- NFT sales exploded last month, with the largest purchase ever recorded, at $ 69 million.
- Musicians, traditional companies and consumer brands now include them in their marketing.
- See more stories on the Insider business page.
If you’ve accessed the internet recently, you’ve certainly seen stories about non-fungible tokens (NFTs), as the blockchain phenomenon becomes increasingly common for everyone, from Paris Hilton to the auction house Christie’s.
NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, have been around for some time, but the crypto boom is just beginning.
The first change in bringing NFTs into the mainstream has to do with institutional support. That’s where Beeple and Christie come in.
Crypto artist Beeple made headlines for selling the most valuable piece of cryptographic art to date, for an incredible $ 69 million. That number is enough to draw attention, but what is particularly important is that a traditional auction house like Christie’s is entering the NFT boom.
The increase in media coverage and the growth of the market in the NFT space have resulted in celebrities exploring the potential of digital art as well.
Grimes was one of the first to adopt, selling pieces of crypto art in February for $ 5.8 million, Insider reported. Other singers like Steve Aoki and Kings of Leon released songs as NFTs and raised millions in sales. And Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is auctioning the first Tweet to raise money for charity.
Paris Hilton auctioned off a drawing of her cat on the NFT Cryptograph platform, reported Decrypt. And the Associated Press, one of the largest news agencies in the world, sold its NFT “The Associated Press calls the 2020 presidential election on Blockchain – A view from outer space”, for about $ 180,000, Coindesk said.
And while he may not be a celebrity, the creator of the “Bad Luck Brian” meme sold an NFT of the original photo for $ 36,000 earlier this week.
The NFT market has experienced great growth in the past year, with buyers outpacing sellers in a market that has grown to $ 250 million, according to a 2020 report by technology tracking firm L’Atelier BNP Paribas and nonfungible. with.
The value of NFTs is partly based on the originality of the product. NFTs cannot be destroyed, deleted or duplicated. The token exists only on its native platform, stored on the Ethereum blockchain. Elements on one platform cannot be moved to another.
For celebrities, collectors and brands, NFTs also represent a new way to reach fans or customers and make money.
The NFT boom was so intense that the Nifty Gateway platform, a popular website for selling NFTs and cryptographic art, had to close one of its CEO’s email accounts after an influx of traffic to the site overwhelmed his mailbox. Prohibited.
The main brands that adopt NFTs mean that this boom is not limited to celebrities.
One of the first to adopt the brand was the NBA, which launched its NFT collectibles “NBA Top Shot” in October. According to analysis by cryptoslam.io, a data tracking operation that aggregates cryptocurrency sales by platform, the NBA Top Shot all-time sales volume is currently $ 354,327,277.38.
Most recently, Taco Bell launched a series of $ 1 NFTs to celebrate the return of their beloved potatoes. Insider reported that the fast food restaurant sold out quickly and that some buyers are reselling NFTs for up to $ 3,000.