under intellectual property law.

“These are examples of leading countries with clear cryptocurrency regulations; in many other countries, the situation is even more uncertain. This lack of regulatory clarity creates an environment that is ripe for fraud and erodes investor confidence. Until there is more consistency, NFT adoption will remain stagnant.”

Alice Frei

Frei also highlighted a deeper issue: beyond the worlds of cryptocurrency and gaming, NFTs are still “trying to prove that they offer real value.”

“In theory, they could revolutionize several industries — think concert tickets that prevent scalping, digital IDs for online verification, or property deeds stored on the blockchain. But in practice, most NFTs are still largely speculative assets.”

Alice Frei

Speaking of gaming, where NFTs have the most potential for mainstream use, their adoption is also struggling, Frei pointed out, recalling that Ubisoft’s Project Quartz, an attempt to integrate NFTs into AAA games, was met with “resistance from players, forcing the company to shut it down.”

Frei notes that gamers are “hesitant about digital assets that feel more like currency than a genuine addition to their experience.”

Revolving door

If the data wasn’t already bleak, March brought more bad news: a string of marketplace shutdowns added fuel to the fire. Among them, South Korean tech giant LG shut down its LG Art Lab, which was launched just three years ago at the height of the NFT mania. The company didn’t share detailed reasons, only saying that “it is the right time to shift our focus and explore new opportunities.”

Just a week later, X2Y2 — a former OpenSea rival that once boasted $5.6 billion in lifetime volume — also ceased its operations, citing a “90% shrinkage of NFT trading volume from its peak in 2021” and struggles to remain competitive in the space.

Then came Bybit. The crypto exchange, still reeling from a $1.46 billion theft linked to North Korea-affiliated hackers, quietly closed its platform.

Emily Bao, head of web3 at Bybit, said the decision would allow the company to “enhance the overall user experience while concentrating on the next generation of blockchain-powered solutions.”

Amid the wave of closures, Frei says the NFT market now “feels like a revolving door.”

“Take Bored Ape Yacht Club, for example – once the pinnacle of NFT status, its prices have dramatically dropped. At the peak, a single Bored Ape sold for $400,000, but now some are barely fetching $50,000. The problem lies in the fact that many NFT projects rely on hype rather than actual utility. If people cannot see long-term value, they are unlikely to return.”

Alice Frei

Last hope

Coinbase, too, seems to be pulling back. While it hasn’t officially shut down its NFT platform, all signs suggest it’s shifting focus. During an earnings call in early 2023, President and COO Emilie Choi indicated that the company sees “medium and long-term opportunities” in NFTs. But its real focus seems to be behind Base, its layer-2 blockchain network.

Coinbase declined to comment on its position as NFT activity continues to decline, despite multiple requests from crypto.news.

The OutsetPR legal officer thinks that with the market’s current trajectory, smaller platforms are unlikely to weather the storm. “Smaller platforms will continue to shut down, leaving only a few dominant players like OpenSea and Blur,” she said.

She explained that the shift is being driven by two major forces. First, tighter regulations are on the horizon, which will likely bring an end to the “Wild West days of NFTs.” Second, the gaming sector may offer NFTs a lifeline—but it’s still a narrow one. As Frei puts it, gaming may be NFTs’ “last hope,” though developers will still need to avoid “pay-to-win mechanics that could turn players away.”

“The hype is over. If NFTs are to survive, they will need to prove that they offer more than just expensive pictures on the blockchain,” Frei concluded.

Vitalik Buterin, Ross Ulbricht, and Tucker Carlson are among those urging President Donald Trump to pardon Roger Ver, aka Bitcoin Jesus.

Known as Bitcoin Jesus for his early advocacy of Bitcoin, Ver faces up to 109 years in prison on tax charges, including allegations of evading $48 million in taxes. Despite renouncing his U.S. citizenship in 2014 to avoid prosecution, Ver’s legal troubles resurfaced when he was arrested in Spain in 2024. But following the president’s earlier pardons of figures like Ulbricht and BitMEX co-founders, observers wonder whether Ver’s would catch a break. Is a pardon on the way, or will Ver’s legal troubles continue?

Read on for a closer look.

Crypto cronies

After Trump embraced cryptocurrency, many crypto leaders rallied to support him by donating funds to his inauguration and hobnobbing at galas.

Trump also , which industry brass celebrated.

In return, Trump signed an order to stockpile tokens and swiftly acted in favor of the industry. Under Trump-appointed SEC chair Mark Uyeda, investigations into several cryptocurrency companies, including Immutable, Crypto.com, Ripple, and Coinbase, were dismissed.

In a notable move on Thursday, March 27, Trump pardoned BitMEX co-founders Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed, who had pleaded guilty to federal charges related to money laundering and regulatory violations. The trio was convicted for failing to implement anti-money laundering measures at BitMEX, which prosecutors had labeled a “money laundering platform.” Reed had also violated the Bank Secrecy Act and paid a $10 million fine. But under Trump, it seems all is forgiven.

This has sparked speculation on whether Ver, a prominent figure in the crypto world, could also receive the same courtesy.

Ver, a Silicon Valley native with a libertarian streak, was deeply involved in the early days of cryptocurrency, investing in companies like Kraken, Ripple, and Blockchain.com. In 2017, Ver hyped Bitcoin Cash (BCH) as more suitable for everyday payments.

Ver’s past

In 2000, by the age of 20, Ver began to participate in libertarian party debates. 

During these debates, he made critical statements about the agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, calling them “murderers” and referencing their involvement in the scandalous Waco Siege in which dozens of children were killed in a standoff between FBI and ATF agents and Branch Davidian cult followers. Ver didn’t know that ATF agents were present during these debates.

In the 2000s, Ver became involved in e-commerce. On top of tech enterprises, Ver was selling firecrackers on eBay. After selling unlicensed firecrackers in 2001, he was charged and spent 10 months in prison. The fact that he was locked in jail instead of being fined or notified about the necessity of obtaining a license led Ver to think that the case was politically motivated and that his criticism of ATF was the real reason behind his prosecution. Without fear of further persecution, Ver left the U.S. after his post-prison probation ended.

By 2011, Ver learned about Bitcoin and became one of its first investors. He also advocated for Bitcoin long before it went mainstream, with multi-million investments and national leaders talking about its importance for the future of their countries. 

The key points of Ver’s advocacy for Bitcoin were the financial freedom of individuals and the stopping of government and banks from interfering in people’s lives.

The legal fight

Since February 2014, Ver has been a citizen of Saint Kitts and Nevis. He claims that he had to renounce his U.S. citizenship after long-lasting targeting from the U.S. government.

In April 2024, he was indicted and arrested in Spain on charges of U.S. tax evasion and mail fraud. Ver is accused of dodging $48 million in taxes after earning up to half a billion dollars through cryptocurrencies. 

According to prosecutors, Ver failed to pay his “exit tax” on 131,000 BTC owned by his two companies when he left the U.S. and provided false info to the law firms filing Ver’s tax returns. Allegedly, he sold his bitcoins in 2017 without notifying the financial attorneys.

Ver clarifies that three charges of mail fraud (combined, punishable by 19 years behind bars) are based on the three letters with his tax returns he sent to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Ver denies he committed crimes such as tax evasion and mail fraud. He insists he was doing his best to comply with the nascent Bitcoin taxation rules, and that his prosecution was politically motivated. 

In December, he began his legal fight against the prosecution, denying all the charges. He filed a motion to dismiss charges, but the government rejected it in January.

Ver’s legal team challenged an exit tax as “an unconstitutional burden on the fundamental right to expatriate.” For people like Ver, who have substantial amounts of low-liquidity assets, the exit tax may be prohibitive. The government suggests Ver is a fugitive. He disagrees with this status as he doesn’t hide and didn’t commit crimes for which he is judged while living in the U.S.

On March 1, Ethereum’s Buterin published an X post arguing that the exit tax doesn’t exist in most other countries and called it the “tax-by-citizenship” and “extreme.”

In addition, Buterin mentioned that the IRS obtained some of the information by intimidating Ver’s lawyers. The Ethereum founder added:

“Genuine good faith mistakes should be treated by giving the actor the opportunity to pay back taxes if needed with interest and penalties, not with prosecution.”

Will Bitcoin Jesus be pardoned?

Trump promised to pardon Ross Ulbricht if get elected. Ulbricht, the man behind the Silk Road marketplace charged for money laundering and drug trafficking, is an important figure in the history of Bitcoin as his marketplace drove Bitcoin’s adoption. After the inauguration, Trump indeed pardoned Ulbricht to much acclaim. 

Soon, various crypto advocates began to urge Trump to pardon Roger Ver. On Jan. 21, 2025, following the pardon of Ross Ulbricht, an X influencer using the moniker Rothmus published a short post calling for the pardon of Ver to which Elon Musk replied: “will inquire.” This reply gave the community hope for the pardon of Bitcoin Jesus.

On March 17, Marla Maples, Trump’s ex-wife, took to X to share a touching video where people who met Ver tell their stories of his generosity.

It is not clear, though, if the POTUS paid attention to this post.

Is Strategy (MSTR) in trouble?

Led by Executive Chairman Michael Saylor, the firm formerly known as MicroStrategy has vacuumed up 506,137 bitcoin (BTC), currently worth roughly $44 billion at BTC’s current price near $87,000, in the span of about five years. To the casual observer, the company seems to have a magic, unlimited pool of funds from which to draw on to buy more bitcoin. But Strategy acquired a sizable chunk of its stash by issuing billions of dollars in equity and convertible notes (debt securities which can be converted into equity under special conditions), and more recently via the issuance of preferred stock, a type of equity that provides dividends to investors.

However, the price of bitcoin has been pushed down about 20% since peaking above $109,000 two months ago. And though such swings in prices are far from unusual, the particularly aggressive recent purchases by Saylor and team mean Strategy’s average acquisition price has risen to $66,000. The company is really only one more moderate swing down in price from being in the red on its buys.

Which begs the question: Could all of Strategy’s financial wizardry end up backfiring on the company should bitcoin keep heading lower?

“It’s highly unlikely that it results in a scenario where [Strategy] has to liquidate a bunch of bitcoin because it gets margin called,” Quinn Thompson, founder of crypto hedge fund Lekker Capital, told CoinDesk in an interview. “For the most part, the debt is very likely to be able to be refinanced for the convertible notes. And then [the firm] started issuing this perpetual preferred stock, which never has to be repaid.”

In other words, not only is there very little chance that Strategy could suffer the kind of blowup that shook over crypto firms and projects in 2022 (like Genesis or Three Arrows Capital), but the firm has even refrained from posting its bitcoin holdings as collateral for loans — with the exception of a loan taken from Silvergate, which was repaid in 2023.

Even so, that does not necessarily mean that it’s blue skies ahead for MSTR investors, because under various scenarios, Saylor could be forced to issue more equity than the market can handle in order to maintain course.

“If he’s not paying dividends with Strategy’s cash flow, he’s going to issue more shares and wreck the stock price. But it’s no different than what he’s doing already. Every time the retail bids it up, he wrecks the stock price by issuing more shares. In the future, he will have to do that, and the flows might not go into bitcoin. They might go to repay these debtors, and it will hurt the share price,” Thompson said.

Saylor’s balancing act

Strategy currently employs three different methods for raising capital: it can issue equity, convertible notes, or preferred stock.

Issuing equity means that Strategy creates new MSTR shares, sells them on the market, and uses the proceeds to buy bitcoin. Naturally, that creates selling pressure on MSTR and can potentially push the stock downward.

Convertible notes have allowed Strategy to raise funds quickly without diluting MSTR stock. Typically, investors like these notes because they offer a solid yield, they benefit if the stock surges, and they can usually be redeemed in cash for an amount equal to the original investment in addition to interest payments. The tremendous volatility of Strategy’s convertible notes, however, has allowed the company to mostly issue them at a zero percent interest rate and still meet high demand from sophisticated market participants, who have made bank trading that volatility.

Finally, Strategy has begun deploying preferred stocks. These are instruments that tend to appeal to investors seeking lower volatility and more predictable returns through dividends. There are currently two offerings: STRK, which gives an 8% annual return; and STRF, which pays 10% annualized.

But why is Strategy issuing all of these different types of investment vehicles? The idea is to create demand for Strategy for all kinds of investors that may have different tolerances to risk, Jeffrey Park, head of Alpha Strategies at crypto asset management Bitwise, told CoinDesk in an interview.

“The convertible bond investors and the common equity investors were generally aligned in that they were both volatility seeking structures,” Park said. “Preferred equities are different. They actually are favored by investors who want to minimize volatility at all costs for a steady, reliable and high coupon that they feel is worth the credit risk.”

“Strategy’s capital structure is almost like a seesaw in a playground,” Park added. “The common shareholders and converts are on one side, the preferred equity holders are on the other side. As sentiment shifts, the weights move around, and it tilts the value between these securities. But no matter how the seesaw moves, its total weight — which is Strategy’s enterprise value — remains the same. It’s just a redistribution of people’s perceived value across the liabilities that exist on the company’s balance sheet.”

Risks

Even so, Strategy now finds itself in a situation where it must pay 8% dividends on STRK, 10% dividends on STRF, and a blend of 0.4% interest rate on its convertible bonds.

With Strategy’s software business providing very little cash flow, finding the funds to pay for all of these dividends might be tricky.

The company will likely need to keep issuing MSTR stock to pay the interest it owes, Thompson said. “It will hurt the share price. In the most extreme scenario, the stock could trade at a discount [from its bitcoin holdings], because he would be having to issue shares to pay interest and cover cash flow.”

“The really draconian scenario would be for the discount to get so wide, like 20% or 30%, like Grayscale’s GBTC [prior to its conversion into an ETF], that the shareholders riot and tell him to buy back shares and close the discount,” Thompson added. “Right now, he’s adding shareholder value by selling the stock at an elevated price and buying bitcoin, but in the future the reverse might be true, where the best way to add shareholder value would be to sell the bitcoin and buy the stock. But that’s quite far away.”

Saylor lost controlling voting power over the company in 2024 due to the continuous issuance of MSTR stock, meaning that the scenario above could theoretically happen, especially if activist investors decided to get involved.

Another potential risk for MSTR holders is that the 2x long Strategy exchange-traded funds (ETFs) issued by T-Rex and Defiance, MSTX and MSTU, have seen weirdly persistent demand despite the stock’s drawdown. Every time investors want to gain or increase their exposure to these ETFs, the issuers have to buy twice as many MSTR shares. The popularity of these ETFs has helped create constant buying pressure for MSTR — so far, they’ve accumulated over $3 billion in MSTR exposure.

The problem is that the music might stop someday. And if these ETFs begin to sell off their MSTR shares, the reaction on the stock price could be violent.

“I don’t know where the endless capital comes from to buy the dip. These ETFs have gotten obliterated. They’re down huge,” Thompson said. “I mean, this is not a structural move up in the demand curve that you should count on. It’s not something you should really bake into your 10-year predictions of bitcoin price, but as long as it’s existing, it’s important for bitcoin. So I’m continually amazed by it.”