
"Remember back in 2021 when everyone thought a cartoon monkey was the peak of human financial evolution? Well, we have come a long way since then. If you are reading this in 2026, you already know that the "NFTs are dead" crowd was mostly wrong. They were just looking at the wrong things. While the hype around speculative art might have cooled, the actual tech behind digital ownership has grown into a massive, sturdy engine for the global economy."
"As we move through early 2026, the global NFT market size is hovering around $86.23 billion. That is not a small number. In fact, it is growing at a compound annual rate of nearly 41.8%. Even more interesting is where that money is going. While art still exists, gaming NFTs alone generated over $21 billion last year. We are seeing a shift from "buying a picture" to "owning an asset with a job to do.""
NFT technology matured from speculative digital art into a robust digital-ownership infrastructure supporting a broad economy. The global NFT market reached approximately $86.23 billion in early 2026 and is growing at about 41.8% CAGR. Revenue has shifted toward utility-driven uses, with gaming NFTs generating over $21 billion annually. Marketplaces now focus on specialized verticals such as virtual real estate, fractionalized physical assets, and phygital goods rather than generalist models. Successful platforms prioritize niche market research, clear product scope, and asset-specific functionality to support tradability, tokenization of real-world assets, and integrated user experiences for diverse asset classes.
Read at London Business News | Londonlovesbusiness.com
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