“By bringing SOMO into the Animoca Brands ecosystem, we aim to connect it to our global network of games, communities, and partners.”
The deal comes as the non-fungible token ($NFT) market showed renewed momentum early in 2026, with market capitalization climbing roughly 20% in the first two weeks of the year.
Total $NFT market cap in the last 14 days. Source: CoinGecko
$NFT market cap climbs 20% in the first two weeks of 2026
The global $NFT market cap rose roughly 20% in the first two weeks of 2026, climbing from about $2.5 billion on Jan 1 to over $3 billion by Wednesday, according to data from CoinGecko.
The rebound marks one of the $NFT market’s strongest short-term recoveries in over a year, following a prolonged market slump that weighed on prices and activity throughout 2025.
24-hour $NFT heatmap. Source: CoinGecko
CoinGecko shows that a sharp jump between Tuesday and Wednesday accounted for a significant portion of the gains.
On Tuesday, the $NFT market cap hovered a little below $2.7 billion before surging to $3 billion in just 24 hours, recording a $300 million gain. This was accompanied by an 18.7% increase in 24-hour trading volume, according to CoinGecko.
A community member attributed the pump to blue-chip NFTs pumping, high-value sales increasing and new NFTs airdropping tokens. “We’ve seen this pattern before. Is 2026 the next $NFT cycle or just a fake bounce?” the X user wrote.
Related: What the $NFT Paris cancellation says about the current state of the $NFT market
NFTs are still down 59% year over year
Despite its recent gains, the $NFT sector remains far below its previous cycle highs, underscoring how compressed valuations have become.
On Jan. 14, 2025, the $NFT market cap stood at roughly $7.3 billion, which means that despite the recent bounce, the sector is still down by 59% year over year.
Magazine: Digital art will ‘age like fine wine’: Inside Flamingo DAO’s 9-figure $NFT collection
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