Kraken to completely shut down its NFT marketplace in February 2025 – Is this the end for NFTs?

Kraken recently announced its plans to completely shut down its NFT marketplace on February 27, 2025. The exchange will also shut down most of the NFT marketplace’s services on November 27, including any bidding, listings, and selling of NFTs. However, Kraken will still allow users to withdraw their funds before the shutdown. 

Kraken’s spokesperson reportedly confirmed that the decision was to allow the exchange to redirect some of its funds toward developing new products and services. The platform mentioned that all its customers were informed of the changes and that its support team would help the NFT marketplace users move their assets to other wallets, including the Kraken self-custody wallet. 

Notably, closing down its NFT marketplace is only one of the company’s tough decisions this year. Kraken laid off about 15% of its workforce at the end of October after the appointment of a new CFO and co-CEO. 

Kraken’s NFT market suffers stagnation this year

The once-thriving NFT markets have experienced a slow year, with June being one of the lowest months. According to the crypto analytics platform, Artemis, NFT markets experienced over a 50% decline in June. At the time, major blockchains, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, all saw a significant decline in NFT trading volumes. 

Somnia’s CEO and founder, Paul Thomas, allegedly mentioned earlier this year that the initial hype around the digital collectibles had diminished and that utility was becoming increasingly important, even for NFTs. Thomas insisted that the main problem around NFTs was the lack of originality. 

Earlier this year, several key figures in the crypto industry began offloading their NFTs, including billionaire investor Mark Cuban. In August, Chain’s CEO, Deepak Thapiyal, sold the most expensive CryptoPunk NFT at an undisclosed price. Many in the industry, including Qiibee’s CEO Gabriella Giacola, believed that Deepak sold the NFT at a much lower price. 

Despite the shakiness in the markets, a Techreport insight from August 21 revealed that NFTs might continue rising and the market could grow above $2.8 billion by 2028. The report further speculated that NFT users could increase to 14.67 million this year. 

NFT market surges in October

After 7 months of recording a downward trend, NFT sales skyrocketed by 18% in October, reaching $356 million. The level was significantly lower than this year’s high of about $1.6 billion in March. DMarket led the markets with over $33 million in trading volumes. 

In November, the market further regained some of its momentum. A Cryptopolitan report from November 25 indicated that Bitcoin and Ethereum have had some of the most significant NFT sale activity this month. Last week, NFTs hit about $158 million in sales volume, with Bitcoin and Ethereum leading. 

However, CryptoSlam data this week shows a plunge in sales volume by about 16%. Sales on Ethereum have dropped by nearly 29%, while sales on Bitcoin have been down by over 35%. On the other hand, Polygon sales have skyrocketed by over 420%.