Finance

NFT Market Cruises to $2.5B in Total Sales in H1

The market for NFTs, or “non-fungible tokens” has roared to $2.5 billion in the first half of 2021, after doing a fraction of that in 2020.
The market was driven by NBA TopShot at the start of the year, but has since diversified.

Jul 07, 2021 | 05:32 am

UPDATED Jul 07, 2021 | 05:47 am

Borussia Dortmund/Design: Alex Brooks

The NFT market is as hot as ever, with non-fungible tokens collectively making $2.5 billion in total sales in the first half of 2021.

That figure shows explosive growth from the $13.7 million in sales over the same period last year. NFT sales grew to $81.1 million in the latter half of 2020, and then achieved exit velocity with NBA TopShot.

TopShot sales hit $505.8 million in the first quarter of 2021. Sales fell each month in Q2, when the platform totaled $207.9 million in revenue.
Monthly sales on NFT platform OpenSea hit a new high of $150 million in June.
Beeple, who holds the record for the largest NFT sale at $69 million, completed the launch of his new NFT platform WENEW by selling an NFT of Andy Murray’s 2013 Wimbledon victory for $177,777.

Spurred by the success of TopShot, other leagues and teams are getting in on the action.

NBA TopShot maker Dapper Labs is launching a European soccer-focused NFT platform with Fantastec SWAP featuring Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund, and Arsenal, among other teams. Fantastec SWAP now has over 2 million NFTs on its platform.

MLB launched its first NFT auction in partnership with Fanatics-backed Candy Digital on July 4. The auction, which commemorates Lou Gehrig’s 1939 “luckiest man” speech and will benefit ALS charities, ends Thursday.