If you had heard the term ‘non-fungible token’ back in 2020, you’d probably think the world had gone mad.
But fast forward just 12 months into the future, and it’d be a whole different story.
2021 was a year that brought amazing growth in the NFT landscape in the form of the art industry, gaming & memes. NFTs went from not being on anyone’s radar at all — to now powering a trading volume of $23 billion by the end of the year.
Call it fad or not. But it’s undeniable 2021 was a breakout year for NFTs. And in this article, we’ll give you a quick rundown of the most significant events that helped push the popularity of NFTs forward during the year.
(Sidenote: If you happen to be within the group of people who still think NFTs are a fad, then newsflash… they’re not. Click here to learn why.)
So without further ado, let’s jump right into it.
1. The Top 10 NFT Sales of the Year combine for $241.4 Million
2021 was a great year for art collecting. But most notably, NFT collecting.
Putting the complete fiasco of CryptoPunk #9998 aside — an NFT that apparently, got bought by its very owner on repeat just to inflate the perceived price of the asset — the real most expensive NFT ever sold is The Merge by Pak. A piece of artwork that went for a stunning $91.8 million nearing the end of the year. A sum that to this day, still hasn’t yet been surpassed.
Previously, the tag of “The Most Expensive NFT Ever Sold” belonged to Everydays: The First 5000 Days by Beeple. A milestone that of course, didn’t stick for long. But what we can’t take away from Beeple — or even CryptoPunks, for that matter — it’s how instrumental they were in putting the term ‘NFTs’ into the map.
8 out of the Top 10 NFT Sales of the year are owned by either CryptoPunks or Beeple — and this doesn’t even include the $532 Million publicity stunt I mentioned above. All of these served priceless to give prestige & validation to the whole NFT market — and prove they’re not just another flash in the pan.
All in all, it was a great year for Crypto liquidity, and we were all in for it.
2. Nyan Cat: A Meme For The Ages
If we took a time machine back to 2011, and told 25-year-old Christopher Torres his infamous cat animation would one day land him a 6-figure payday, he would’ve written you off as a nutcase.
Yet coincidentally, that’s exactly what happened 10 years later, when on February 19, an NFT version of the mega-viral meme “Nyan Cat” sold for 300 ETH — the equivalent of $590,000 at the time.
This event was not only a catalyst for the NFT craze that unraveled afterwards, but also opened the floodgates for a movement we now know as the ‘Memeconomy’. Later during the year, a record fee for a meme-turned-NFT was set by Doge at $4 million — a move that triggered great backlash for the nature of the purchase.
Yet as we’ve covered in earlier articles, as long as the market collectively perceives an NFT as ‘valuable’ — it will trade accordingly. Regardless of what the naysayers may think of your purchase. But I digress.
3. Bored Ape Yacht Club Starts a Profile Pic Revolution
If at some point last year, you noticed random celebrities uploading pictures of elegant-looking apes on their profiles — and had no clue where this rather bizarre trend came from — just know… it came straight from the NFT trenches.
Mimicking the form of CryptoPunks, the most popular NFT collection at the time, Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) launched in May, with hopes to plant a benchmark in the NFT landscape. And boy, did they do it.
From the beginning, BAYC borrowed from the concept of community. Allowing ‘Ape owners’ to join an exclusive Discord channel where they could network with fellow collectors & get invited to special events. All while using these ‘Apes’ as their Twitter profile.
This ‘community factor’ intended to add real, tangible value to the asset — while simultaneously raising curiosity for the whole NFT concept at large.
And it worked.
BAYC went on to shape the NFT market as we know it — giving birth to a ripple of projects of similar class. Labeled as profile-pic NFTs (PFP NFTs), these projects turned out to represent the gas that fueled most of the NFT craze for the entire summer of 2021 — and eventually, became the backbone of the market’s trading eruption.
Not bad for a couple of JPEG’s!
4. NFT sales in 2021 total over $26.9 billion worth of Crypto
How could we forget the numbers?
There’s no clearer representation of the record year NFTs had than looking at studies gathered from DappRadar, in which they state:
“In 2021, the NFT space generated over $23 billion in trading volume. Significant trends such as randomly generated collectibles, the involvement of mainstream celebrities in the space, or the rise of play-to-earn, were the main drivers behind a record year for NFTs.”
And the craziest thing is, this race started off slowly.
According to DappRadar, in the first half of 2021, sales of NFTs consisted of $4 billion in total. But in the second half, sales soared to a remarkable $18 billion — $10.7 billion of which came from the third quarter alone!
This was mostly ignited by the CryptoPunk/BAYC frenzy, on top of the plethora of celebrities that jumped into the action midyear — which we’ll make sure to mention in a second.
Lastly, out of all the marketplaces that capitalized on this gigantic boost in sales, OpenSea was, by far, the most popular — with over $16 billion worth of crypto received as of December 2021. Compared to the mere $340 million worth of sales totalled in 2020, it’s safe to say… 2021 won with flying colors.
5. Top Brands & Celebrities Hop In The Non-Fungible Bandwagon
Most of what ignited the NFT vogue of 2021 was not a work of fate by the universe, but the big wave of top celebrities that decided to get involved with the technology.
From Doja Cat to Jay Z to Logan Paul to Tom Brady to Paris Hilton — they all played their role to make 2021 a pivotal year in NFTs history. And not only celebrities, but some of the world’s most recognizable brands too.
Big corporations like Visa, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Adidas, Pepsi, McDonald’s and Macy’s got in the game early on — venturing into the space via collaborations. One of the most significant events of the year was when the National Basketball Association (NBA) embraced the concept of NFTs wholeheartedly — and went about creating a full marketplace where fans can bid for a particular moment in basketball history.
Hell, even Jack Dorsey minted an NFT of his first tweet. Which only goes to show how social proof became a key driver in pushing NFTs out into the world.
Not only in the beginning, but the whole year round.
6. Metaverse Comes Into The Mix: Looking Into The New Year
In the wake of Facebook’s late-year rebranding to Meta, the value of metaverse-related projects skyrocketed.
Digital collectibles and wearables for avatars instantly became a thing, with Blockchain virtual worlds like The Sandbox & Decentraland having the most to gain — generating $500 million in trading volume in the last quarter of the year alone.
Projected as a $1tn industry by Grayscale, plenty of big names such as Steve Aoki & Snoop Dogg are already making their first moves into the metaverse. We took part in these recent splashes ourselves — having partnered with @metaverse handle owner Thea-Mau Baumann this December.
She minted the first-ever @metaverse Instagram post with the platform, becoming the first creator to hop on the team in the process.
As we look into 2022, with NFTs officially consolidated into the mainstream, it’s anticipated the steam won’t die down anytime soon. The space will likely continue to grow and revitalize the digital art & gaming industries on the back of a record year for the non-fungible squad.
It will be interesting to see how everything unfolds into this new year — so be sure to stay posted & join our Discord server to keep yourself on the loop of the wacky world of NFTs.
