NFT Market Records Over $8.8B in Sales in 2024

The past year was characterized by a blend of happy, sad, and bittersweet moments for the NFT market. Despite several hurdles, on-chain data from CryptoSlam reveals that the sector recorded over $8.84 billion in sales. This record is higher than the market’s record from 2023, which was around $8.71 billion.

CryptoSlam’s data showed that over 7.64 million unique wallets bought digital collectibles, while over 4.09 million sold their NFT. Traders profit throughout the year totaled at $41.6 million, surpassing the previous year’s record, where traders netted a loss of over $247.3 million.

Various factors contributed to the market’s performance last year. One is the increased efforts of NFT projects to promote adoption. For example, the NFT brand Doodles partnered with popular brands like McDonald’s. This triggered massive attention to Doodles and digital collectibles within its ecosystem. Other projects like Pudgy Penguins, Nifty Island, and Magic Eden launched crypto tokens for their communities, increasing attention on NFTs within their ecosystems.

Various football clubs and associations also explored the NFT market to connect fans with their favorite players. Some include the Romanian Football Federation, SSC Napoli, and the Major League Soccer (MLS). Additionally, creators behind games, anime series, and wines adopted NFT into their products to expand their geographical reach. These factors also played a role in driving the NFT sales during the past year.

Despite being better off than 2023’s record, last year was challenging for the NFT market. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) probed many blockchain projects in the past year, including OpenSea, CyberKongz, and Flyfish. The regulatory agency argued that NFTs are securities and must be registered with the agency before being offered to users. If successful, these probes could significantly decrease NFT sales. Interestingly, these hurdles did not hamper the market’s growth.

The NFT community is likely optimistic that the market will grow further in the future. However, this will occur only if various NFT projects generate hype for existing products and launch new ones.