According to data from market tracker DappRadar, sales of NFTs surged to $10.7 billion in the third quarter of 2021, a staggering eightfold increase from previous quarter sales of $1.3 billion.
NFT stands for non-fungible token, and by definition, their fungibility classifies NFTs as one-offs. One Bitcoin can replace another Bitcoin – they may not have the same algorithmic code but are interchangeable, but nothing can replace the original Mona Lisa. As no two NFTs are the same, their selling point is their exclusivity.
Although the NFT market has only gained mainstream media attention in 2021, the crypto craze is about to celebrate its 10 year anniversary. As the movement continues to gain momentum, delving into the history of NFTs can provide insight into the future of burgeoning technology.
2012—2016
NFTs experienced rapid growth in 2021, but their infancy dates back to 2012, with the creation of Coloured Coins. Colored Coins were created as an alternative proof of ownership of assets on the Bitcoin blockchain, including real estate, equities, or bonds.
A Coloured Coins wallet can create a Bitcoin transaction that encodes an asset, with the ability to send 50 units of an asset from one address to another. Colored Coins were the first project to pioneer the NFT market, laying a vital foundation for many more projects to come.
2016—2018
The NFT project following Coloured Coins was CounterParty, a peer-to-peer financial platform that created the concept of digital trading cards. It wasn’t long before CounterParty was collaborating with not only trading cards but also big-name games like Spells of Genesis, Force of Will, and Rare Pepes, the NFT series based on the comic character Pepe the Frog, one of the internet’s most popular memes at the time.
Following the lead of Rare
