Google Trends data shows interest in ‘NFT’ is now greater than ‘crypto’

According to Google Trends, a service that tracks the most popular combinations Google users are searching for ‘NFT’ more than ever—and  “crypto” is not the most popular search on Google’s search engine anymore.

For those who don’t know, NFTs enable users to own rare digital artifacts through the blockchain network that backs cryptocurrencies. All forms of art, tweets, music, GIFs, and more such digital assets can be owned through NFTs. The possibilities of buying and selling digital assets are endless.

People are bidding thousands to own these collectibles, and some are even selling for millions. A recent report by Cointelegraph revealed that people have spent over $9 billion in NFT sales so far—and total sales are expected to reach $17.7 billion by the end of 2021. The research states that sales of NFTs have grown from $41 million in 2018 to $2.5 billion in the first half of 2021, representing a 60-fold growth in three and a half years.

Compared to 2020, the growth is staggering. Total sales in 2020 reached $340 million and in 2021 so far, the sales have already surpassed $9 billion which is more than 25-fold growth, according to data from NonFungible.com on NFTs.

A breakdown of transactions by popular NFT categories, discussed in the report, reveals that early sales were dominated by collectibles such as CryptoKitties and CryptoPunks. “Elevated interest in NFTs has coincided with the overall uptrend in the cryptocurrency market, which indicates that NFT prices will drop if cryptocurrency prices drop,” the research added.

Meanwhile, not just collectors or investors, but Bollywood stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Sunny Leone are also jumping on the cryptocurrency bandwagon.

Amitabh Bachchan’s recently launched NFTs which included his autographed vintage posters, a recital of his father’s famous poem Madhushala, were sold for roughly Rs 7.18 crore ($966,000). And bollywood fashion designer Manish Malhotra’s NFT series of 5 digital sketches was sold for roughly Rs 2.8 lakh.