Locked liquidity in decentralized finance (DeFi) hit a new all-time high of $270 billion in July, fueled in part by the rapid rise of tokenized stocks.According to DappRadar, the total value locked (TVL) in DeFi protocols surged 30% month-over-month, while active wallets trading tokenized stocks jumped from about 1,600 to over 90,000. This spike pushed the sector’s market capitalization up by 220%.

NFTs also saw a strong rebound. Monthly NFT trading volume rose 96% to $530 million, and the average NFT price doubled to roughly $105 as user engagement grew.

NFT activity surpasses DeFi in user attention

Although DeFi liquidity expanded, user interest leaned toward NFTs. Out of 22 million daily active wallets in July, around 3.85 million interacted with NFT platforms — slightly more than those active in DeFi.

Ethereum marketplace Blur dominated trading activity, capturing as much as 80% of daily NFT volume, while OpenSea led in active traders with roughly 27,000 users. Zora also gained traction with its creator-focused Layer 2 network and the launch of its $ZORA token for low-cost minting.

Major brands continued experimenting with NFTs:

  • Nike.SWOOSH teamed up with EA Sports for virtual sneaker drops.

  • Louis Vuitton, Rolex, and Coca-Cola China rolled out authentication and collectible pilots.

  • Resurgent interest in classic NFT collections also played a role. Data from NFT Floor Price shows CryptoPunks rose more than 25% over the past month. In the last 24 hours, nine of the top ten NFT sales were CryptoPunks, with the only exception being a piece from Web3 artist Beeple.

Market still far from 2021 highs

Despite July’s recovery, the NFT market remains a shadow of its 2021 boom. DappRadar’s 2024 industry report shows NFT trading volume fell 19% year-over-year, while sales counts dropped 18%, making 2024 one of the weakest years since 2020.

CryptoSlam data for the first half of 2025 confirms the slow rebound, with $2.82 billion in NFT sales — down 4.6% from the second half of 2024. While July brought a notable lift in trading volumes and floor prices, activity is still well below the frenzied peaks of 2021, when monthly volumes reached tens of billions.
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