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Topping the list of NFT flops this year is Jack Dorsey’s first NFT tweet. The image sold for almost $3 million in March 2021, causing several raised eyebrows. The NFT is simply a screenshot-style image of Jack Dorsey’s first tweet, which reads: “just setting up my twttr”.
NFTs have been all the rage in recent years. They have caught the attention of retail investors, celebrities and even some of the biggest brands. Many of these digital assets come with sky-high price tags; some even sell for millions.
However, not all NFT projects achieve the same success. While most projects find plenty of takers, a handful of these digital assets fail to take off after launch, and others struggle with secondary sales. Follow us as we unbox some notable NFT projects that have performed below average this year.
Jack Dorsey’s first tweet NFT
In April this year, Estavi decided to put the NFT on sale. He listed the NFT with an expected prize of $48 million and promised that 50% of the proceeds would be donated to charity. However, much to his dismay, the auction ended with the highest bid of $14,000, a 99% drop from his original price. Estavi decided to abandon the auction and said he might never sell the NFT.
Ellen DeGeneres NFT
During the same month, popular talk show host and comedian Ellen DeGeneres also released an NFT series called “Woman With Stick Cat.” It was built around a selfie of the TV star posing with a cat stick figure. The collection was later split into gold and silver editions and also consisted of a video monologue by DeGeneres announcing her NFT project.
However, only five of the 10 Gold Edition NFTs were sold, for $2,500 each. The silver edition also didn’t see much success, with only 64 buyers purchasing the NFT for $100 each. The video monologue was the best-selling piece in the collection, which sold for $14,555.
Beeple and Madonna NFT
Famous artist NFT Beeple has teamed up with world famous popstar Madonna to release a racy NFT collection called “Material Girl”. It consisted of 3 NFT motion graphics depicting a woman giving birth to a tree, a centipede, and butterflies. The NFTs sold for $135,000, $346,000 and $146,000 respectively.
While that might seem like a lot of money, the collection was a failure given Beeple’s previous success. His first NFT, Everydays – The First 5,000 Days, sold for a whopping $69 million, placing him among the “three most valuable living artists”, according to Christie’s, the auction house where the NFT has been sold. Therefore, even the combined value of the sale – $627,000 – pales in comparison to the sales figure of Beeple’s first NFT.
Conclusion
These flops are a sign that the NFT bubble may be about to collapse. Data from DappRadar shows that NFT trading volume has steadily declined throughout this year. It rose from $12 billion in the first quarter to $8 billion in the second quarter and dropped to $2 billion in the third quarter. These are worrying signs for the nascent NFT industry.
