January NFT Round-Up: What Happened So Far?
Hello NFThistorians, we hope you’re all well!
As January is at a close we thought it opportune to review what happened in the NFT world this past month. It’s a good way for our community to stay updated on the rapidly growing NFT market, as well as understand how NFThistory will play a role in this evolving and exciting space.
Without further ado, let’s go over some of the big events of last month.
- Big News! Our fundraising round is live. If you’d like to participate and get in early on our exciting project, please read this article: https://nfthistory.medium.com/big-news-the-nfthistory-fundraising-round-has-started-31467cfd5cd
Media Platforms Look at Documenting Historic Moments on the Blockchain
Documenting history and moments on the blockchain is being seriously looked at by news agencies and social media platforms. As you know, this is something we aim to do at NFThistory (read our article on that here).
The Associated Press has announced that it will open a marketplace of photojournalism. More specifically, the AP will enable their photojournalists to mint their photos as NFTs and then sell them on the marketplace. Although decentralizing documentation of history doesn’t seem to be the primary purpose behind this endeavor, it will certainly aid in raising awareness of that possibility, and that should bring attention to the NFThistory project.
Twitter Integrates NFTs with Profile Pictures
Twitter has successfully integrated NFTs with profile pictures, something that they’ve been announcing since September last year. They will be hexagon-shaped and for now they’re available for a $2.99 Twitter Blue subscription. The feature is only on iOS devices.
Now, it’s not that the profile pics themselves are going to be NFTs. The profile pictures, plus the hexagon, will indicate that a Twitter user is an owner of the NFT which the picture represents.
Autograph & Tom Brady Close a $170 Million Series B Round
Autograph, an NFT agency co-founded by athlete Tom Brady, has received new funding from venture capital firms who hope the platform can bring a new generation of celebrities and their fans into the fold of crypto collectibles.
The startup tells TechCrunch it has closed a $170 million Series B round led by Andreessen Horowitz and Kleiner Perkins with participation from Katie Haun’s new fund and Lightspeed partner Nicole Quinn.
Autograph will serve as a platform for athletes and entertainers to release their NFT collections to the market. Many of these NFTs will feature their autographs.
Big Corporations Join the NFT Craze
It seems that big corporations all want in on the NFT craze. Adidas and Prada have launched an NFT project called “Re-Source”. This project involves community members submitting images of themselves, which once compiled together, will render a singular NFT with a collective, Beeple-styled utility.
Walmart has also plunged headfirst into NFTs and metaverse. The retail giant aims to open up an AR/VR store with digital assets for sale.
A 22-Year-Old Kid from Indonesia Makes Millions Selling NFT Selfies (and Other Big Sales)
Given the current crypto market downturn, we can’t expect sales to surpass amounts from 2021 and we can’t expect a new record to be set every day. However, the NFT market remains robust, and groundbreaking sales are happening constantly.
For instance, a 22-year-old from Indonesia made $1 million selling his selfies as NFTs. The young man, Sultan Gustaf Al Ghozali, spent five years collecting his selfies on his computer and then, in December 2021, he decided to upload them to OpenSea.
He minted nearly 1000 NFTs of his selfies and then began selling. Who would’ve thought that his expressionless face would draw so much attention and go from the initial $3 per selfie to 1000 times more per image. It’s truly remarkable.
In other big NFT sale news, a 15-year-old boy now has NFT artwork worth more than $1 million. He sold his first piece, a moving graphic of an astronaut-skeleton hybrid, for around $30,000 in February 2021.
Imagine if the greats like Rubens and Van Gogh were alive during these times. Would they have minted their artworks as NFTs?
In January, there have been 3 NFT sales this month that have exceeded $5 million:
- All Time High in the City from the SuperRare collection sold for $6.22 million
- Mega Mutant Serum from the Bored Ape Chemistry Club collection sold for $5.78 million
- Dragon — Blue VOX #2054 from the VOX Collectibles: Mirandus collection sold for $5.03 million
When taken all together, the NFT market has had a huge last few weeks. From January 15–21 alone, there was a whopping $1 billion in sales on the NFT markets. During the week, OpenSea had a 6% trading volume increase compared to the week before.
As NFThistory gets set for the mainnet to go live, we’ll track our weekly sales in a similar way and regularly provide updates to the community. Which dates do you think will be the biggest sales to start?
About NFThistory
NFThistory is the world’s first platform for acquiring and transferring ownership of historic moments using blockchain. From the landing on the moon to the birth of Bitcoin, you can own, buy and sell any date and moment in human history on NFThistory’s platform.
If you wish to stay up to date with our project you can visit our:
Website | Twitter | Telegram | Medium
Image Sources
https://unsplash.com/photos/E4ApbNk2g58
