Sales of NFTs reached a record $25 billion in 2021 – data from DappRadar shows – despite the signs of growth slowing towards the end of the year.
Over the course of 2021, we’ve seen NFTs boom in popularity, with Google Trends reporting that in August 2021 alone, global interest in NFTs surged by 426%. From when NFT Bored Ape number 3,547 accidentally sold for $3,000 instead of $300,000, to the charity NFT collection of the Dalai Lama, NFTs have constantly been in the news.
Major brands seized the opportunity to be a part of the NFT revolution in 2021: from Coca Cola and Gucci cashing in, to Stella Artois’ ‘Tipping’ NFT and Vodafone’s first SMS NFT for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.
More from News
- Two Thirds of Brits Are Telling AI Chatbots Their Secrets But Don’t Trust The Companies Behind Them
- Video Game Companies Are Abandoning “Buy Our Console To Play This” – Here’s Why
- UK Gambling Operators Face New Deposit Limit Rules From 30 September
- How A Ransomware Gang Hijacked A Rival Gang’s Website – And Is Now Extorting Them For “2.333% Of Their Net Worth
- Meta Promised Unmatched Privacy For Muse – So How Did Researchers Crack It So Quickly?
- Digital Avatars Are Bringing Deceased Artists Back To The Stage – Where Do We Draw The Line?
- Can Europe Solve Its Critical Minerals Problem Fast Enough To Support Its Tech Ambitions?
- Google Has Agreed To A £260 Million Settlement: Who’s Eligible For Compensation?
DappRadar reported that NFT sales volume totalled $24.9 billion in 2021, compared to just $94.9 million in 2020. They recorded that around 28.6 million wallets traded NFTs in 2021, up from some 545,000 in 2020.
Data was collected across ten different blockchains, which are used to record who owns the NFT. It’s important to consider that estimates of volumes vary by different data provider, depending on what is actually included in the data. ‘Off-chain’ transactions, such as major NFT art sales at auction houses, are usually not captured by the data.
Other data shows the NFT sales of 2021 at lesser amounts: CryptoSlam said 2021’s total was $18.3 billion and NonFungible.com said the 2021 sales were at $15.7 billion.
Research from OpenSea showed that sales of NFTs peaked in August, then declined in September, October and November. Sales then picked up again in December in time for Christmas. These fluctuations in NFT popularity do not seem to be correlated with fluctuations in the price of cryptocurrencies, often used to buy NFTs, as bitcoin and ether rose between September and November 2021.
