Bitcoin News Today: Market Fatigue Sends NFT Titans Crumbling as Presale Innovators Rise

The meme coin and NFT landscape is undergoing a dramatic reshuffling in October 2025, with once-dominant projects like Pudgy Penguins and Layer Brett fading into obscurity while underdog tokens like BullZilla rocket to prominence. New data from CryptoSlam shows NFT sales volume plummeted 42% week-on-week to $93.18 million, with Pudgy Penguins suffering a 76% drop in sales to $3.8 million, marking one of the most abrupt declines in the sector. Meanwhile, presale tokens such as BullZilla and BlockDAG are drawing investor attention, with BullZilla's price surging 2,639% as of October 2025, as highlighted in a CoinMarketCap article.

The collapse of Pudgy Penguins, a flagship Ethereum-based NFT collection, underscores broader market fatigue with early NFT projects. Once valued at $15.61 million in sales, the collection now trails behind emerging collections like Guild of Guardians Heroes and Bitcoin BRC-20 tokens. "The market is shifting toward utility-driven and blockchain-native innovations rather than speculative NFT art," said a crypto analyst in an anonymous interview. The Ethereum network, despite retaining the top spot for NFT sales at $35.04 million, saw a 65% weekly drop, reflecting broader sector challenges.

At the same time, presale tokens are capturing investor imagination. BullZilla, a memetic token leveraging AI-driven marketing, has become a standout performer. CoinMarketCap analysts attribute its meteoric rise to a combination of viral social media campaigns and strategic partnerships with gaming platforms. Similarly, BlockDAG and BlockchainFX are gaining traction for their scalable blockchain architectures, with BlockDAG's $0.0015 presale attracting $430 million in liquidity as of October 2025. The trend highlights a growing appetite for projects with clear technological differentiators, even in the meme coin space.

Layer Brett, a tokenized social media platform, also faltered, with its value declining alongside broader market sentiment. The project, which once promised decentralized content monetization, failed to secure institutional backing, leaving it vulnerable to volatility. In contrast, tokens like Lyno AI and Tapzi are leveraging AI integration and gamification to attract a younger demographic, according to a CoinMarketCap report.

The broader crypto market remains polarized. While Bitcoin stabilized near $110,541, Ethereum's network fees hit $1,000 for small transactions, drawing criticism from investors. Despite these challenges, stablecoins like Tether's USDT continue to dominate, facilitating $76 billion in annualized B2B transactions, according to a crypto.news analysis. Rumble's upcoming Bitcoin tipping feature for its 51 million users, however, signals growing mainstream adoption of crypto in everyday applications, as reported in a TradingView report.