1. The beginnings
The invention of NFTs is often equated with their high popularity in 2017. In fact, the beginnings of non-fungible tokens go back further. In fact, the artist couple Jennifer and Kevin McCoy issued the first NFT back in 2014. With “Quantum” Kevin created the first token that gave him ownership rights to his work of art via blockchain.
Do you want to trade NFTs yourself and are you looking for the best provider? Then take a look at our provider comparison.
2. The further development
The token standard on which most NFTs are based today is ERC-721. Dapper Labs CTO Dieter Shirley unleashed this on the crypto community in September 2017. The timing couldn’t have been better. At that time, the crypto market was on its way to new highs, which would reach its peak with Bitcoin’s all-time high in December 2017.
3. First NFT boom
With the publication of the token standard, two of the first mainstream blockchain games came onto the market: Cryptopunks and Cryptokitties. The latter, like the token standard, was developed by Dapper Labs. After a short time, the Pokémon-esque game became so popular that the first crypto kitten was traded for the equivalent of $100,000.
4. Through the bear market to the NFT explosion
With the onset of the bear market, prices then fell significantly. No wonder: When Bitcoin, Ethereum and Co. plummet, not much money will be spent on cryptopunks and the like. But when the market is booming, even more so. This led to a crazy comeback of non-fungible tokens. An NFT by the artist Beeple achieved a record price of over $69 million in March 2021. And started an incredible hype.
5. NFTs are everywhere
In the 2021-2022 bull market, it was hard to escape NFTs. They appeared and were used everywhere. Whether as digital trading card games, as in-game items in blockchain games or simply as pixel paintings in the Decentraland metaverse. Even properties in The Sandbox have been nailed to the blockchain in the form of NFTs. These got so much attention that even US rapper Snoop Dogg didn’t miss the chance to get one. Crazy NFT fact: Over $41 billion was spent on NFT platforms in 2021 alone. Jefferies Group expects this amount to almost double by 2025.
This might also interest you