NFT-related tokens recorded the strongest performance in Q2, averaging an impressive 55.4% gain, surpassing Ethereum’s 37.2% and other crypto sectors—even as NFT marketplace trading volumes tumbled to multi‑year lows, according to Artemis data. This resurgence demonstrates investor appetite shifting away from physical NFT assets and toward their tokenized representations.

🔥 PENGU’s Remarkable Rally

Leading the charge was Pudgy Penguins’ PENGU token, which soared 3.8× during the quarter—rising from a low of $0.00387 on April 8 to around $0.0148 by June 30. Momentum carried into July, with Bitcoin’s rally near $118,000 propelling PENGU further to roughly $0.229, marking a strong return of over 20% in a single day. Daily trading volumes on Binance exceeded $180 million USDT, indicating sustained speculative enthusiasm.

📉 Divergence in Market Activity

Despite this token surge, traditional NFT trading contracted significantly. Quarterly NFT market volume dropped from $1.5 billion in Q1 to $823 million in Q2, a nearly 45% decline—and down 79% from Q2 2024’s $4 billion peak. Interestingly, while total value declined, transaction counts rose (to 12.5 million from 7 million), suggesting increased retail activity in low‑value collectibles rather than high‑ticket sales.

Artemis analysts suggest traders prefer liquid, fungible tokens over direct NFT ownership—a trend fueled by falling ETH funding rates in May, which shifted speculative capital toward exchange-listed…