"NFT stocks" are shares in listed companies that make or have made money from non-fungible tokens. In late 2026 there is very little of this left to buy. The first NFT ETF closed in February 2023. Meta stopped its Instagram and Facebook NFT features in March 2023. eBay began winding down the NFT marketplace it bought, KnownOrigin, in July 2024. The latest change is regulatory. On 17 March 2026 the SEC, joined by the CFTC, said most NFTs are "digital collectibles", which generally are not securities. The rules are now clearer, but the companies have largely already left.
The newest development: the SEC's March 2026 interpretation
On 17 March 2026 the SEC published a Commission-level interpretation (Release No. 33-11412) of how the Howey test applies to crypto assets. The CFTC joined it. Law-firm summaries of the release agree on the main points:
- NFTs are "digital collectibles". The release puts NFTs and memecoins in this category: assets "designed to be collected and/or used, with no intrinsic economic properties or rights."
- Digital collectibles are generally not securities. Digital commodities, digital tools and stablecoins are also in the non-security group.
- There is a caveat. A non-security asset can still be offered and sold under an investment contract, and that contract is a security. Davis Polk says the biggest open question is when, and for how long, a non-security asset stays subject to such a contract.
What it means for shares: the release takes away some legal uncertainty that hung over NFT businesses from 2021 to 2023. That period included the 2023 Impact Theory enforcement action, which Commissioners Peirce and Uyeda dissented from. The release does not bring back revenue that companies gave up when they closed their NFT products.
What "NFT stock" actually means
An NFT is a token on a blockchain with its own identifier, so one token can't be swapped one-for-one with another. An NFT stock is ordinary equity. You own part of a company, not a token. Two things follow from that:
- Your return depends mostly on the company's main business. NFT activity was a small part of revenue even at the 2021–2022 peak for every company in this article.
- The company's announcements matter more than its marketing. The questions are whether the NFT product is still running, what the company has reported about it, and whether it was quietly shut down.
Where the well-known names stand
Meta Platforms (META): exited in March 2023
- May 2022: Instagram began testing NFT sharing with selected US creators.
- 4 August 2022: support expanded to more than 100 countries. Flow was added alongside Ethereum and Polygon, and posting a collectible cost nothing.
- 13 March 2023: Stephane Kasriel, Meta's head of commerce and financial technologies, wrote: "We're winding down digital collectibles (NFTs) for now to focus on other ways to support creators, people, and businesses."
Holding META in 2026 is a bet on advertising and AI, not on NFTs.
eBay (EBAY): acquired an NFT marketplace, then wound it down
- May 2021: eBay began allowing NFTs to be bought and sold, according to its own press release.
- 21–22 June 2022: eBay bought KnownOrigin, a Manchester-based NFT marketplace founded in 2018. The price was not disclosed.
- February 2024: about 30% of KnownOrigin's staff were laid off, according to trade press.
- 17 July 2024: KnownOrigin said it would close its on-chain marketplace and minter in phases. A December 2024 update replaced the marketplace with an information page. Tokens minted there are on Ethereum and can still be traded elsewhere.
eBay's largest 2026 deal has nothing to do with NFTs. It bought the fashion resale marketplace Depop from Etsy, announced at about $1.2 billion. eBay's Q2 2026 filing says the deal closed on 30 July 2026 for about $1.4 billion after adjustments. Depop is not an NFT signal.
Shopify (SHOP): NFTs only through third-party apps, with strict rules
Shopify's App Store requirements (section 5.11) say:
- "A blockchain app allows merchants to sell, transfer, or modify non-fungible tokens (NFTs)."
- "The app must block merchants from listing NFTs as products while Shopify Payments is active in the shop."
- "Apps are presently only able to support the primary sales of NFTs on Shopify."
- "NFTs must not qualify as a security or regulated financial instrument."
So merchants can't mint NFTs "through Shopify Payments". NFT sales on Shopify happen inside third-party apps, under review rules set by Shopify. Shopify's developer documentation has also described token gating. A shopper connects a wallet, the store checks that they hold a token, and a reward such as a discount unlocks. For Shopify, NFTs are a minor merchant feature, not a revenue line.
Cloudflare (NET): a small developer feature from 2021
On 16 April 2021, Cloudflare announced that Stream can link a video to an ERC-721 token by its token ID and contract address. Whoever holds the token can claim admin control of the video. Cloudflare noted that "Stream doesn't create NFTs for you". Minting happens elsewhere.
Nvidia (NVDA): the NFT angle is weaker than it looks
Older "NFT stock" lists included Nvidia for two reasons:
- GPU mining. That reason ended when Ethereum moved to proof of stake on 15 September 2022, the Merge. ethereum.org puts the cut in energy use at about 99.95%.
- Omniverse. At CES on 4 January 2022, Nvidia made its Omniverse 3D platform free for individual creators with RTX GPUs. That is a tool for building 3D content, not an NFT business.
Dolphin Entertainment (DLPN): a 2021 NFT division
- 23 March 2021: Dolphin announced a division to design, produce, release and promote NFTs for itself and clients.
- Q2 2021: its first collections were in sports and culinary, including Tim Brown NFTs with Hall of Fame Resort & Entertainment Company.
Ubisoft (UBI, Euronext Paris): what failure looks like
Ubisoft launched its Quartz platform in December 2021 with "Digit" NFTs in Ghost Recon Breakpoint. Players objected. The last Breakpoint Digit came out on 17 March 2022. In April 2022 Ubisoft ended all new content for the game. It said Quartz would continue, but did not name another game.
Is this company really an NFT stock?
Answer three questions about a listed company to see what its NFT exposure looks like in its own filings.
Search the company's 10-K and 10-Q reports in SEC EDGAR full-text search for "NFT", "non-fungible" or "digital collectible". Is an NFT business line reported?
- Yes, the filings report an NFT business line → next question
- No, only press releases or marketing mention NFTs → Probably not material
Does the NFT product still exist today, or was it wound down?
- It was closed or wound down → An exit, not exposure
- It is still running → next question
- I can't confirm its status → Exposure not verified
Is the product fractional or yield-bearing, or are the NFTs offered with promises of profit from someone else's efforts?
- Yes → Read the risk factors on the investment-contract caveat
- No, they are sold to be collected or used → A live but likely minor line
If a business line isn't reported in the filings, it probably isn't material. A return on these shares depends mostly on the company's main business, not on NFTs.
Meta wound down its NFT features on 13 March 2023, KnownOrigin closed its marketplace in phases from July 2024, and Quartz named no game after Breakpoint. NFTs minted on Ethereum stay with their holders, but shareholders get nothing from those tokens.
Treat the NFT link as unconfirmed, as this article does for Cloudflare's 2021 Stream feature and Dolphin's NFT division. Many "best NFT stocks" pages still list products and funds that no longer exist.
Under the 17 March 2026 SEC interpretation, NFTs are digital collectibles and generally not securities, but one offered under an investment contract can still be a security. Check how the company describes this caveat.
Under the March 2026 interpretation, NFTs designed to be collected or used are digital collectibles and generally not securities. NFT activity was still a small part of revenue for every company in this article, and these shares tend to move with the wider crypto market.
This sorts a company by its filings and product status only. It does not measure NFT revenue, trading volumes or share value, and it is not investment advice.
The ETF route closed in 2023
The Defiance Digital Revolution ETF (NFTZ) was billed as the first NFT-focused ETF and launched in December 2021. Its trustees decided to close and liquidate the fund "immediately after the close of business on February 28, 2023." Liquidation started on or about 16 February 2023, according to the fund's SEC supplement dated 27 January 2023. Co-founder Sylvia Jablonski told Bloomberg: "The fund failed to attract assets." Any list that still tells you to buy NFTZ is out of date.
How to check a company's NFT exposure yourself
- Search the filings, not the press releases. SEC EDGAR full-text search lets you look for "NFT", "non-fungible" or "digital collectible" in a company's 10-K and 10-Q reports. If a business line isn't reported, it probably isn't material.
- Check whether the product still exists. Meta, KnownOrigin and Quartz all launched with publicity and closed with much less.
- Read the risk factors. After the March 2026 interpretation, look at how a company describes the investment-contract caveat, especially for fractional or yield-bearing products.
- Separate tokens from equity. Holders of NFTs minted on Ethereum, like KnownOrigin's, keep them when the company exits. Shareholders don't get anything from those tokens.
Risks that still apply
- Correlation: shares tied to crypto activity tend to move with the wider crypto market, whatever their NFT exposure.
- Exit risk: large companies have shut NFT products quickly when demand fell.
- Regulatory nuance: an NFT offered with promises of profit from someone else's efforts can still be a security under the investment-contract caveat.
- Stale information: many "best NFT stocks" pages still list products and funds that no longer exist.
This is not investment advice.
