The first-ever NFT is always a topic for debate, and there seem to be an ever-increasing amount of NFT archaeologists digging up old NFTs.

Here is a timeline and quick breakdown of the rise of NFTs:

2012 – A hotly contested subject, but the oldest project to experiment with setting the foundation for NFTs goes by the name of Colored Coins, which dates back to 2012 and was created on the Bitcoin blockchain. The Coins represent real-life assets on the blockchain, such as cars and real estate. However, the project didn’t develop further due to various technical complications. Still, it did pave the way for the birth of NFTs. 

2014 – Counterparty, an asset creator and decentralized exchange, comes to life. The platform was built on the Bitcoin blockchain. Even though it had various ideas, such as trading memes, it became clear that developers needed a more versatile blockchain for these experiments. 

2014 – In terms of art, “Quantum” by New York artist Kevin McCoy is considered to be the first NFT art piece. The image was minted on the Namecoin blockchain in May 2014, and it shows a pixelated octagon changing colour and shape. McCoy and his wife Jennifer are well-known and respected artists in collectors’ circles. 

2015 – The first blockchain game – Spells of Genesis, a trading card game, joins Counterparty! The game’s creators were true pioneers and made the bold move to issue the first in-game assets via the Counterparty platform and create an in-game currency called BitCrystals. 

Then there was also Etheria, one of the first NFTs on the Ethereum network, which launched in 2015 and introduced programmable code through smart contracts. Finally, developers got the NFT playground they wanted! Etheria, a virtual game world where owners can own hexagonal tiles, farm them, and build things, was launched just three months after the Ethereum mainnet launch.

2016 – Trading card game, Force of Will, and Rare Pepe memes joined forces with Counterparty. Rare Pepes further opened the door for Crypto Art with the first Rare Digital Art Festival. Fans also started trading them on Ethereum in early 2017 when the network began gaining popularity. 

2017 – CryptoPunks, the most popular OG NFT art collectibles, were launched. The project was the brainchild of Larva Labs creators John Watkinson and Matt Hall. CryptoPunks truly set the trend and paved the way for the storm that came about in generative NFT art projects with 10,000 pieces. 

Other notable projects launched in the same year include CryptoKitties and MoonCats. CryptoKitties, a virtual game on Ethereum that allows owners to adopt, breed and trade their cats, took off quickly and was featured on major traditional news outlets such as Fox News. 

MoonCats is an OG NFT collectibles project. It is a pixelated, generative art collection featuring 25,600 cats. Initially, buyers didn’t know what cat they would get, as it would only be revealed after minting. Very few people knew about MoonCats until the NFT Twitter community rediscovered these old collectibles in late 2021, and they exploded in fame and price.