2024 marked a record year for NFT sales despite the challenges faced by the market.
The past year was marked by a mix of joyful, unpleasant, and bittersweet moments for the NFT market. Despite various obstacles, on-chain data from CryptoSlam reveals that the sector recorded sales exceeding $8.84 billion. This record surpasses the previous high set in 2023, which stood at approximately $8.71 billion.
CryptoSlam data showed that over 7.64 million unique wallets purchased digital collectibles, while more than 4.09 million sold their NFTs. Trader profits throughout the year amounted to $41.6 million, surpassing the previous year's record when traders incurred losses exceeding $247.3 million.
Various factors contributed to the market's performance last year. One key factor was the increased efforts of NFT projects to promote the adoption of NFTs. For example, the NFT project Doodles collaborated with popular brands such as McDonald's. This partnership drew massive attention to Doodles and the digital collectibles within their ecosystem. Other projects, such as Pudgy Penguins, Nifty Island, and Magic Eden, launched crypto tokens for their communities, further enhancing engagement with NFTs within their ecosystems.
Several football clubs and associations also leveraged the NFT market to connect fans with their favorite players. Among these were the Romanian Football Federation, SSC Napoli, and Major League Soccer (MLS). Additionally, creators behind games, anime series, and wines adopted NFTs in their products to expand their geographical reach. These factors also played a role in boosting NFT sales over the past year.
Despite outperforming the 2023 record, the previous year was also challenging for the NFT market. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigated several NFT projects last year, including OpenSea, CyberKongz, and Flyfish. The regulatory body argued that NFTs are securities and must be registered with the organization before being offered to users. If these investigations succeed, they could significantly reduce NFT sales. Interestingly, however, these challenges did not hinder the market's growth.
The NFT community remains optimistic that the market will grow further in the future. However, this will only happen if NFT projects generate hype for existing products and launch new ones.
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