The NFT landscape is undergoing a profound transformation. While digital art once dominated headlines, a new trend is emerging—NFTs linked to physical assets—and Polygon is leading the charge. For the first time, Polygon has outpaced Ethereum in weekly NFT sales, signaling a shift in both user interest and blockchain dominance.
According to data from CryptoSlam as of April 22, Polygon recorded $22.1 million in NFT sales, reflecting a 17.64% increase from the previous week. Ethereum followed closely with $21.8 million, while Mythos Chain and Bitcoin registered $14.3 million and $14.1 million respectively. Polygon now holds a 24% share of global NFT volume, with total NFT sales across all chains reaching $92.9 million for the week.
The surge wasn’t just in sales—Polygon also saw a 58.95% increase in active buyers, surpassing 14,000 active wallets in a single week, underlining growing retail adoption and a broader shift in market dynamics.
The Courtyard Effect: NFTs Meet Tangible Value
Driving much of Polygon’s success is a standout project: Courtyard—a platform that tokenizes physical collectible cards and ties them to NFTs. With $20.7 million in weekly sales, Courtyard became the top-selling NFT collection across all blockchains.
As reported by DappRadar, Courtyard NFTs accounted for over 11,000 sales in 24 hours—representing 11.39% of global NFT transactions. Popular items include rare trading cards like the 2016 Pokémon Sun & Moon collection, a 2022 Pokémon Black Star Promo card, and the vintage 1953 Bowman Color Gil McDougald card.
What sets Courtyard apart is its hybrid ownership model. Each collectible is certified, insured, and stored by Brink’s, a global leader in secure asset management. NFT holders can either keep the digital token or burn it to claim the real-world item—offering the flexibility of Web3 with the trust and tangibility of physical ownership.
NFTs Evolve Beyond Art Amid Market Recovery
Founded in 2022 and backed by Y Combinator, Courtyard raised $7 million to redefine NFTs for the real world. This innovation comes as the broader NFT market begins to rebound. Following a 60% decline that bottomed out in early 2025, the sector saw renewed attention in February when the Kanbas Collection acquired a digital artwork by Sam Spratt for $3 million—the largest NFT sale in nearly three years.
Spratt, known for his LUCI series on SuperRare, combines digital art and narrative poetry. The collection’s ten drops have generated over $6.2 million in primary sales, underscoring that collector interest remains strong—especially for high-quality and culturally relevant digital works.
Real-World Asset Tokenization and Regulatory Breakthroughs Fuel Growth
The rise of real-world assets (RWAs) on blockchain is another key driver behind the NFT revival. Since February 2023, the RWA sector has exploded by 28,000%, reaching a market cap of $42 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.
Adding to the positive momentum, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently dropped its investigation into OpenSea, the leading NFT marketplace. The decision, announced on February 21, was widely seen as a regulatory green light for the broader NFT space.
“This is a historic win for our community,” said OpenSea founder Devin Finzer, noting that the SEC’s stance could have set a damaging precedent had it classified NFTs as securities. Instead, the move has reignited confidence among creators and platforms alike.
Polygon Emerges as the New NFT Powerhouse
The convergence of recovering investor sentiment, favorable regulation, and physical asset integration is redefining what NFTs can be. Polygon, with its efficient infrastructure and innovation-friendly ecosystem, is now becoming the go-to blockchain for this next generation of NFTs.
Projects like Courtyard prove that the future of NFTs lies not just in digital ownership, but in bridging the physical and digital—unlocking new forms of value, trust, and utility.
The message is clear: NFTs are evolving, and Polygon is leading the way.