Features Overview

Sceptics said (and are still saying) it is a bubble.

BUBBLE - I think not…

NFT sales have so far hit around $3.5bn in the first three quarters of this year, according to the Hiscox Online Art Trade Report 2021, produced in partnership with ArtTactic. The report found that total online art sales reached $6.8bn in the first half of 2021—and could hit $13.5bn by the end of this year.

While the NFT market might have faltered in April, late summer saw a surge—in August, the report estimates $1.8bn in NFT sales which makes the previous high, in March when Beeple’s Everydays—The First 5000 Days sold for $356m—pale in significance. 

But, this is a hugely volatile market and in September, NFT sales dropped by 69%.

To Collect or not to collect?

How do you buy or sell an NFT? 

It takes some steps.

First, you usually have to buy a cryptocurrency, like Ethereum. That's a process in and of itself. But once you do, you can go to an NFT marketplace. Some of the popular ones include KnownOrigin, Rarible and OpenSea.

There, you can bid on an NFT and wait for the auction to end. If no one outbids you, you get the bragging rights.

Mainstream adoption

The swift adoption of NFTs by the big traditional auction houses (Christie’s, Sotheby’s, and Phillips) has been mutually beneficial. Indeed, four of the top ten NFT prices to date have been achieved through these traditional auction houses, showing that even in this most progressive of markets, old-school credibility still counts for a lot.

Online art platforms are also piling in: 14% said they already offer NFTs through their site, with another 38% planning to do so soon. Artnet and 1stdibs both announced in August the launch of proprietary NFT platforms—1stdibs’s is based on an auction model, with semi-monthly sales of NFTs.