History of Non-fungible token in Timeline

A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique digital asset on a blockchain, used to represent ownership and authenticity of digital items like art, music, and videos. Unlike cryptocurrencies, NFTs are distinct and indivisible, meaning they cannot be directly exchanged like-for-like. Ownership is recorded on the blockchain, enabling verifiable scarcity and transferability. This allows NFTs to be bought, sold, and traded, creating new possibilities for digital ownership and monetization.

2012: Experiments with non-fungibility on blockchains

As early as 2012, experiments around non-fungibility existed on blockchains with Colored Coins on Bitcoin.

May 2014: Creation of the first NFT, Quantum

In May 2014, Kevin McCoy and Anil Dash created Quantum, the first known NFT, consisting of a video clip of McCoy's wife. McCoy registered the video on the Namecoin blockchain and sold it to Dash for $4 at a live presentation, referring to the technology as "monetized graphics".

2014: Creation of Counterparty protocol

In 2014, the Counterparty protocol was created and used to create other assets. Counterparty was later used by Rare Pepes, a "semi-fungible" NFT project.

October 2015: Launch of Etheria

In October 2015, Etheria was launched and demonstrated at DEVCON 1 in London, three months after the launch of the Ethereum blockchain. Etheria consisted of 457 purchasable and tradable hexagonal tiles.

2016: Emergence of Rare Pepes NFT project

In 2016, Rare Pepes, a "semi-fungible" NFT project centered around the Pepe the Frog meme, emerged on Bitcoin through the Counterparty protocol, involving a collective of artists contributing their works into a curated directory.

November 2017: Launch of CryptoKitties

In November 2017, CryptoKitties, a blockchain game on Ethereum, launched and pioneered an early version of the ERC-721 non-fungible token standard.

2017: Launch of OpenSea

In 2017, OpenSea was launched as one of the first marketplaces to host various types of NFTs.

2017: Emergence of OpenSea NFT marketplace

In 2017, during the rise of CryptoKitties and ERC-721 tokens, the NFT marketplace OpenSea emerged to capitalize on the new non-fungible token standard, positioning itself early in the NFT market landscape.

2017: NFT projects emerge on Ethereum

In 2017, several NFT projects emerged on Ethereum that utilized the ERC-20 token standard. Curio Cards and CryptoPunks were two of the first NFT projects on Ethereum, and EtherRock also emerged in December of that year.

2017: CryptoKitties popularizes NFTs and overwhelms Ethereum

In 2017, the popularity of CryptoKitties led to significant exposure and adoption of the term "NFT" and the ERC-721 standard. CryptoKitties was recognized as the first mainstream NFT dApp, and its usage overwhelmed Ethereum's processing power.

2018: Publication of ERC-721 Standard

In 2018, the community-driven paper ERC-721: Non-Fungible Token Standard was published under the initiative of William Entriken, pioneering the foundation for NFTs and enabling the growth of the wider eco-system by establishing a standard for smart contracts known as "ERC-721".

July 2019: Launch of NBA Top Shot

In July 2019, the NBA, the NBA Players Association, and Dapper Labs started a joint venture called NBA Top Shot for basketball fans, allowing users to buy NFTs of historic moments in basketball.

2019: Proposal to use NFTs as event tickets

In 2019, a paper presented at the 40th International Conference on Information Systems in Munich suggested using NFTs as tickets for different types of events, enabling organizers or artists to receive royalties on resale.

May 2020: Creation of Mars House

In May 2020, Mars House, an architectural NFT, was created by artist Krista Kim.

2020: NFT market value triples

During 2020, the NFT market experienced rapid growth, with its value tripling to US$250 million.

2020: Founding of Rarible

In 2020, Rarible was founded, allowing multiple assets to be traded as NFTs.

2020: Fraudulent Sale of Qing Han's Work as NFTs

In 2020, after the artist Qing Han's death, a fraudster assumed her identity and made a number of her works available for purchase as NFTs without permission.

February 2021: NFTs generate US$25 million in revenue

By February 2021, NFTs accounted for US$25 million of revenue generated through the sale of artwork and songs as NFTs, signaling the growing commercial viability of NFTs.

February 28, 2021: 3lau sells NFT collection for US$11.7 million

On February 28, 2021, electronic dance musician 3lau sold a collection of 33 NFTs for a total of US$11.7 million to commemorate the three-year anniversary of his Ultraviolet album.

March 3, 2021: Kings of Leon album promoted with NFT

On March 3, 2021, an NFT was made to promote the Kings of Leon album When You See Yourself.

March 13, 2021: Etheria tiles sell out after renewed interest in NFTs

On March 13, 2021, renewed interest in NFTs sparked a buying frenzy for Etheria. All tiles of the current version and a prior version, each hardcoded to 1 ETH (US$0.43 at the time of launch), were sold for a total of US$1.4 million within 24 hours.

March 2021: Mike Winkelmann calls NFTs an "irrational exuberance bubble"

In March 2021 Mike Winkelmann called NFTs an "irrational exuberance bubble", indicating concerns about the sustainability of the NFT market's rapid growth.

March 2021: Burning of Banksy's Morons (White) and minting as NFT

In March 2021, Injective Protocol bought Banksy's Morons (White) for $95,000 and filmed its burning, uploading and selling the video as an NFT. This act was described as a way to transfer a physical work of art to the NFT space.

March 2021: Analysis of NFT Market Fees

In March 2021, analysis of NFT markets revealed that many NFT artworks were selling for less than US$200, and sellers were paying platform fees that often exceeded the selling price.

April 2021: Demand subsides, causing NFT prices to fall

By mid-April 2021, demand subsided for NFTs, causing prices to fall significantly, suggesting a cooling-off period after the initial surge in interest.

September 2021: Peak in daily NFT sales

In September 2021, daily sales of NFT tokens reached a peak before declining significantly in subsequent months.

November 2021: Peak in active wallets in the NFT market

In November 2021, the number of active wallets in the NFT market reached a peak before falling sharply in the following months, indicating a decline in market participation.

2021: ERC-721 ranked as most powerful art entity

In 2021, ArtReview's Power 100 ranked ERC-721 at the #1 spot, praising it for creating a new market for artworks. Also in 2021, artist Beeple sold an ERC-721 NFT of his artwork Everydays: The First 5000 Days at Christie's for $69 million, marking the first instance of a legacy arthouse dealing in NFTs.

2021: Sale of Mars House

In 2021, Mars House sold for 288 Ether (ETH), equivalent to US$524,558 at that time, marking a significant sale in the architectural NFT space.

2021: OpenSea market cap

In 2021, OpenSea grew to a $1.4 billion market cap during the NFT boom, becoming a leading NFT marketplace.

2021: Partnership between Rarible and Adobe

In 2021, Rarible and Adobe formed a partnership to simplify the verification and security of metadata for digital content, including NFTs.

2021: Banksy NFT Fraud

In 2021, a seller posing as Banksy sold an NFT supposedly made by the artist for $336,000. The seller refunded the money after media attention.

2021: Digital depictions of the brand's Birkin handbag

In 2021, artist Mason Rothschild made digital depictions of the brand's Birkin handbag.

2021: High-profile auctions of NFTs linked to digital art

In 2021, high-profile auctions of NFTs linked to digital art received considerable public attention, including the sale of Merge by artist Pak for US$91.8 million and Everydays: the First 5000 Days by Beeple for US$69.3 million.

2021: Increased interest in NFTs

In the early months of 2021, interest in NFTs increased after a number of high-profile sales and art auctions, drawing more attention to the market.

2021: NFT market exceeds US$200 million in the first three months

In the first three months of 2021, more than US$200 million were spent on NFTs, indicating a continued surge in the market's growth.

January 2022: Voiceverse NFT Plagiarism and Fraud

In January 2022, Voiceverse, an NFT company, was discovered to have stolen content from 15.ai, a non-commercial text-to-speech project. They used voice lines of Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash, pitched them up, and sold them as NFTs without permission.

January 2022: NFT Exploit Gathers Users' IP Addresses

In January 2022, it was reported that some NFTs were being exploited by sellers to unknowingly gather users' IP addresses. The exploit works via the off-chain nature of NFTs.

March 2022: Charges filed for million-dollar NFT scheme

In March 2022, two people were charged for the execution of a million-dollar NFT scheme through wire fraud, highlighting concerns about illegal activities in the NFT space.

May 2022: Decline in NFT market reported by The Wall Street Journal

In May 2022, The Wall Street Journal reported that the NFT market was "collapsing". Daily sales of NFT tokens had declined 92% from September 2021, and the number of active wallets in the NFT market fell 88% from November 2021.

May 2022: NFT market collapse

In May 2022, the NFT market experienced a collapse, with sales dropping over 90% compared to 2021, marking a significant downturn in the NFT market.

June 2022: Bill Gates on NFTs

In June 2022, Bill Gates stated his belief that NFTs are "100% based on greater fool theory".

July 2022: Prohibition of NFT reproductions of famous artworks in Italy

In July 2022, after the controversial sale of Michelangelo's Doni Tondo in Italy, the sale of NFT reproductions of famous artworks was prohibited in Italy. The Ministry of Culture of Italy requested its institutions refrain from signing contracts involving NFTs due to complexity and lack of regulation.

July 2022: European Commission Plans Regulations to Combat Money Laundering

In July 2022, the European Commission announced its plans to create regulations aimed at combating money laundering related to digital assets, with a target implementation date set for 2024.

December 2022: Introduction of ordinals to Bitcoin blockchain

In December 2022, a programmer named Casey Rodarmor introduced a new way to add NFTs to the Bitcoin blockchain called "ordinals".

2022: Ethereum Switches to Proof of Stake

In 2022, Ethereum significantly reduced its energy usage by 99.99 percent by switching to proof of stake.

2022: Amendments to the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) in the United States

In 2022, amendments to the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) in the United States addressed some of the legal challenges related to tokenization and NFT ownership, but issues persist regarding enforceable content rights.

2022: Wash trading in NFT markets

In 2022, concerns arose regarding the use of NFTs for money laundering through wash trading, involving fictitious sales to create artificial demand. The Royal United Services Institute suggested mitigation through KYC practices and cybersecurity measures.

2022: Founding of eToro Art by eToro

In 2022, eToro Art by eToro was founded, focusing on supporting NFT collections and emerging creators.

2022: UCC Article 12 Classifies NFTs as "Controllable Electronic Records" (CERs)

In 2022, the U.S. UCC's Article 12 classified NFTs as "controllable electronic records" (CERs), which provides a legal framework for owning, transferring, and using them as collateral. This new classification allows tokenization under specific conditions.

2022: Ethereum's Energy Consumption and Carbon Footprint

Until 2022, the proof-of-work protocol needed for blockchain transactions on networks like Ethereum consumed a large amount of electricity.

February 2023: Mason Rothschild Ordered to Pay Damages to Hermès

In February 2023, artist Mason Rothschild was ordered to pay $133,000 in damages to Hermès by a New York court for his 2021 digital depictions of the brand's Birkin handbag.

February 2023: Increase in bitcoin's payment fees due to ordinals

In February 2023, the popularity of ordinals led to an increase in bitcoin's payment fees and potentially contributed to an increase in bitcoin's price.

September 2023: NFT value plummets

In September 2023, a report from dappGambl claimed 95% of NFTs had fallen to zero monetary value and 79% of all NFT collections have remained unsold.

September 2023: NFT collections lose value

In September 2023, a report indicated that over 95% of NFT collections had zero monetary value, signaling a major decline in the perceived worth of most NFTs.

2024: Target Implementation Date for EU's Anti-Money Laundering Regulations

The European Commission is planning to have regulations in place by 2024 to combat money laundering.

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