As people continuously enter the world of technology, we are turning tangible items into intangible and digital ones.
More people are becoming interested in digital assets.
Non-Fungible Tokens, also known as NFT, became one of the major digital topics in 2021.
Digital images turned out to be investment opportunities, and the purchasing method of NFT became simpler.
These are some of the reasons why the NFT market worldwide ballooned to $22 billion in 2021.
Do you want to know NFT facts and the updated NFT statistics in 2024? Just continue reading.
Key NFT Statistics
- There were around 150,000 NFT buyers and 110,000 NFT sellers in the market as of Q3 2022.
- Former CEO of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, sold his first tweet as an NFT for $2.9 million.
- In March 2021, the NFT buyers in the market hit 20,000 in a week.
- The most popular segment in non-fungible tokens is the “Collectibles.” 76% of the total NFT trade volume is generated in this segment.
- NFTs can be stored in a soft wallet, hard wallet, or InterPlanetary File System.
- The first NFT art was called “Quantum,” created by Kevin McCoy, a New York artist.
- The NFT market worldwide was valued at almost $16 billion in 2021 and is forecasted to exceed $122 billion in 2028.
- The NFT collection “Collezione Genesi” of Dolce & Gabbana leads the rest of the luxury brands. It reached $6,120,409 in sales.
- OpenSea is the largest and most-used NFT marketplace, with a trading volume of approximately $14.68 billion.
- Asia and Oceania were mostly interested in NFTs in 2022.
- “CryptoPunk #9998” was sold in October 2021 for $532 million, while “The Merge” was sold in December 2021 for $91.8 million.
- It cost an average of $100 to mint and sell NFTs.
- The most famous and expensive NFT meme is “Doge.” It was sold for $4 million in June 2021.
NFT Statistics in 2024
NFTs are unique cryptographic assets stored on the blockchain that cannot be changed, copied, or replaced but can be traded as an asset.
People collect NFTs for reasons such as investing, buying and selling, and entertainment.
They collect digital versions of art, coins, stamps, sports cards, and even tweets.
An example of this is the first tweet of the former CEO of Twitter, Jack Dorsey.
He sold his first tweet on Twitter as an NFT for $2.9 million.
Millennials are major collectors of NFTs. This age group is three times more likely to buy and sell NFTs than Gen Zs.
NFT Facts
In March 2021, the NFT buyers in the market reached 20,000 in a week.
In the third quarter of the same year, nearly 266,000 active wallets traded non-fungible tokens on the Ethereum blockchain.
According to the Q3 2022 report, the market has more NFT buyers than NFT sellers.
There were around 150,000 NFT buyers and 110,000 NFT sellers, equivalent to a ratio of 1.3 to 1.
What are NFTs?
What are NFTs? NFTs, short for non-fungible tokens, are digital assets tokenized with unique identification codes.
These blockchain-based tokens are digital representations of limited-edition physical goods.
They are irreplaceable even to identical items since they are unique from each other and differ in value.
Types of NFTs
Here are the nine types of NFTs:
- Collectibles / Trading cards
- Video game items
- Digital art
- Memes
- Music
- Sports
- Virtual fashion
- Domain names
- Miscellaneous online items
Five Segments in NFTs
More people are becoming interested in buying, collecting, holding, selling, and trading NFTs.
The most popular segment in non-fungible tokens is the “Collectibles.” In Q1 2022, 76% of the total NFT trade volume was generated in “Collectibles,” 8% in the “Gaming” segment, and another 8% in the “Art” segment.
While 5% of the NFT trade volume was generated in “Metaverse” and 3% in “Utilities.”
When it comes to the most activity, “Gaming” leads all the segments.
It had the most active wallets, with 51%. “Collectibles” holds the second spot with 32%, while “Utility” accounts for 9%, and “Art” with 6%.
Where Do People Store NFTs?
People can store NFTs from the least to the most secure storage.
They can be stored in a soft wallet, hard wallet, and InterPlanetary File System.
- A soft wallet or software wallet has standard security. Every activity is secured using a password. However, there are possibilities that soft wallets can be hacked.
- A hard wallet or hardware wallet has extreme security. All data are kept offline, and the password is protected. Hackers can’t access NFTs stored in hard wallets. Data could be recovered with a recovery phrase if the wallet was stolen or lost.
- An InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) is more secure than a soft wallet for storing NFTs. It stores the non-fungible tokens off the blockchain and on the personal computer through content identifiers. However, there are chances of hacking if the PC is compromised.
First-Ever NFT
According to some reports, when setting the foundation for non-fungible tokens in 2012, Colored Coins was the oldest project.
It was developed on the Bitcoin blockchain. Unfortunately, this project did not develop more because of technical complications.
After two years, the first NFT art was created by Kevin McCoy, a New York artist.
The art piece was called “Quantum.”
The image shows an animated octagon shape with changing color, depicting “How to picture the moment of creation.
A spark, a seed, a particle.” It was minted on May 02, 2014, on the Namecoin blockchain.
NFT Market
The NFT market worldwide was at $15.7 billion in 2021. It is forecasted to exceed $122.4 billion in 2028, with a compound annual growth rate of 34.1%.
Luxury brands also entered the NFT market. In 2022, the NFT collection of Dolce & Gabbana called “Collezione Genesi” leads the rest of the luxury brands. It reached $6,120,409 in sales. The “Fewo Sneakers” NFT collection of Nike RTFKT comes next with $3,100,000 in sales.
While the “Burberry Blanko” NFT collection of Burberry reached $374,978 in sales, and the “Chito x Givenchy” NFT collection of Givenchy reached $159,311 in sales.
Largest NFT Marketplace
According to research, the largest and most-used NFT marketplace is OpenSea, with a trading volume of approximately $14.68 billion.
Its commercial value is around $90 million per month.
OpenSea features different collections and offers a wide selection of NFTs including trading cards, art, collectibles, and virtual worlds.
Other NFT marketplaces next to OpenSea are CryptoPunks, Axie Infinity, Solanart, NBA Top Shot, Magic Eden, Mobox, Rarible, SuperRare, and AtomicMarket.
Adoption of NFT per Country
In 2022, people from Asia and Oceania were mostly interested in NFTs compared to Latin America, Europe, and MENA.
This is according to how often they search for “NFT” on Google Search.
Adults from the United Kingdom, United States, Germany, and Canada were less likely to buy NFTs than from Southeast Asian countries.
Percentage of Adults per Country Who Have an NFT
Here are the percentages of adults per country who have an NFT as of September 2022:
- 7% of adults in India own an NFT
- 6% of adults in Vietnam own an NFT
- 5% of adults in Singapore own an NFT
- 5% of adults in Hong Kong SAR own an NFT
- 4% of adults in Brazil own an NFT
- 4% of adults in the Philippines own an NFT
- 4% of adults in Ghana own an NFT
- 4% of adults in Indonesia own an NFT
- 4% of adults in Nigeria own an NFT
- 3% of adults in the United States own an NFT
Most Expensive NFT Sold
According to some reports, the most expensive NFT sold is a controversial issue. “CryptoPunk #9998” was sold in October 2021 for $532 million.
However, it is believed that the sale was just to inflate its price since the one who bought it was himself.
“The Merge,” created by Pak, was another most expensive NFT. It was sold in December 2021 for $91.8 million.
However, this remains questionable if it can be counted as a single artwork since there were 30,000 buyers.
Its price started at $575 per unit until it reached $91.8 million.
Conclusion
It cost an average of $100 to mint and sell NFTs, but some traders are willing to pay more.
One of the most famous and expensive NFT memes is Doge. It was sold in June 2021 for $4 million.
After three months, the new owner announced that it will split into 17,000,000,000 pieces.
Now you know what an NFT is, the NFT statistics in 2023, and other interesting information about it.
It will be more interesting to witness what the NFT holds in the next few years.