Flipside Crypto - Everything You Didn't Know About NFTs

What are NFTs?

Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs as they are most commonly known, are digital items (e.g. art, collectibles, music, video) that are bought, sold, and traded on the blockchain.

The non-fungible part of their name refers to the fact that each NFT is a unique digital asset (no two are alike) that can’t be replicated - unlike fungible items that can be exchanged with one another for the same value (a bar of gold for a bar of gold or a $10.00 bill for two $5.00 dollar bills). This provides its owner with a one of a kind item that can easily be authenticated.  

The token part of the name is derived from the fact that all NFT transactions happen on the blockchain. As such, even if you had two NFTs that looked exactly alike, each one would still be considered a 1 of 1, because of their respective unique digital signatures.

When did they start being a thing?
 

From 2012 -2016, there were several precursors to the current NFT craze - from Colored Coin to CryptoPunks.  

Then, in 2017, CryptoKitties happened - and everything changed.

The blockchain based game that lets users raise, trade, and sell virtual cats, was the one to really ignite the NFT boom. It was not uncommon to see some of these virtual pets selling for over $100K. 
 
That’s when NFTs went from cool idea bro to this is a great business opportunity sir.

Figure 1: Number of Crypto Kitties Created Monthly Since November 2017

December 2017 is when Crypto Kitties really took off, with 397,000 new cats created. 

Note: The graph above is interactive and can be accessed here.

Where are we now?

Today, NFTs are a full-fledged phenomenon. No longer the purview of early crypto and blockchain adopters. Everyone from artists to tech executives, celebrities to sports leagues are cashing in on the craze. Not only that, they are also turning A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G into an NFT (old tweets, x-rays of teeth, -  even a sex tape). 

An NFT art project just sold for $69 million. 

NFTs haven’t just hit the mainstream. As of right now, they’ve taken over. Is this momentum sustainable? Is this another ICO bubble in the making? Where will this NFT craze end up?  

We don’t know. So we’ll focus on what we do know. 

Here are all the craziest facts we’ve unearthed this month:

CryptoPunks: $19.1MM were bid on CryptoPunks - in January alone.

Hashmasks: On January 31st, this super rare Hashmask sold for $809.00.  On February 2nd, just 3 days later, it sold for $634,210.

NBA Top Shot:  In February, this Cole Anthony moment was the most popular Top Shot. It had been sold 9 times. Most moments had been resold just once.

NFTX: Launched on Nov 15th as the governance token for the NFTX protocol that links NFTs and DeFi.  

19MM sit in liquidity pools on SushiSwap and Uniswap, where 15K in trades have happened.

$1.5MM have moved on and off of centralized exchanges.

Price has 10x’d from $30 to $316.00.

Art Blocks: Since launching in November 2020 - 23,945 NFTs had been purchased from 27 projects.

Its 17 creators made $2,297,812 ($2,152,208 in mints, $145,604 from resale commissions.

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