That’s not really what happened. Some people who had invested in companies that would make money if NFTs went up in value chummed the waters by buying NFTs for huge amounts, convincing a lot of people that NFTs were going to be great investments. Then celebrities with an interest in the scheme pumped up the value too.
That convinced a lot of idiots to “invest” in NFTs, then eventually the bottom fell out of the market.
As for artists, some made some money, but most of the money went into shit like “bored apes” which were algorithmically generated.
triptrapper@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Is there any way to confirm this? Or are there examples of artists who made a significant amount of money from NFTs? I understand its potential benefit for artists, but I mostly remember already-rich corporations (e.g. UFC) using them as another way to extract money from consumers.
glimse@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Beeple made a lot
FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 6 months ago
And, sadly, that has led to his posting a lot less content. But I can’t say I blame him.
modifier@lemmy.ca 6 months ago
He was the first big one I remember. When it still had an air of legitimacy.
IWantToFuckSpez@kbin.social 6 months ago
There are curated NFT auction sites where only selected artists are allowed to sell their work. And you can see for how much they sell their pieces. During the hype many sold items for thousands to tens of thousands. Also there is Beeple who rode the hype early from the start and he became a millionaire.