January 2024: Mickey Mouse, $PIXEL and Bitcoin ETFs
2024 began by harkening back to the past, as an NFT collection using the now copyright-free Steamboat Willie Mickey Mouse character made waves.
The biggest story of the month was the long-awaited news that the U.S. SEC had finally approved spot Bitcoin ETFs.
On the business front, the IRS introduced new tax obligations, Logan Paul announced a controversial CryptoZoo NFT buyback scheme, and Visa launched a Web3 loyalty program. Also, X waved goodbye to PFP NFTs, Starbucks Korea kicked-off an NFT rewards program, and GameStop announced the closure of their NFT marketplace.
In token news, Pixels unveiled their hotly-anticipated $PIXEL token, the Moca Foundation announced the impending arrival of the $MOCA token, and Phantom held a surprise launch for the $WEN community token.
January also saw both Solana NFTs and Polygon NFTs overtake Ethereum in NFT trading for the first time – with the former also revealing their Solana Saga Chapter 2 mobile phone. Azuki surged in value amid rumors of a Weeb3 Foundation alliance, and they announced their Azuki anime series. Yuga Labs pushed Legends of the Mara to mobile, announced Dookey Dash Unclogged, and both revealed and remastered their Otherside Trip 3 trailer.
Elsewhere, CryptoUndeads minted out, Nifty Island entered open beta, Cool Cats partnered with Immutable, Axie Infinity launched their Homeland beta, Magic Eden introduced their multi-chain wallet, and Pudgy Penguins revealed OverpassIP.
The month also saw the debut of Nifty Notes – our now industry-leading weekly newsletter!
February 2024: ERC-404, Pudgy’s Rise and Record Sales
The biggest story of February 2024 saw Yuga Labs acquire PROOF Collective – with Yuga founder Greg Solano returning as CEO shortly after.
On the token front, this month saw the debut of the ERC-404 standard – with the first-ever ERC-404 token, titled $PANDORA, rapidly rising to a market cap in the hundreds of millions of dollars. The $PIXEL token also saw its trading volume skyrocket, as a Binance listing saw the token achieve over $500 million USD of trading volume in a 24-hour period.
February also saw Doodles partner with Casio G-SHOCK, CryptoPunks unveil their Punk in Residence program, and Magic Eden held their Retro Diamond drop – ahead of the launch of their Ethereum marketplace, and their reveal of the Creator’s Alliance. Yuga Labs had a busy month, with Bored & Hungry expanding to Seoul and Serum City going live – although they saw increased competition from the fast-rising Pudgy Penguins, who partnered with Unstoppable Domains.
Elsewhere, Polkadot set a new record for NFT minting speed, Decentraland pushed towards mobile, MetaMask introduced real-time alerts, the Blast mainnet was launched, Shardbound was reintroduced on Immutable, Parallel entered open beta, and an Autoglyph NFT fetched $14.6 million USD – making it the biggest NFT sale since 2022.
March 2024: Ordinals, Runestone and SBF
Bitcoin Ordinals project Runestone captured the headlines in March 2024, minting and auctioning the largest inscription to date, holding a multi-million dollar airdrop, and forever changing the Bitcoin Ordinals ecosystem.
Looking at brand adoption, Coachella tied up with OpenSea, Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs got involved with Cross the Ages, and Sony filed a ‘super-fungible token’ patent. Starbucks closed their Odyssey NFT rewards program, the MetaBirkin lawsuit continued, Forbes revealed their Legacy Pass NFTs, Wu-Tang Clan headed to Bitcoin Ordinals, Netflix secured UK rights for NFT:WTF?, and former FTX boss Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
In gaming, Otherside held its Apes Come Home event, Gods Unchained hit mobile, the HYCHAIN mainnet went live, Pixels took Ronin to new heights, and OKX and Immutable announced a web3 gaming launchpad – with Immutable also injecting $100 million into web3 gaming with Polygon. On the funding front, Illuvium raised $12 million, Off The Grid raised $30 million, and Parallel raised a staggering $35 million.
Elsewhere, CryptoPunk #3100 sold for $16 million, Kevin Rose caught backlash after selling $1.2 million of his NFTs, Magic Eden airdropped Diamonds to Ethereum OGs, Kaidro held the first free mint on Ronin, Milady raised $18.7 million in just 2 hours, a $WIF Mascot NFT fetched $4.3 million, WAX partnered with Amazon, Azuki unveiled AnimeChain on Arbitrum, and Pudgy Penguins flipped BAYC for the first time.
April 2024: Rewards, $POOP and Runes Protocol
The biggest story of the month was Immutable unveiling their $50 million USD rewards program The Main Quest, with the aim to kick-start long-term growth in the Immutable ecosystem.
On the business front, Square Enix re-released Final Fantasy VII figures without NFT certificates, Mazda partnered with Aster zkEVM, Avenged Sevenfold revealed a Web3 season pass, Samsung released a ‘NFT TV bundle’, and Adidas partnered with STEPN.
Tokens had a strong month, with Doodles creator @poopie launched Poopcoin ($POOP) – announcing Dullsville and the Doodleverse mere days later, and Doodles Space Mission S1 shortly thereafter – $DOGE turned into fractionalised NFTs, and the Bitcoin Runes Protocol made its debut – with Magic Eden Runes and Dog memecoins starring.
In Web3 gaming, Square Enix partnered with Animoca Brands Japan, a16z launched its SPEEDRUN accelerator, and two Web3 gaming handhelds were announced – BitBoy and the SuiPlay0X1. MetalCore held their second closed beta playtest, Ronin welcomed Ragnarok: Monster World, Mythical Games switched to Polkadot, Decentraland announced their first Game Expo, Anichess raised $1.8 million, and Yuga both transferred Legends of the Mara and HV-MTL to Faraway, and announced Moonbirds Universe – with sales of the Moonbirds NFT collection jumping 227%.
Elsewhere, the ENS Points System launched and closed within 5 hours, OpenSea integrated ERC-721C, NFTFEST was announced for June, Bored & Hungry California shut its doors, Dapper Labs‘ legal woes continued, MetaMask began to spotlight eligible airdrops, Christie’s held their first Bitcoin Ordinals auction, and CyberKongz Bitcoin NFTs raised $5 million.
May 2024: Super Punk World, Pudgy Toys and Enter The Garden
May 2024 saw two leading stories. First, Nina Chanel Abney announced and revealed her CryptoPunks-backed Super Punk World collection – though saw it immediately cancelled following community backlash. Second, Pudgy Penguins announced the expansion of Pudgy Toys to Target stores across the U.S. after over 1 million sales – also revealing a partnership with Mythical Games for a Pudgy-themed mobile game.
On the business front, Casio celebrated its 50th anniversary with a watches NFT collection, Cristiano Ronaldo faced legal trouble for his Binance CR7 NFTs, and Quidd partnered with Animoca Brands Japan on Fairy Tail NFTs.
In Web3 gaming, Axie debuted Duet Monsters on mobile, Guild of Guardians’ Age of the Dread began, Medieval Empires hit open beta, Draftables sold out their Founder Pass NFTs in under 10 mins, and Immutable Passport surpassed 1 million signups.
In other news, Azuki premiered The Waiting Man – episode 1 of their Enter The Garden anime – and partnered with Magic Eden on Satoshi Nakamoto hoodies. Blur integrated Blast NFTs, DeGods and y00ts returned to Solana – with Solana also seeing a new SPL-404 NFT standard and LayerZero integration – CryptoPunk #741 sold for $800,000, VeeFriends released Character Caps, Apes Capital was unveiled, Phantom acquired Bitski, OpenSea launched Get Based, Milady Maker shot up in value, Ledger Stax began shipping, and Farcaster sealed a $150 million investment.
June 2024: Telegram Games, Ronin and Web3 AI
Two stories captured particular attention in June 2024. Telegram games began to take off, with Hamster Kombat gathering 78 million players, and the Trezor Safe 5 hardware wallet was released.
In business, Sotherby’s announced a Golden Bored Apes auction, McDonald’s launched a metaverse, Wu-Tang Clan’s Once Upon a Time in Shaolin saw a related NFT release, Konami launched their Resella service on Avalanche, and OneFootball partnered with Mocaverse.
Web3 gaming saw the launch of the Ronin Forge and the Ronin zkEVM, the reveal of Illuvium’s open beta July release, The Sandbox raise $20 million at a $1 billion valuation, the unveiling of the Polygon Community Grants Program, and Shrapnel’s $100,000 STX3.1 playtest. Also, Parallel released on the Epic Games Store, HYTOPIA entered closed beta, Blocklords Dynasty debuted on Base, MetalCore introduced their $MCG token, Worldwide Webb rebranded to Soulbound, and ZED RUN transitioned to ZEDx.
Elsewhere, Web3 AI drew attention, with Play AI raising $4.3 million and Grass AI growing in popularity. Coinbase Learn was launched, and the Coinbase Smart Wallet was introduced. Dapper Labs settled their NBA Top Shot lawsuit, Doodles Stoodio moved to Base, and Pudgy Penguins announced their Igloo Inc. parent company.
July 2024: Ethereum ETFs, GTA 6 and Fortnite
The biggest story of July 2024 came from the U.S. SEC, as Ethereum ETFs were approved to begin trading on July 24.
On the mainstream end, Attack on Titan entered The Sandbox, rumours began to swirl on the possible inclusion of crypto and NFTs in GTA 6, and Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney indicated that blockchain technology could be added to Fortnite in future.
In Web3 gaming, Deadfellaz began Wallhugger alpha testing, Ubisoft’s Champions Tactics was released – with a free NFT mint – Spellborne entered open beta, Forgotten Runiverse migrated to Ronin, and Pixelverse secured an additional $2 million. Soulbound won the Adventure Together category and Grand Prize at the 2024 Discord App Pitch, Axie Infinity: Homeland’s avatar mode was released, Immortal Rising 2 launched on Immutable, Polygon’s $MATIC migrated to $POL, MetalCore Arena was announced, and the Illuvium mainnet went live.
Elsewhere, ChainGPT updated its AI NFT generator, Consensys acquired Wallet Guard, Ledger revealed their Clear Signing initiative, and Cool Cats launched a manga series. Privasea began to take off, KnownOrigin ceased operations, Aavegotchi went 3D, Doodles Records was unveiled, the Ledger Flex was announced, and RTFKT revealed Project Animus.
August 2024: U.S. SEC, MetaMask Card and AriZona
The two leading stories of August 2024 saw the U.S. SEC issue a Wells notice to OpenSea, and the debut of MetaMask Card.
Looking at business, Doodles partnered with both AriZona and Adidas, Ubisoft partnered with Arbitrum for Captain Laserhawk: the G.A.M.E., Lamborghini partnered with Animoca Brands, Illuvium teamed up with Samsung, and BAYC teamed up with BAPE once again. Also, Sony announced the Soneium blockchain, PGA Tour Rise was revealed, and Donald Trump released Series 4 of his digital trading cards.
Web3 gaming saw Lumiterra enter closed beta, Mocaverse release their Mocaland Experiences in The Sandbox, Off The Grid expand their Pioneers Program, and Ragnarok: Monster World also enter closed beta. Otherside announced Project Dragon Episode 2, Gods Unchained pushed a major update, and Immutable hit a rough patch, with the closure of the Immutable X marketplace, and Ember Sword migrating to Mantle.
In other news, Azuki unveiled an animated shorts series, Trezor celebrated their 10th anniversary, DFZ Labs partnered with Unstoppable Domains, Sotheby’s ran a Digital Art Day sale, and Magic Eden announced their $ME token, and launched their NFT mint terminal.
September 2024: Doodles, Mobiles and Anime.com
September 2024 saw two leading stories. Doodles premiered Dullsville and the Doodleverse at the Toronto International Film Festival, and Solana Mobile revealed the Solana Seeker mobile phone.
In Web3 gaming, MetalCore Season 1 debuted – with a Season 1 NFT sale to boot – Nyan Heroes entered Season 3, and the Sequence Unreal SDK became verified. Ashes of Mankind announced their Revenants NFT drop, CCP Games revealed EVE Frontier, MixMob hit Season 2, seven new games joined Ronin, and the launch date for Illuvium: Beyond Wave 3 was announced.
It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows however, as Dimensions dropped their blockchain features, and Tales of Elleria announced the end of active development.
Elsewhere, rumours surfaced surrounding blockchain tech and the iPhone 16, ApeCoin revealed their blueprint for ApeChain, Gamma revealed a unified Bitcoin Ordinals and Stacks platform, Azuki revealed anime.com, and Magic Eden and Mocaverse revealed MagicMoca – with the former also adopting optional royalties on EVM blockchains.
October 2024: Off The Grid, ApeChain and X Empire
October 2024 featured a top-tier double whammy, as Off The Grid entered Early Access, and ApeChain was launched with the debut of Top Trader.
Web3 gaming saw Gods Unchained release their Tower of Dread expansion, Wild Forest announce the token generation event (TGE) for their $WF token, CryptoKitties return as a Telegram game, Shardbound hit open beta, and Decentraland launch a desktop client. Guild of Guardians released their Frostmire expansion, PARAVOX announced a $130,000 USD esports tournament, and Parallel announced a $250,000 esports championship.
On top of that, Deadfellaz revealed their Death Touch TCG, Opti Games raised $2 million for Sparkball, MetalCore moved to Solana, and the X Empire airdrop was met with player frustration.
In other news, Consensys announced a 20% cut of their workforce, Google Cloud at Aptos Labs launched GameStack, and GR1D Network debuted web3 gaming credits on Amazon. Sequence partnered with Transak, CryptoPunk #1563 was sold for a questionable $56 million, Faraway unveiled both the Faraway Creator Suite and FChain, and a Captain Laserhawk NFT collection hit Magic Eden. Furthermore, Ubisoft released Champions Tactics, 10KTF was acquired, and Improbable announced the launch of the Somnia blockchain.
November 2024: Trump, McDonald’s and Rektguy
The biggest story of November 2024 was undoubtedly Trump’s victory in the 2024 U.S. presidential election, which sent crypto markets soaring.
Another big development gave NFTs huge visibility, with McDonalds partnering with Doodles on a large-scale U.S. holiday campaign.
In Web3 gaming, Immutable was hit with a Wells notice, Pudgy Penguins announced Pudgy Party, and Off The Grid continued to rise – with their Save Democracy pack, the Clash for Cash daily tournaments, and the $600,000 All-Star Invitational. Pixels revealed their 2025 goals, Animoca Brands secured $10 million in funding, Parallel released their Aftermath expansion, Nakamigos’ CLOAKS Games were scheduled for an upcoming release, and Moonray distributed over 220,000 NFTs in just 48 hours.
On the flipside, Sky Mavis laid off 21% of its workforce – in spite of announcing a new Axie Infinity game for 2025 – and Kraken announced the closure of their NFT marketplace.
Rektguy had a big month, securing $1.5 million in funding for Rekt Brands, launching Rekt Drinks, and following that with the $REKT token. OpenSea V2 was teased, a rumoured OpenSea token drove Gemesis NFT trading, Magic Eden revealed further details on their $ME token, and Azuki brought Fate to Anime.com.
December 2024: Bitcoin, $PENGU and $ME
December 2024 saw Bitcoin hit $100,000 for the first time as both the crypto and NFT markets continued to soar.
The month also saw two big token launches. Pudgy Penguins launched $PENGU – which caused a sharp rise and fall in the floor price of Pudgy Penguins NFTs – which hit a $3 billion market cap, and Magic Eden launched their $ME token – though faced backlash over technical issues with the airdrop. A third upcoming token was rumoured, as OpenSea teased the launch of an $OCEAN token.
Web3 gaming saw EVE Frontier enter Early Access, OverTrip launch on the Epic Games Store, a major update to Off The Grid, Shrapnel’s Neon Machine announce a new CEO, and Nakamigos launch their Rise of the Wolf RPG. Two $150,000,000 Web3 gaming funds were also established, with Beam Ventures in Abu Dhabi, and Big Time Studios with their Open Loot Fund.
Elsewhere, Nike announced the closure of RTFKT – with rivals Adidas revealing their ALTS NFT collection a week later – Animoca Brands backed Igloo Inc., Chonks debuted on Base, CyberKongz disclosed their Wells notice, and Avalanche supported the Beam Network by minting $500,000 of Beam Node Tokens.
That’s a wrap on our NFT recap for 2024.
2024 saw us hit our 5,000th published article – and we’re well on our way to 6,000. With seven years of NFT coverage under our belts and counting, we’re entering 2025 with hope, ambition and excitement – whichever way the market goes!
Our team will be here daily, motivated as ever to report on the latest happenings in NFT industry and beyond. Be sure to visit NFT Plazas for the latest NFT news, and follow our socials below for breaking coverage as it happens, all throughout the year. We wish you all the very best for 2025!
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