The magnetic behavior of Fe3-xO4 nanoparticles synthesized by either high-temperature decomposition of an organic iron precursor or low-temperature coprecipitation in aqueous conditions is compared. Transmission electron microscopy, x-ray absorption spectroscopy, x-ray magnetic circular dichroism, and magnetization measurements show that nanoparticles synthesized by thermal decomposition display high crystal quality and bulklike magnetic and electronic properties, while nanoparticles synthesized by coprecipitation show much poorer crystallinity and particlelike phenomenology, including reduced magnetization, high closure fields, and shifted hysteresis loops. The key role of the crystal quality is thus suggested, because particlelike behavior for particles larger than about 5 nm is observed only when the particles are structurally defective. These conclusions are supported by Monte Carlo simulations. It is also shown that thermal decomposition is capable of producing nanoparticles that, after further stabilization in physiological conditions, are suitable for biomedical applications such as magnetic resonance imaging or biodistribution studies.