What’s next for NFT art? Despite Beeple’s record-breaking sale, crypto scams and volatility slowed down the market – but it may bounce back, as Amazon and Cafa Art Museum launch new projects

Mar 17, 2023

The CryptoPunks page on OpenSea app is displayed next to non-fungible tokens (NFTs) of the CryptoPunks collection by Larva Labs shown on its website, in March 2022. Photo: Reuters

When NFT artist Beeple made history selling his artwork Everydays: The First 5000 Days for US$69 million back in 2021, the landmark sale spurred a movement and wider interest in digital art

While the number of transactions of NFT sales in the art world increased in 2022, sales plummeted by 94 per cent later as a result of the tumultuous cryptocurrency market – so where does it stand now?

“I guess when I started it wasn’t as front-page news and it was a bit slow, then Beeple went boom and it started exploding.” Szabotage – a contemporary and street artist and designer who has seen his own success in NFT art – is referring to the record-breaking sale of Beeple’s NFT artwork Everydays: The First 5000 Days for US$69 million in 2021.

The sale spearheaded a movement and interest in digital art, which was driven by an entirely new generation of art consumers. But since the landmark sale, NFT art has had to weather several storms. According to a report by Elliptic, thefts and crypto scams have led to more than US$100 million worth of NFTs being stolen between July 2021 and July 2022. The highest valued stolen NFT, CryptoPunk#4324, was later sold for US$490,000.

Vocal, Do You Speak Szabotage (2022) NFT. Photo: Szabotage