The Most Fascinating NFT Statistics for 2024

Non-fungible tokens or NFTs are soaring in value. Average prices rose tremendously throughout 2021, sparking a wave of interest in these uniquely identifiable digital assets. Buyers are often speculators, believing that if they get in early, they’ll sell higher in the future. 

However, NFTs are a relatively new concept, and many people are still trying to get their heads around the underlying factors. In this post, we run through the most important NFT statistics to give you a better idea about some of the potentially lucrative trends.

Key NFT Statistics for 2024 – Editor’s Choice

• The most valuable NFT sold for more than $91.8 million. 
• The first NFT emerged in 2014.
• The top five countries with the biggest NFT adoption are in Asia.
• Men are three times more likely than women to be NFT collectors.
• The NFT market is projected to reach the revenue of $2.27 billion in 2024.
• An NFT meme sold for $4 million.
• 23% of millennials in the US collect NFTs.
• Some 50% of all NFTs projects in 2023 are worth between 100 and 1000 ETH.

NFT Market Overview

Nearly $41 billion worth of crypto was spent on the NFT marketplaces in 2021. 

(Chainalysis)

According to NFT stats compiled by blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis Inc., the NFT marketplace grew to almost $41 billion in 2021, closing in on conventional art sales. In 2020, conventional art and antique sales amounted to $50 billion. The closing gap can be explained by the growing popularity of NFTs and auction house closures during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The NFT market revenue is projected to reach $2.27 billion in 2024.

(Statista)

The recent data shows that the revenue in the NFT market has nearly doubled in 2023, going from $892.5 million last year to $1.6 billion today, and is expected to continue growing at a 18.55% CAGR to reach $3.16 billion by 2027.

The number of users in the NFT market is nearly 14 million in 2023. 

(Statista)

As the NFT market grows, so does the number of people in it, and while the trend is slowing down compared to the numbers between 2021 and 2022, it is still expected that the number of users will grow to over 19 million in the next three years.

50% of all NFT projects in 2023 have a market cap of 100-1000 ETH.

(CoinMarketCap)

The same research on market distribution also found that the top 50 NFT projects represent less than 1% of all projects, but have a market cap equal to 52% of the total market capitalization.

Ethereum-based NFT creators earned a total of $19.1 billion in royalties from 2021 to 2023.

(Crypto Oasis)

The 2021 NFT boom saw creators earning exorbinant amounts of money from royalties, and even though the number of sales has drastically subsided in 2023, in the first half of the year, ETH-based creators still earned over $34 million in royalties.

The most valuable NFT is worth more than $91.8 million. 

(Artnet) 

Pak’s “The Merge” rose to the top of the NFT ranks when it sold for more than $91.8 million in December 2021. 30,000 collectors pitched in, making “The Merge” the biggest NFT sale ever. By the end of 2023, it still easily holds that number one spot, followed by Everydays: the First 5000 Days from Beeple, which also retained its second place and remains the most expensive NFT sold to one owner.

NFT trading volume rose by 704% between Q2 2021 and Q3 2021.

(CNBC)

The NFT boom was hard to miss throughout 2021, with eightfold gains in quarterly trading volumes between Q2 and Q3. The value of all global NFT transactions in the third quarter hit $10.7 billion, according to NFT market stats.  

Cryptopunks account for five of the 20 biggest NFT sales.

(Exploding Topics)

The Larvalabs creation, CryptoPunks, operates on the Ethereum network. These are extremely popular because they are rare. CryptoPunk #7523, for instance, sold for approximately $11.8 million, while CryptoPunk #3100 sold for $7.7 million – the fourth and fifth largest NFT sales.

The first NFT emerged in 2014.

(Alternative Press)

Five years after the introduction of Bitcoin, the minting and selling of NFTs began. The first NFT was created by Kevin McCoy in May of 2014. McCoy minted Quantum, which raked in $1.4 million at a Sotheby auction in November 2021.  

Over 50% of all NFT sales are below $200.

(Artnet)

Not all NFTs bring in millions of dollars. More than half the recorded sales didn’t even hit the $200 mark. An analysis of NFT trends reveals that most primary sales went for $100 or less.  

Average NFT prices vary six-fold by platform.

(Tealfeed)

On Valuable, average NFT prices are just $150, while on OpenSea, they are $500, and on Mintable, they are $900. Top-selling NFTs, however, sell for millions. 

The Nyan Cat GIF sold for $590,000 worth of cryptocurrency in 2021.

(South China Morning Post)

The infamous Nyan Cat GIF, which celebrated 10 years since its inception in February 2021, sold for more than $590,000. It dethroned cotton candy cat, Dragon, as the most valuable kitty NFT to date. 

An estimated 140,000 unique wallets trade NFTs each month on OpenSea in 2023.

(DappRadar)

OpenSea sits at the top of the world’s biggest NFT markets at the moment and has an NFT price tracker. Estimates suggest that around 140,000 people actively trade NFTs every month on the platform, and there are more than a million active users since the start of the year. 

NFT Demographics

23% of millennials in the US collect NFTs.

(Morning Consult)

A recent survey found that one in three American adults collects some sort of physical item as either an investment or a hobby. Of those who identify as collectors, one in four also engage with NFTs. Meanwhile, 42% of millennials collect NFTs. 

Men are three times more likely than women to be collectors of NFTs.

(Morning Consult)

The same survey reveals that differences between men and women extend to their collection habits. Men are three times more likely to identify as collectors than their female counterparts. 

The top five countries with the biggest NFT adoption are in Asia.  

(Finder)

A poll involving 28,000 people in 20 countries found that the Philippines has the highest number of NFT owners (32%).  The country with the second-highest NFT adoption rate is Thailand (27%), followed by Malaysia (24%), the UAE (23%), and Vietnam (17%). 

Nigeria is expected to have the biggest growth (21.7%) in NFT adoption.

(Finder)

The number of Nigerians who own NFTs is expected to grow from 13.7% to 35.3%. Notable increases in NFT adoption rates are also forecast for Peru (14.5%), Venezuela (13.5%), and Colombia (11.9%). In the US and UK expected growth rate is 3.9% and 3.3%, respectively.   

People who earn less than $25,000 per year invest in NFTs at a similar rate as those earning over $150,000.

(CivicScience)

Both lower- and upper-income persons share a passion for buying NFTs. However, those who fall within the intermediate income bracket (between $25,000 and $150,000 per year) appear to be considerably less excited, with 94% saying that they have no interest in NFTs at all. 

California buys more NFTs than any other state.

(Wealth Quint) 

San Francisco and Los Angeles top the list of cities buying NFTs. They’re followed by two other California cities San Jose, San Diego, as well as Austin in Texas. When it comes to states, Hawaii is in second place, followed by Nevada.

In Thailand, more women than men own NFTs.

(Finder)

30% of women in the country own NFTs, compared to just 23% of men. The only other surveyed country where women had more NFTs than men was Venezuela, where 11% of women own NFTs, compared to 10% of men. 

More than 70% of Americans still don’t know what an NFT is.

(Finder)

The latest data shows that most adults in the US aren’t familiar with NFTs. The figures are even higher in Japan and Germany, where 90% and 82.6% of the adult populations haven't heard of them. Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, only 55.3% of people don’t know what an NFT is. 

Environmental Impact Of NTFs

Ethereum’s power consumption is comparable to that of Hungary and Qatar.

(CBS)

Ethereum currently consumes 44.94 terawatt-hours of electrical energy, which is equivalent to the annual consumption of a number of countries. It also releases roughly 21.35 metric tons of carbon dioxide each year, which is the equivalent of Sudan’s carbon footprint.

Ethereum 2.0 technology reduced energy usage by more than 99%.

(Ethereum)

After Ethereum moved from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake, it reduced the energy consumption of its blockchain by 99.95%. The transition occured in 2022.

An average NFT has the same carbon footprint created by more than a month of electricity usage by an EU citizen. 

(CBS)

The amount of energy required to create, distribute and transfer ownership of an average NFTs is believed to be around 10 times higher than on the Ethereum blockchain. The average NFT transaction produces around 48 kg of CO2. 

The carbon footprint of an average NFT can be reduced to mailing a physical piece of art if the switch is made to proof-of-stake. 

(Quartz)

With that aforementioned transition, the carbon footprint of an NFT can be brought down to 2.11 kg CO2, which is the same as smiling physical art cross-country.  

Tezos, Symbol, and Polygon emit less than 1% of the CO2 generated by Ethereum.

(Digiconomist)

Most NFTs are on the Ethereum network, and NFT industry stats show that the token was using an estimated 103.17 TWh per year at the end of 2021. By contrast, proof of stake networks, such as Tezos, only consumes around 0.00006 TWh per year. 

NFT Sales Statistics

 A LeBron James NFT sold for more than $21.6 million.

(NFT Street)

A statue of basketball star Lebron James sold for more than $21.6 million on the NFT marketplace. LeBron is believed to have personally benefited from the sale. 

Twitter founder, Jack Dorsey, sold his first tweet in NFT format for $2.9 million.

(Business Insider)

Described as the Mona Lisa of tweets, Mr. Dorsey was able to get such a high price because of speculation that the NFT’s value will increase in the future. The tweet read, “just setting up my twttr,” putting the price at $100,000 per character. 

Eminem sold his first NFT collection for $1.78 million. 

(Tone Deaf)

Eminem sold his Shady Con collection in April 2021 for $1,78 million, according to Nifty Gateway statistics. The NFT included digital action figures that influenced the American rapper during his childhood. 

Elon Musk’s ex-girlfriend, Grimes, sold thousands of NFTs, netting more than $7 million.

(Tone Deaf)

Grimes is responsible for one of the best-selling NFTs in history. She sold thousands of copies of her album for more than $7,500 each in NFT format and a unique video called “Death of the Old” for more than $389,000. 

Human One, a piece of NFT artwork, fetched $28.9 million at auction.

(Forbes)

Human One, a Beeple sculpture, sold at a live Christie’s auction in Switzerland for the eye-watering sum of $28.9 million. The story was front-page news on Barrons, the Wall Street Journal, and Forbes. 

The number of NFT art sales surpassed 1.5 million in a single month in 2021.

(NonFungible)

There were 1.538 million NFT art sales between October and November 2021. Over the whole of 2021, there were more than 11 million art sales, according to some of the most recent data.

Sales on Nifty Gateway exceeded $250 million in 2021.

(ArtTactic)

In early 2020, Nifty Gateway was selling less than half a million dollars worth of NFT art per month. By October 2020, that figure rose to $9.94 million, and in December, it hit $29.54 million. By March 2021, sales reached $105.71 million per month. 

The world’s most expensive NFT meme sold for more than $4 million.

(Mashable)

Meme NFTs are valuable because of their universal recognisability. The Doge meme owner sold it for a record-breaking $4 million worth of Ether. The previous record-holder was “Disaster Girl,” which raked in around $570,000. 

Parting Words

NFTs are valuable because they are digital assets that no one can copy. In the past three years, the craze was all about buying unique memes and artwork. However, in the future, NFTs could become a way for artists to ensure that they get royalties from their content.