CryptoPunks, Bored Apes, Decentraland and others — these are the most valuable NFT projects of 2021

• The popularity of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) has propelled to new heights in 2021.
• NFT projects that were on the fringe of the crypto universe are now some of the most popular names in the market like Decentraland and Bored Apes.
• In 2021, NFTs sales clocked in a grand total of $14.4 billion.

The cryptocurrency boom in 2021 didn’t just bring new tokens into the limelight, but also new markets — like the one for digital collectibles or non-fungible tokens (NFTs). This past year has been a breakthrough year for the industry with these unique digital items selling for millions of dollars a piece.

In 2021, sales of NFTs hit $14.4 billion, according to data from NonFungible.com. This included stand-alone works of art, such as the disaster girl meme sold for half a million, and the Beeple NFT that sold for $69 million at the Christie’s auction house. But the biggest winners were collections of thousands of NFTs, and the projects behind the curtain like the avatar-generating CryptoPunks, metaverse Decentraland, or play-to-earn blockchain game Axie Infinity.

All-time trading volume on OpenSea, the biggest marketplace in the world for NFTs, is now at $13.25 billion as compared to just $24 million seen in all of 2020. It is home to 1.25 million traders and the all-time average price of NFTs sold on the platform stands at $933, which is around ₹70,000 — more than most people’s monthly salary in India.

From Pokemon-like pets being made to battle, to pixelated avatars that don’t discriminate, here are the 13 most valuable NFT collections of 2021: