Yat Siu, the co-founder of Animoca Brands, says wealthy crypto collectors buying NFTs to own rather than sell are keeping the market alive. Siu explained this in an interview at the CfC St. Moritz crypto conference NFT collectors have a connection with digital works of art, just as traditional art collectors do with Picassos.
Siu, who is also an ardent NFT collector, noted that although the NFT Although the market appears to be shrinking, it still reached monthly sales of around $300 million, driven mainly by wealthy digital art collectors. That’s a notable decline from the $1 billion monthly revenue at the 2021/2022 peak. Five years ago, however, NFTs were a zero-dollar market.
Meanwhile, Siu pointed this out NFT collectors share similar insights with others in the space and have an affinity with each other. He mentioned billionaire Adam Weitsman, who has publicly purchased NFTs such as Otherdeed lands. The NFTs represent land deeds in Otherside, a 3D, blockchain-based virtual world created by Yuga Labs and Bored Ape Yacht Club.
Siu is personal NFT portfolio drops almost 80%
According to the co-founder of Animoca, his own person NFT portfolio has already fallen by about 80%. However, he insists he would never reverse his NFT purchases, adding that it is long-term assets that matter.
Siu further explains that the NFT market depends on the perspective that investors take. He notes that 2025 has shown how much crypto’s momentum is tied to expectations rather than fundamentals. He also argues that the next phase of crypto will be shaped more by infrastructure than personalities, especially as the political hype fades.
Meanwhile, the Animoca co-founder believes NFTs will continue to come in waves, just as other crypto trends have done. Siu further notes that the best part is that all regulated data is visible to everyone on the blockchain.
As of publication NFT sales volume in the last 24 hours increased by 27.08% to $8.5 million, and NFT buyers rose 33.03% to 21,272. NFT sellers also rose 37.3% to 17,198, while NFT the number of transactions increased by 30.89% to 117,890.
Siu-left NFT Cancellation of Paris for broader issues
Siu claims that the cancellation of the NFT The event in Paris, just a month before its opening, is an indictment of France, pointing to the country’s changing attitude towards NFTs and crypto more broadly. He noted that France is moving away from its previous support for crypto, as evidenced by the recent survey of NFT projects like Sorare. The fantasy football game is closely monitored by French gambling regulators.
The Animoca co-founder also cited security concerns, noting that a sense of insecurity has led some people to avoid visiting Paris for the NFT event of the past few months. High-profile individual players in the crypto space have recently been targeted by kidnappers in France.
Meanwhile, the RWA Paris event was also canceled for the year, ending a four-year run that made Paris one of the leading Web3 meetings in Europe. The organizers cited the severe impact of the prolonged downturn on the crypto market in recent months as one of the main reasons for the cancellation. They noted that the crypto industry had been hit hard by the market collapse, despite cost cutting and months of efforts to pull off the event this year.
“After four editions in which the global Web3 community gathered in Paris, we must face reality: NFT Paris 2026 will not happen.”
–Alexandre Tsydenkovthe founder of NFT Paris and RWA Paris
According to Tsydenkov, all tickets will be refunded within 15 days. However, he noted that nothing could be done for people who had already booked flights and hotels. He also explained that the organizers will do everything they can to close this chapter well.