How a cat GIF NFT sold for about $690,000: Creator explains process

But that wasn't what got Nyan Cat going as an NFT, Torres said. People seeing that I'm active and not just here trying to make money."In March 2021, just a month after Torres sold his NFT, the digital artist known as Beeple sold an NFT of his work for a record $69 million. Last year, during the crypto boom that preceded the ongoing market slump, NFT sales reached a total valuation of  $41 billion, according to Chainalysis.While not all NFT creators are as successful as Torres, the most important things that drive the prices of NFTs like Nyan Cat are the community and team behind the project, Alex Salnikov, the head of product and cofounder of Rarible, said."Once the collection manages to attract a strong community of people who see value in the project above just the floor price and flip potential, the NFT becomes more of a status symbol rather than a simple JPEG, and that's when things can really start to take off," Salnikov said.