The market for nonfungible token, or NFT, digital artwork is taking on the traditional art industry. Within the first six months of 2021, analytics firm DappRadar recorded $2.5 billion in NFT sales, showing a major increase from the $13.7 million in sales during the same time period in 2020. Christie's auction house reported $93.2 million in NFT sales during the first half of 2021. In addition to impressive sales, the NFT marketplace OpenSea, which reportedly hosts 98% of the entire market’s transactions, registered $4 billion in NFT trading volume during August this year.
While the rise of blockchain-based digital artwork is notable, many of the artists responsible for creating today’s most sought after NFTs are men. For instance, digital artist Mike Winkelmann — better known as “Beeple” — made NFT history after selling “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” for over $69 million on Christies. The platinum-selling musician “Two Feet” and acclaimed 18-year-old visual artist FEWOCiOUS also made headlines after selling four collaborative NFT artworks for more than $1 million. It was also momentous to see that the Argentinian designer Andrés Reisinger sold ten pieces of virtual furniture for almost $70,000 in an NFT online auction.