Twenty One Capital has made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), entering the public markets with a substantial Bitcoin treasury and a similarly large spotlight. 

Its stock slid sharply on day one, raising a clear question for investors and the industry: what comes next for a company built around Bitcoin during a market downturn?

A Bitcoin Giant’s Wall Street Debut

Trading under the ticker XXI, the company enters the market with more than 43,500 Bitcoin on its balance sheet. 

That holding, worth about $3.9 billion, makes Twenty One Capital one of the largest corporate holders of the asset. Jack Mallers, who co-founded the firm, framed the listing as a bid to give Bitcoin a defined place in traditional markets. He argued that investors deserve access to a company built entirely on Bitcoin’s monetary logic.

Hello, world. $XXI pic.twitter.com/SFoLLwGnCd

— Twenty One (@twentyone) December 9, 2025

“Bitcoin is honest money. That’s why people choose it, and that’s why we built Twenty One on top of it,” Mallers said in a press release. “Listing on the NYSE is about giving Bitcoin the place it deserves in global markets and giving investors the best of Bitcoin: its strength as a reserve and the upside of a business built on it.”

This is not a fringe effort. Tether, Bitfinex, SoftBank, and Cantor Equity Partners sit behind XXI, giving the company a level of institutional weight rarely seen in Bitcoin-native launches. 

Cantor Equity Partners itself comes from a high-profile lineage: it was formed as a public acquisition vehicle backed by Cantor Fitzgerald, the investment firm led by Brandon Lutnick, son of US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. That connection adds another layer of institutional pedigree to XXI’s entry into public markets.

Yet the first trading session was rough, with shares falling more than 24%. The reaction indicates caution, with investors likely wanting to see how XXI plans to operate beyond its headline treasury.

DATs Struggle as Bitcoin Slides

Twenty One Capital’s stock exchange debut arrives at a time of renewed pressure in crypto markets. 

Bitcoin has fallen by roughly 30% from its October peak, and related equities have weakened in tandem. 

Meanwhile, digital asset treasuries (DATs) have been particularly hard-hit, as their valuations often fluctuate in tandem with their reserves. Analysts now stress that DATs must prove they offer more than exposure to Bitcoin. The generous mNAV premiums of earlier quarters have faded, and investors are demanding clearer business models.

1/ I see a lot of bad analysis of DATs, or digital asset treasury companies. Specifically, I see a lot of bad takes on whether they should trade at, above, or below the value of the assets they hold (their so-called “mNAV”).

Here's how I approach it.

— Matt Hougan (@Matt_Hougan) November 23, 2025

Against this backdrop, XXI faces a challenging environment for a new listing. It must demonstrate its ability to navigate volatility and build operations that can withstand Bitcoin’s fluctuations.

Growth Plans Await Market Validation

Mallers and his team have said the company aims to grow far beyond simple accumulation. 

XXI has stated that it plans to develop Bitcoin-based lending tools and capital markets products.

It also aims to create educational and media initiatives to promote broader Bitcoin adoption.

These remain early-stage intentions rather than launched business lines, reflecting the company’s ambition to build a broader ecosystem rather than remain a static treasury.

Whether investors will welcome that approach remains uncertain. 

Some see XXI as a future industry heavyweight, backed by deep institutional networks. Others note the weak crypto market and broader investor caution toward merger-driven listings. 

The debut is a milestone, but the next phase will depend on proven results rather than vision.

The post Twenty One Capital Goes Live on the NYSE – Now What? appeared first on BeInCrypto.

Last month marked the weakest period for NFT sales in 2025, with the market cap shedding hundreds of millions of dollars.

The latest figures reinforce the ongoing decline in demand for these assets, which once surged to record highs before entering a prolonged reversal after the 2022 crypto winter.

NFT Sales Sink to New Lows

November’s slump was steep. Total non-fungible token (NFT) sales fell to $320 million, nearly halving from October’s $629 million, according to CryptoSlam. That places monthly activity back near September’s $312 million, erasing what little momentum the sector had regained earlier in the fall. 

According to CoinMarketCap, the weakness has already carried into December, where the first seven days generated just $62 million in sales, marking the slowest weekly performance of the year.

NFTs are soo downbad right now.

Market cap dropped from $6.6B to $3.5B and volume is down about 65 percent.

OpenSea’s most hyped token even got pushed to Q1 2026.

Most holders aren’t down because of price. They’re down because nobody is buying.

The healthiest reboot this… pic.twitter.com/YTrWoK3UKv

— Salem☠️ (@web3_Salem) December 3, 2025

The broader valuation picture reflects the same downward pressure. CoinGecko data shows the market cap of NFT marketplaces has fallen to $253 million, its lowest level on record, as prices continue to decline across even the most established collections.

This downturn is not an isolated event but the continuation of a broader, years-long contraction that has reshaped the NFT landscape since its explosive rise in the early 2020s.

From Hype Cycle to Hard Reset

NFTs first entered mainstream awareness in 2020, when early art sales and experimental drops attracted niche communities.

By 2021, the market had become a full cultural phenomenon. Trading volumes on platforms like OpenSea soon surged to billions each month.

Collections like CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club turned into status symbols. They drew celebrities, global brands, and institutional investors. The momentum lasted into early 2022, when NFT activity hit record highs.

The peak did not last. As the broader crypto market weakened in mid-2022, NFT trading volumes contracted fast.

Liquidity dried up. Speculative capital pulled back, and floor prices across major collections fell sharply. Wash trading scandals hurt trust, and oversaturation added pressure. Thousands of low-effort collections competed for limited attention.

By late 2022, monthly volumes had decreased by more than 90% from their peak. Over the next two years, the market continued to normalize.

Some utility-driven NFTs, such as gaming assets and loyalty tokens, held steady pockets of activity. But legacy profile-picture collections lost relevance. Marketplaces fought for users with aggressive incentives, often boosting volume without creating real profit.

By 2025, the sector had shifted into a quieter role. It now operates as a niche segment within the broader digital asset market.

The post November Might Have Killed NFTs For Good appeared first on BeInCrypto.