Even at this point in Bitcoin’s evolution, it’s still relatively rare for cryptocurrencies to hit mainstream news headlines unless volatility reaches dramatic extremes. It’s even more extraordinary for blockchain apps to get picked up by the global media.
Cryptokitties is one of those rare exceptions. When it launched in December 2017, at the peak of crypto price mania, it was an immediate hit. In the first few days post-launch, people spent over $1 million worth of ETH on digital feline artwork. It was so popular that it became the first app to generate congestion on the Ethereum blockchain, drawing the attention of mainstream outlets, including Bloomberg and the BBC.
Cryptokitties was among the first applications to make use of the ERC721 token standard, which allows developers to create non-fungible tokens (NFTs.) The game’s popularity led to speculation that there would be a boom in NFT-based applications. However, the craze cooled off as the 2018 crypto winter set in.
Now, NFTs are most definitely making a comeback. In fact, the trends that we’re seeing are comparable to the inexorable rise in total value locked in DeFi applications.
By September, weekly volumes of NFT transactions had hit the $1 million mark. By December, that number had risen to $2 million. Furthermore, unlike in 2017, when trading volumes were driven out of a single application, transactions are now distributed across a diverse swath of apps and use cases.
The Rising Popularity of NFTs
Even at a time when Bitcoin is flying high, Ethereum 2.0 has just launched its genesis block, and DeFi continues to dominate, NFTs are also now featuring more frequently in the crypto news.
In some cases, they’re even
