DappRadar data showed that NFT trading volume surged by 96%, reaching $530 million in July. However, the total number of transactions fell by 4%, with only 5 million NFTs changing hands during the month.
The trend reveals a clear shift in buyer behavior, with fewer NFTs changing hands but selling for significantly higher prices. In fact, the average NFT sale price more than doubled, rising from $52 in June to $105 in July.
Platforms catering to power users and creators saw the most growth during the period. Blur accounted for as much as 80% of Ethereum-based NFT trading volume, driven by professional traders and its Blend lending feature.
DappRadar concluded that these numbers show the significant evolution within the NFT landscape from the early market hype to the increasing utility of these digital assets.
According to the blockchain firm, the space is no longer limited to art and digital collectibles. Instead, it has expanded into practical use cases such as digital identity, event ticketing, gaming, and real-world asset tokenization.
While NFTs made waves in July, DeFi also continued to experience impressive growth. DappRadar reported that the total value of assets locked (TVL) in DeFi surged by over 30%, reaching $259 billion by the end of the month.
Notably, the sector reached a new all-time high of $270 billion on July 28, driven by growing user demand and fresh liquidity injection across lending, trading, and tokenized assets.
ETH’s significant rise can be attributed to a nearly 60% price surge in July, likely driven by positive regulatory developments, alongside staking rewards reaching 29.4% APY.