Welcome to our year in review of 2022 NFTs! This has been a rollercoaster of a year, one which started with a bull run and unfortunately ends in a bear market. Still, from the explosion of NFT art and collectibles, to the growing use of NFTs in gaming and other industries, there has been no shortage of news and innovation in the web3 world.<\/p>\n
In this year in review, we will take a look at some of the most significant events and trends in the world of NFTs in 2022. We will look at the biggest NFT scams of 2022, the industry drama, web3 legal proceedings and celebrities embracing the metaverse<\/a>. So settle in, grab your popcorn, and delve into the year that has been.<\/p>\n It\u2019s been a wild ride of a year but if you missed it, let\u2019s give you a run down on how it went.<\/p>\n Here is a brief overview of NFT news in 2022. An appetiser, if you will. Following this month-by-month NFT review, we will take a look are more in-depth industry news and highlights. For now, enjoy taking a step back and remembering the year that was.<\/p>\n January 2022 was a great time for NFTs. Every celebrity under the sun was releasing an NFT or buying an NFT. poor justin Bieber dropped 500ETH on a bored ape! The Bored ape floor hit 100ETH and the hype was real. So much so that a boy in Indonesia managed to sell out a whole NFT collection of his own selfies. Meanwhile we had Meta announcing NFT integration,<\/a> and new marketplace Looksrare<\/a> going live. It was also the moment Ryder Ripps first accused BAYC of racism.<\/p>\n February continued similarly with a wedding set in the metaverse and one cryptopunk selling for 8000ETH. We were so cool back then. Unfortunately that\u2019s also when the drama started. Buzzfeed doxxed Yuga Labs founders<\/a>. While everyone was desperate to mint Invisible Friends, Pixelmon revealed its shockingly bad artwork.<\/p>\n March brought Randi Zuckerberg<\/a>\u2019s most cringe rendition of Twisted Sister which none of us asked for. Of course we should have realised it was the top. March also brought the market crash and slowly all the collections we knew and loved got ever closer to zero. Around this time, ApeCoin finally drops, Proof drops Moonbirds and Cool Cats announce Cooltopia. RTFKT MNLTH and VeeFriends 2 reveal. Meanwhile Yuga Crashes the whole ecosystem with the Otherside min<\/a>t. Yes, the drop caused gas prices to spike and even etherscan crashed.<\/p>\n Whether they were or weren\u2019t the cause of a huge NFT crash, this was really just the beginning.<\/p>\n May brought yet another Solana outage and the launch of the free-to-mint meta. Starting with Goblin Town, the projects came in droves. Yes, this was the period where grown ups were making weird goblin noises on twitter spaces in the name of WAGMI. Can\u2019t say it\u2019s our proudest moment but it happened.<\/p>\n June was the month of the scam, with BAYC<\/a> and the Otherside falling victim to hack. Briefly afterwards OpenSea<\/a> also allowed users email addresses to become compromised. The following month, PREMINT and top influencers like Zeneca were also targeted.<\/p>\n Aside from that, the summer also brought the NFT scene some much needed fun with some top events. Veecon was beyond belief. No really, we can\u2019t believe that someone really proposed on stage, but it is what it is. Of course, Solana was down again.<\/p>\n By now we are all panicking because the bear market is still here. However, while everything was cooling down for crypto folk, it was only just warming up for mainstream folk. In July, NFTs dropped on Meta\u2019s platforms<\/a>: Facebook and Instagram.<\/p>\n Then in August, Reddit dropped its first ever NFT collection. It didn\u2019t get much excitement at the time but with hindsight, that was our shot at generational wealth. Seriously, how many shots can I miss? The bear market wasn\u2019t getting much better either, but no one seemed to care anymore. Spirits were reasonably high. Eminem and Snoop dogg even featured their Bored Apes in a new music video and performed the song at the VMAs.<\/p>\n On the Crypto art side, August was a tough time for the royalty debate. Some NFT traders don\u2019t like paying royalty fees and therefore pushed creators to release NFTs without them. Frank DeGods became heavily involved the royalty fee debate.<\/a><\/p>\n In September, the DeGods ecosystem launched y00ts. Everyone was desperate to get on the y00tlist!<\/a> We all applied, but only the most exclusive influencers bagged a place. On the Ethereum side, the Merge merged and well nothing. Nothing happened. Life carried on. In other news, Christies opened an NFT auction house<\/a> and Tyler Hobbs and Dandelion Wist announced QQL.<\/p>\n October brought uncertainty. The SEC decided to investigate Yuga Labs<\/a> as a case study on what should happen with NFTs. That could be very good or very bad depending on how Yuga is operating. Of course, we didn\u2019t have time to hold our breath. Reddit NFTs are now pumping<\/a>, and in some weird twist of fate our normie mates on Reddit are going to make but we aren\u2019t<\/em>. Giving us just a taste of the past, Blur Marketplace announced its arrival along with a tasty airdrop.<\/p>\n Okay a very mini airdrop and some promises. But it sounded better when they said it. Azuki also dropped its PBTs.<\/p>\n November brought the whole royalty debate to its knees. Marketplaces dropped royalties, big collections dropped royalties. Artist were complaining loudly and the space became a little toxic. OpenSea announced plans to move to optional creator royalties<\/a>, before bowing to peer pressure and reversing their decision.<\/p>\n Despite the rollercoaster of a year, NFTs ended on a high, with a lot of excitement for the future. The festive month began with Art Basel<\/a>, and the art fair celebrated its 20th anniversary in Miami Beach with its largest display to date, highlighting some of the greatest NFT creators and teams. Shortly after, NFT and crypto security brand Ledger unveiled their latest offering \u2013 Stax<\/a> \u2013 at Ledger Op3n. Finally, Yuga Labs appointed a new CEO<\/a> \u2013 ex-Blizzard COO, Daniel Alegre.<\/p>\n Things can only get better.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, we have witnessed a lot of scammers and hackers in this past year, targeting both individuals and brands.The most high profile hacks in the NFT scene in 2022 include:<\/p>\n the PREMINT<\/a> hack in July, through which unfortunate hack victims gave token approval to hackers, allowing the hacker to move their NFTs without signing anything again.\u00a0We also saw a Solana hack<\/a> drain over 8000 crypto wallets, with the total loss count exceeding over $7 million in cryptocurrencies. There was also an OpenSea data breach, putting every user\u2019s email address at risk!<\/p>\n Influencers were targeted, with one Twitter NFT influencer losing several Doodles, Bored Apes, and other blue-chip NFTs, totalling over $1 million\u00a0<\/a>Further, Zeneca had his Twitter account hacked<\/a>. Zeneca was not alone \u2013 the same happened to many other high-profile Twitter NFT accounts around the same time. DegenTown, Duppies, and @franklinisbored had their accounts hacked too. Surprisingly, even the British Army Twitter account<\/a> was hacked by NFT scammers! Each time, the culprits started sharing malicious links using the victim\u2019s Twitter feed.<\/p>\n If he wasn\u2019t so damn terrifying, he would be impressive. NFT thief Monkey Drainer<\/a> has been rather busy this year. In just one week in November, the phishing scam thief stole over $1 million of NFTs. While its a big W for Monkey Drainer, at least we have blockchain detective Zach XBT<\/a> hot on his tail.<\/p>\n We have now been over the biggest scams and losses, so let\u2019s take a look at the greatest NFT sales of 2022! Although NFT sales are down in general due to the ongoing crypto-winter, we have still seen some mammoth sales of digital collectibles.<\/p>\n In February, CryptoPunk #5822<\/a> brought in 8000 ETH or around $23 Million!<\/p>\n Then later in the year, despite the bear market, a rare CryptoPunk Ape NFT sold<\/a> for\u00a0\u00a03,300 ETH ($4.28 million).<\/p>\n Bored Ape Yacht Club 2300 ETH ($3.91 million) sale of a Mega Mutant Bored Ape<\/a> in August of 2022. Then, a Golden Fur Ape<\/a> also reached 777 ETH, or $1.5 million, in the same month. In fact, the whole BAYC collection floor price hit 100 ETH<\/a> in January!<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n MoonPay made an even bigger purchase, buying CryptoPunk #2681<\/a> for 900ETH (~$3 million at the time).<\/p>\n The first huge sale of the year was the sale of a rare Doodles Golden Ape<\/a>. NFT influencer Pranksy<\/a> bought Doodles #6914 in January for 269.69 ETH! At the time of purchase, that was around $1.1 million.<\/p>\n Finally, it is not only PFP collections breaking sales records. Artist XCOPY made $23 mllion\u00a0in just 10 minutes with his open addition NFT titled \u2018MAX PAIN<\/a>\u2019. This open auction sold 7,394 NFTs for 1 ETH apiece ($3,108 at the time), on the Nifty Gateway marketplace.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n During spooky-season (more commonly known as October) Yuga Labs announced their first community-led BAYC Council<\/a>. The founding council members are Josh Ong, Sera, Laura Rod, 0xEthan, 0xWave, Negi and Peter Fang. The council intends to represent the BAYC and MAYC community at large.<\/p>\n Azuki has been on fire this year, reaching success after success. In October, Azuki announced the\u00a0\u201cPhysical Backed Token.\u201d This Azuki PBT\u00a0allows users on-chain ownership of real-life items. The anime NFT project then went on to release their first PBT implementation \u2013 \u2018Proof of Skate\u2019. The 8 limited-edition 24K Golden Skateboards<\/a> broke records, with\u00a0the lowest bid at 200 ETH (about $261,000 at the time), and the highest was a staggering 309 ETH (around $404,000).<\/p>\n The coolest cats in the metaverse became even cooler in April with the announcement of Cooltopia<\/a>. Cooltopia is the Cool Cats gamified NFT experience, driven by the $MILK token. There was even an IRL Cooltopia experience at NFT NYC!<\/p>\n Colorful NFT brand Doodles announced some exciting news in June \u2013 Pharrell Williams joined the team!\u00a0The award-winning musician and fashion icon took on the position of \u00a0Doodles Chief Brand Officer.<\/a> In addition, Pharrell also joined the board of Doodles NFT.<\/p>\n World of Women wowed us once again in March when the project\u2019s founder\u00a0Yam Karkai represented the collection at Billboard Women in Music.<\/a> Not only this, but Billboard also released two additional NFT covers designed by Yam Karkai. WOW continues to live up to its tagline!<\/p>\n March saw the arrival of ApeCoin!\u00a0ApeCoin is a token that centers around culture, gaming, and commerce, and empowers the community to contribute to the development of Web3. ApeCoin also works as a governance token with an ApeCoin DAO. The coin also\u00a0provides access to certain parts of the ecosystem that are otherwise unavailable, such as exclusive games, merch, events, and services. Then, in a huge move for BAYC, Gucci became the first store to accept ApeCoin<\/a>!<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n In February, the anon BAYC founders were doxxed by Buzzfeed.<\/a> The community welcomed seeing the true faces behind the PFPs, but were not happy with how the doxxing happened. Be that as it may, the Yuga Founders names are now common knowledge.<\/p>\n Betty decided to reveal her identity<\/a> to her following back in May. And we were lucky enough to break the news! Thanks Betty<\/a>!<\/p>\n In November of 2022, Frank DeGods Doxxed his face and name<\/a>. Rohun Vora, who we know as Frank DeGods,<\/a> is an American of Indian heritage who took the solana NFT world by storm in 2022. Of course, he\u2019s such a trend-setter that he started a chain reaction of doxxing in the community. I\u2019m glad the shoey thing hasn\u2019t really taken off in the same way.<\/p>\n Top NFT Collector and founder of luxury web3 brand 9dcc, gmoney<\/a> decided to show his face to the community at Art Basel this year. While we don\u2019t have a real name, we do have a face and that\u2019s enough for now.<\/p>\n NFT drama of 2022 \u2013 let\u2019s get into it! There was a lot<\/em> of drama this year, so brace yourselves for this trip down memory lane.<\/p>\n Ryder Ripps started off the year with a bang by accusing BAYC of racism<\/a> for the first time. This accusation rippled throughout the rest of 2022, with BAYC racism claims reemerging in June, and Anonymous Group seemingly calling out BAYC<\/a> in August. Moreover, the Ryder Ripps BAYC feud evolved when Ripps created his own collection \u2013 Ryder Ripps BAYC. This didn\u2019t end well for Ripps, as Yuga Labs filed a lawsuit against the RRBAYC creator.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Unfortunately, the BAYC drama did not end there. \u00a0Now, BAYC creators Yuga Labs<\/a> find themselves the subject of a consumer rights case. Yes the SEC is using Yuga as a case study to decide whether NFTs are or are not securities. I\u2019m hoping, for our sake, that Yuga has their sh** together.<\/p>\n Moving on from BAYC, on January 8th, Solana went down<\/a> for the first time in 2022. This seemingly set the tone for the rest of the year. Solana experienced another 7 hour outage<\/a> in May, and a four hour outage<\/a> in June. 2022 has not been good to Solana. At the beginning of 2022, Sol was priced at $169.98. Now, Sol closes out the year at a mere $12. Of course, some of this is due to the FTX scandal \u2013 but more on that later.<\/p>\n From NFTs to NFT marketplaces, OpenSea has hit the headlines more than once. While OpenSea also laid off 20% of their workforce<\/a>, what we want to talk about it the FBI arresting former Head of Product, Nate Chastain<\/a> for insider trading. He thought he\u2019d worked out this great plan where he\u2019s buy the front page artwork before it was featured and then profit off the unlucky users. And he might have got away with it, if it wasn\u2019t for that meddling blockchain.<\/p>\n In the wider NFT PFP community, we saw a clash between the founders of Weather Report<\/a> as they fought over revenue splits. Both sides released statements claiming something a little different and no one knew who to trust. The ex-artist Dentin started his own NFT collection \u2013 with almost identical art \u2013 named Dented Feels.<\/p>\n The founder of the mfers stickman collection, Sartoshi, decided to disappear from the NFT space. Sartoshi disappearing from mfers<\/a> was a necessary end to the story for some. Whereas others state mfers is a rug pull. Apparently though\u2026he may be back in 2023.<\/p>\n We can\u2019t talk about drama in 2022 without mentioning\u00a0Trump NFTs<\/a>. Of course not everyone agrees with the best way to handle NFTs from the ex-president but despite what anyone might think, the collection sold out in under 24 hours. That said, concerns about the Trump NFT team<\/a> and the artwork are currently circulating. Currently, it\u2019s unclear if some of the artwork may be unoriginal.<\/p>\n Finally, the big one \u2013 FTX. The FTX\/SBF affair<\/a> cannot be summarised a couple of sentences. The huge ordeal involving the cryptocurrency exchange and its illegal activity sent shockwaves through the entire ecosystem. FTX contributed to the downfall of Solana<\/a>, influenced CryptoPunks flipping Bored Apes<\/a>, and caused users to lose susbtantial amounts of funds. SBF has destroyed the spirit of the industry for so many people, however, hopefully in 2023 we will see some form of justice.<\/p>\n Other NFT projects also had their fair share of scandal. In January, Cool Cats released the Cool Pets mint price,<\/a> and the high entry point caused controversy. The blue cat NFT project hit headlines again later in the year when they terminated staff<\/a> with seemingly no given reason.\u00a0Boki NFT fired Starcatchers artist Beutrec<\/a> for insider trading,\u00a0and Crypto Chicks NFT was accused of art theft<\/a>.<\/p>\n The beginning of the year was a delight with a young Indonesian guy making a mint out of his face. No, this wasn\u2019t with a high profile modelling contract as you\u2019d expect. Instead, Ghozali Everydays<\/a> is a collection comprised entirely of selfies of a distinctive looking chap from Indonesia.<\/p>\n![\"image](\"https:\/\/nftevening.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/pexels-mart-production-8885141-scaled.jpg.webp)
\n<\/picture>\n<\/noscript>2022 In NFTs Month-by-Month<\/span><\/h2>\n
January<\/span><\/h3>\n
February<\/span><\/h3>\n
March<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"screenshot](\"https:\/\/nftevening.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Screen-Shot-2023-01-01-at-1.44.32-pm.png.webp)
\n<\/picture>\n<\/noscript>May<\/span><\/h3>\n
June<\/span><\/h3>\n
July<\/span><\/h3>\n
August<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"image](\"https:\/\/nftevening.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Screen-Shot-2023-01-01-at-1.45.53-pm.png.webp)
\n<\/picture>\n<\/noscript>September<\/span><\/h3>\n
October<\/span><\/h3>\n
November<\/span><\/h3>\n
December<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"Ledger](\"https:\/\/nftevening.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Ledger-scaled.jpeg.webp)
\n<\/picture>\n<\/noscript>Biggest NFT Scams and Hacks of 2022<\/span><\/h2>\n
PREMINT Hack of 2022<\/span><\/h3>\n
The Great Influencer Hack<\/span><\/h3>\n
The NFT Cat Burglar: Monkey Drainer<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"stock](\"https:\/\/nftevening.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Screen-Shot-2023-01-01-at-1.49.11-pm.png.webp)
\n<\/picture>\n<\/noscript>Biggest NFT Sales of 2022<\/span><\/h2>\n
Cryptopunk #5822 \u2013 8000ETH<\/span><\/h3>\n
Trippy Mega Mutant Ape \u2013 2300ETH<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"BAYC](\"https:\/\/nftevening.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Screen-Shot-2022-12-22-at-11.44.57-am.png.webp)
\n<\/picture>\n<\/noscript>Cryptopunk #2681 \u2013 900Eth<\/span><\/h3>\n
Rare Doodles Golden Ape \u2013 269.69ETH<\/span><\/h3>\n
MAX PAIN \u2013 7,394 ETH<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"three](\"https:\/\/nftevening.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Screen-Shot-2023-01-01-at-1.55.16-pm.png.webp)
\n<\/picture>\n<\/noscript>Top NFT Collection News in 2022<\/span><\/h2>\n
Azuki Ascends to New Heights<\/span><\/h3>\n
Cool Cats\u2019 Cooltopia<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/nftevening.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Cooltopia.png.webp)
\n<\/picture>\n<\/noscript>Pharrell Williams Joins Doodles as Brand Officer<\/span><\/h3>\n
WOW at BBWIM<\/span><\/h3>\n
ApeCoin<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"Image](\"https:\/\/nftevening.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/dam-images-daily-2014-11-gucci-gucci-rodeo-drive-01.webp\")
![\"photo](\"https:\/\/nftevening.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/16670504552876-scaled.jpg.webp)
\n<\/picture>\n<\/noscript>2022: The Year of NFT Founder Doxxing<\/span><\/h2>\n
BAYC Founders Doxxed By Buzzfeed<\/span><\/h3>\n
Betty Reveals Her Identity<\/span><\/h3>\n
Frank Doxxes Himself<\/span><\/h3>\n
Gmoney Doxxes His Face<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"image](\"https:\/\/nftevening.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Screen-Shot-2023-01-01-at-2.05.19-pm.png.webp)
\n<\/picture>\n<\/noscript>Top NFT Dramas of the Year<\/span><\/h2>\n
\u201cBAYC is Racist?\u201d<\/span><\/h3>\n
Are NFTs Securities?<\/span><\/h3>\n
Solana Goes Down Again\u2026and Again<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"comparison](\"https:\/\/nftevening.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Screen-Shot-2022-12-22-at-4.25.58-pm.png.webp)
\n<\/picture>\n<\/noscript>Nate Chastain Gets Arrested<\/span><\/h3>\n
Weather Report Team Had a Messy and Public Split<\/span><\/h3>\n
Sartoshi Disappeared<\/span><\/h3>\n
Official Trump NFT Collection<\/span><\/h3>\n
Everything FTX<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"grid](\"https:\/\/nftevening.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/image-9.png.webp)
\n<\/picture>\n<\/noscript>Funniest Moments in NFT History 2022<\/span><\/h2>\n
Ghozali Everydays<\/span><\/h3>\n