In 2021, NFT sales were reported in the tens of billions of dollars across trackers such as DappRadar. Early 2022 still looked feverish; OpenSea alone posted enormous monthly volume. By later that year, marketplace volumes had collapsed by the lion’s share from the January peak — Bloomberg, among others, put the drop near 97% in one widely cited chart. Google interest and casual traders thinned with the charts.
Floor prices on famous collections swung just as violently. Tokens that changed hands for life-changing sums in the boom later traded at a fraction; many smaller projects went quiet altogether. Some of the early “volume” itself was noisy: wash trading on certain venues inflated activity, so even the victory laps of 2022 need a sceptical eye.
The awareness point is blunt. A market that rises mainly on greater-fool demand can fall without a hacker ever touching your wallet. Illiquid jpegs do not become safer because a celebrity minted one. If your plan required endless new buyers and a Discord that never sleeps, that was a speculation thesis — not a savings product.
After the crash, recovery spam and “exclusive” OTC buyback chats often target people staring at a dead floor. Same rule as ever: no seed phrases, no surprise unlock fees, no strangers who already know your loss.
For practical next steps after a crypto or NFT loss, use Get help. For the recovery-fee sequel, see Fake recovery.
This article is for general information only. It is not legal or financial advice. Details change. If you have lost money, contact your bank or card issuer and use the routes on the help pages.