End of an Era: Nifty Gateway to Shut Down After Defining the NFT Boom

NFT marketplace Nifty Gateway is closing down on February 23 this year. The platform has already switched to withdrawal-only mode after a steep drop in trading and waning interest in NFTs. 

The marketplace’s owner, crypto exchange Gemini, said it will now focus on building a broader “super app” and will handle NFTs only through its Gemini Wallet product.

The abrupt move to withdrawal-only mode has shifted attention to asset recovery because users now need to move their NFTs off the platform. However, artists and collectors are also asking what happens to works minted and stored through a custodial system and how reliably those pieces will remain accessible in the future.

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A Centralised Design and a Dead Market

The story of Nifty Gateway shows the trade-off at the heart of its design. A centralised, custodial platform made NFTs easy to buy and helped turn on-chain art into a mainstream product. At the same time, it left users dependent on a single company’s infrastructure and long-term business decisions.

Founded in 2018 by Duncan and Griffin Cock Foster, Nifty Gateway allowed purchases in both crypto and fiat, including cards, lowering friction for a broad audience. During the 2021 boom, it processed about US$300 million (AU$459 million) in gross merchandise value through exclusive drops with artists and celebrities. 

But Nifty Gateway’s appeal was its simplicity. Users could pay with credit cards, skip self-custody, and buy from tightly curated drops. That model made it a key on-ramp during the 2020–2021 NFT surge, especially for people who had never used a crypto wallet. 

After Gemini acquired the company in 2019, it hosted high-profile releases from artists such as Beeple and Pak and became a familiar starting point for new collectors.

NFT trading volumes fell from over US$50 billion (AU$76.5 billion) per quarter in 2022 to around US$1.25 billion (AU$1.9 billion) in the fourth quarter of 2025, so it’s kind of obvious the platform’s model could not withstand the downturn.

Read more: No Turning Back for Crypto in Wall Street’s Engine Room, Says PwC

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