The rise and fall of NFTs told in 13 stats
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NFTs, or Non-Fungible Tokens, are digital assets representing ownership or proof of authenticity of a unique item or piece of content, often stored on a blockchain. NFTs became popular as much of our art, literature, virtual real estate and collectables became digital only, in our world where speed, convenience and connectivity have become more important.
At Embryo, we are curious to understand more about everything digital to understand the influence on our client’s marketing strategies as we look for ways to innovate and drive success, exploring if NFTs will have any bearing on understanding website performance.
Key characteristics of NTFs
- Uniqueness: Each NFT is unique or part of a limited edition.
- Indivisibility: NFTs can’t be divided into smaller units like cryptocurrencies.
- Ownership Verification: Blockchain technology allows for easy verification of authenticity and ownership.
- Interoperability: NFTs can often be used across different platforms, especially in games or virtual environments.
If you want to purchase or research an NFT, the most popular marketplaces to do this are OpenSea, Rarible, SuperRare and NBA Top Shot. On each of these marketplaces, you can research available NFTs, buy, bid or enquire about them to understand exactly what you would be buying and why the particular asset is so sought after.
NFTs were developed and available in 2014 but rose to popularity at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Seven stats showing the significance of the rise of NFTs…
- In 2021, the NFT market saw a huge rise, with total sales volume reaching $24.9 billion, a massive increase compared to $94.9 million in 2020.
- OpenSea reported over $10 billion in total trading volume by the end of 2021.
- The digital artwork “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” by Beeple was sold for $69.3 million in March 2021.
- NBA Top Shot reached $700 million in sales by mid-2021, demonstrating NFT success beyond just art.
- Celebrity Grimes made $6 million in minutes by selling her digital art as NFTs in early 2021.
- By late 2021, the number of active NFT wallets skyrocketed to 1.4 million, up from just 545,000 at the beginning of the year.
- Axie Infinity, a play-to-earn NFT game, generated $1.3 billion in revenue in 2021 alone, with over 2 million daily users at its peak.
While NFTs experienced huge growth in 2020 and 2021, there has been a gradual decline in the tokens. Whilst still valuable, there has been more focus on ownership and wealth via more traditional means, stocks, property, funds and so on since the world returned to work after COVID-19. Exploring the decline of NFTs has highlighted some stark results for the tokens.
…and six stats highlighting the decline of them
- NFT trading volume dropped nearly 90% from its peak in early 2022 when monthly sales exceeded $2.8 billion. By mid-2022, the market was handling only around $1 billion in monthly sales.
- OpenSea, saw daily trading volumes fall from a peak of $405 million in August 2021 to $5 million in 2023.
- Active wallets interacting with NFTs fell from 1.4 million in late 2021 to 400,000 by 2022.
- Popular NFT collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club saw their floor prices drop from over $400,000 in early 2022 to $100,000 by 2023.
- The global NFT market, valued at over $40 billion in 2021, shrank to around $10 billion by 2023.
- In early 2021, the average sale price of an NFT was around $1500, but by mid-2022, this dropped to $600.
NFTs are adapting in 2024 and beyond, and future growth will likely be driven by real-world use cases and integration into sectors beyond just digital.
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NFTs are just one of the topics Embryo can research and create authority for. If you work in a niche or complex industry, our SEO and Content strategies can be tailored to suit your needs, educate your traffic and lead to your website’s growth and future success. If you’d like to understand more about how Embryo can help your business and our strategies for website success, contact us today.
