Who’s still buying NFTs (and at what prices)

Who's still buying NFTs (and at what prices)?

[17 Dec 2024]

NFTs, Artificial Intelligence, generative artworks, robotic creations… technology is spilling into artistic creativity and shaking the foundations of the art market. Three years after the NFT boom, what's left of this phenomenon? And what about the AI market a few weeks after the sale of a humanoid's painting?

We are still in the early days,, but the meeting between what we might call 'tech art' (or 'digital art') already has a bouncy history. It was only six years ago that we saw the first AI-created work on the auction market, and just over three years ago for the first NFT (2021). A few weeks ago, the first painting entirely created by a humanoid robot, sold for 1 million dollars, also ruffled the feathers of the traditional art market.

What are the market's reactions to the perspective of NFTs?
Artprice takes a closer look at a market that has clearly not yet found equilibrium.

Content:

Three years after the bubble, where is the market for NFTs?
Who's still buying NFTs (and at what prices)?
AI: its works and auction results
Bonus: NFT-lingo decyphered

Three years after the bubble, where is the market for NFTs?

In March of that year, the spectacular sale of BEEPLE's NFT at Christie's for $69.3 million dramatically projected NFTs into the art auction limelight. For blockchain and crypto enthusiasts, it was a revolution; for sceptics it was just another fad. But one thing is certain: the NFT wave projected 'technological' creations into the public eye in a big way, and simultaneously awakened the interest of auction houses.

The sale of the first NFT (Beeple's 500 days) at Christie's produced a colossal media shockwave: no less than 22 million people connected online to follow this historic event, and nearly 60% of them were under 40. Observing a potentially massive market just waiting to be tapped, the major auction houses took immediate action to join the NFT bonanza. Christie's, Phillips and Sotheby's all adopted innovative strategies to seduce a technophile public and capture the attention of crypto buyers.

Read : Hiscox Art and AI 2024

Their efforts were immediately rewarded: in the months following the sale of Beeple's creation, the NFT market saw the rapid emergence of its new stars - Yuga Labs, Larva Labs, Pak and Mad Dog Jones - fetching huge auction results between 4 and 24,4 million dollars from April to September 2021.

Read: The viral madness of NFTs [2021]
Read: The new NFT windfall, in Sotheby's 2021, an exceptional vintage [18/01/2022]

In 2021, art NFTs generated $232 million at auction.
In 2024, the total has shrunk to a very small fraction, with NFTs generating just $9 million, despite a higher volume of sales.
The speculative fever appears to have given way to a much more sober reality; a more stable foundation to build a solid market base, considerably less buzzy and media-hyped.

⬆2021: $232.4 million, from 316 NFTs sold

⬇2024: $9.2 million, from 350 NFTs sold

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Who's still buying NFTs (and at what prices)?

Since the NFT bubble burst, certain market pioneers have almost completely lost interest. In France, 2024 has seen no activity at all: not a single NFT has been sold at auction during the year so far, compared with 60 in 2023.

However, on the other side of the Alps, Italy has been more daring. Pandolfini Casa d'Aste, Italy's most active operator in the segment, has sold 17 NFTs so far this year, and the prices have been perfect for those wishing to start a collection without spending a fortune; between $330 and $8,000 US dollars.

The United States is still by far the most active country. Accounting for 93% of the global sales of NFTs in 2024 and an auction total of $8.9 million, the American market is clearly the champion in this segment. It also sells the most expensive NFTs, with Sotheby's New York selling three above the threshold of $250,000 this year and Christie's selling two above the same threshold. These works were by FAR, XCOPY and Deekay KWON.

Global geography of the NFT auction market since 2021 (©Artprice.com)

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Underwhelming Performances Call for a Strategic Shift

The most sought-after and expensive artists are becoming increasingly rare on the market. A striking example: not a single NFT by Refik Anadol has sold since the beginning of the year. The French auction house Blanchet & Associés attempted to buck this trend by offering an intriguing NFT from the Machine Hallucination series (unsold). A bold move in a French market grappling with disinterest, likely cooled by past speculative excesses.

Examples of Performance Collapses Since 2021

• Refik Anadol: $5M for 8 NFTs sold in 2021 vs. ZERO in 2024
• Yuga Labs: $33.8M for 8 NFTs sold in 2021 vs. $311,000 for 7 lots in 2024
• Larva Labs: $39.2M for 14 NFTs sold in 2021 vs. $636,000 for 6 lots in 2024

Christie's, Sotheby's, and Phillips have adopted a more restrained approach, focusing on accessible digital artists like Hideki Tsukamoto and Michael Connolly, whose works sometimes sell for under $400. This shift marks a sharp contrast to the frenzy of the past. The record of the year, a $441,000 sale by Tony Tafuro, reflects this new tone-a remarkable figure but far from the million-dollar sales that electrified the market three years ago.

In response to this new balance, major auction houses are opting for smaller, more curated sales. In November, Sotheby's Metaverse concentrated demand by offering just 16 lots, with only two remaining unsold. However, caution still prevails: while 97.5% of the works found buyers, 31% were sold well below their estimates, as seen with works by Zhuk, Carav4gio, and Per Kristian Stoveland.

The lesson is clear: The NFT market is settling into a sustainable rhythm. For art enthusiasts, this represents a golden opportunity to explore a fresh, evolving landscape-far from the media hype, but brimming with untapped potential, novel discoveries, and exciting artistic adventures.

AI: its works and auction results

AI is now establishing itself as a powerful creative ally, and works either created or co-created by some form of Artificial Intelligence regularly appear at auction. From Refik Anadol to Emily Xie, including David Ariew, Claire Silver, Roope Rainisto and NiceAunties (one of whose works is featured on the cover of our 2024 Contemporary Art Market Report), more and more 'AIrtists' and 'generative creations' are reaching the secondary market.

As we have recently seen, some of them capture the market's attention in spectacular fashion. On November 7, Sotheby's offered the first painting made by a robot: a portrait of Alan Turing, himself a pioneer of AI, immortalized by the humanoid called Ai-Da. Equipped with autonomous AI, Ai-Da is able to make creative decisions and paint alone, without human intervention. The highly symbolic portrait sold for over a million dollars, well beyond its pre-sale estimate of $120,000 to $180,000.

Back in 2020, Ai-Da had in fact already made a relatively discreet auction appearance with a co-signed work that fetched $21,000 at Christie's. However, 'her' latest work marks a clear turning point: the Turing portrait is the first fully autonomous work created by an AI entity, without human influence with respect to line or color.

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A similar difference may well explain the price differential between the Portrait of Edmond de Belamy which fetched $432,500 in 2018 (an amount more than 40 times higher than its estimate) and Ai-Da's latest creation. The former work was the result of a GAN trained on 15,000 portraits, but was finalized by the artists of the OBVIOUS Collective. Clearly innovative, it was still essentially a co-creation.

The portrait of Alan Turing therefore marks a major advance: for the first time, a machine can be said to have tried its hand at what we call 'traditional painting'. The result was a canvas measuring over two meters (from corner to corner), a far cry from the digital prints of the past. This artistic feat reminds us that AI no longer simply imitates; it can now explore and redefine the boundaries of art.

The lesson is clear: simple NFTs or works co-created with AI are no longer sufficiently 'techy' to seriously excite collectors. Innovation is the key. The sale of a work painted by a humanoid-robot is seen as an important moment because it opens up a whole new dimension of possibility.

But, apart from this extraordinary creation, 'tech art' of all kinds is pursuing its emergence and evolution with reasonable prices on the market. For art enthusiasts, it's a golden opportunity: a whole new field remains to be explored, far from the media's attention, but with the promise of an artistic adventure rich in new discoveries and new perspectives.

Bonus: NFT lingo decyphered

The crypto and NFT ecosystem has its own terminology and language and it can be difficult to navigate in this field without some knowledge of its key terms that artprice had already defined in 2021… If you want a quick overview of the key blockchain, crypto-currency, and NFT terms, click the following link: NFT lingo decyphered.

Interesting exhibition:

PIXELS - An interactive experience with the creative universe of Artificial Intelligence
Exhibition dedicated to Miguel Chevalier
At the Grand Palais Immersif, Paris

Metaverse - NFT - AI - Robots