NFT-related tokens delivered the strongest sector performance in the second quarter, gaining an average of 55.4% even as dollar-denominated NFT trading volume fell to multi-year lows.
The drop came despite a jump in sales count to 12.5 million from 7 million the prior quarter, suggesting smaller ticket sizes dominated activity.
DappRadar attributes the divergence to a market shift toward low-cost collectibles and gamified minting, which inflates transaction numbers without lifting notional value.
Market participants attributed the disconnect between token prices and marketplace turnover to speculation shifting from non-fungible assets to their related governance or meme tokens.
Artemis analysts noted that traders seeking leveraged exposure to NFT culture gravitated toward liquid exchange-listed tokens rather than illiquid JPEGs, a pattern that intensified once ETH funding rates turned negative in mid-May.
Broader sector data reinforce the split. The Bitcoin ecosystem increased by 6.2% and smart contract platforms rose by 16.2% during the quarter, but real-world asset tokens declined by 50.6% and data availability projects fell by 47.4%, according to Artemis.
Second-quarter performance has left PENGU with a market capitalization exceeding $1.4 billion and a top 82 position on major price dashboards.
The token’s outsized rally, paired with shrinking marketplace volume, illustrates the growing detachment between fungible representations of NFT brands and the underlying non-fungible assets they reference.
