Sales of NFTs on the Bitcoin (BTC) network reached a new milestone in December 2023, surpassing $881 million for the first time ever. 

According data by CryptoSlam, NFT sales on the Bitcoin chain reached $881,223,753.92 last month, setting the highest single-month sales record to date.

This included 111,713 buyer addresses and 98,744 seller addresses, both setting the highest single-month records to date. 

Bitcoin NFTs, also known as Ordinals, are a new type of NFT that exists on the Bitcoin blockchain. 

Unlike traditional NFTs which are mostly associated with the Ethereum blockchain, Bitcoin NFTs are unique in that they are inscribed directly onto individual satoshis, the smallest unit of a bitcoin.

More specifically, each Bitcoin is divisible into 100 million satoshis. Bitcoin NFTs are created by inscribing data onto these satoshis. 

This process is akin to engraving a tiny piece of data onto a small fraction of a Bitcoin.

Ethereum and Solana Trail Behind

Ethereum, the second-largest blockchain, trailed behind with NFT sales totaling $364.79 million. 

BTC-focused NFT sales outperformed ETH’s by a significant margin, being 2.34 times greater in December. 

Solana secured the third spot with approximately $325.14 million in NFT sales, experiencing a remarkable 312% increase from the previous month.

Following the top three, Polygon and Arbitrum emerged as the subsequent leading blockchains in terms of NFT sales.

Notable NFT Sales of December

The pinnacle of December’s NFT transactions featured the sale of a digital copy of Vincent Van Gogh’s renowned Self-portrait, 1888 (Van Gogh’s painting #216), which commanded an impressive price of $1.19 million. 

Another notable sale took place on Ethereum, with the Frxethredemption Ticket #33 fetching $638,433 this month.

Despite a recent decline in NFT sales, dropping over 35% from the previous week, December witnessed a record-breaking $1.7 billion in NFT transactions. 

This marked a significant increase of more than 69% compared to November’s figures, with Bitcoin continuing to dominate NFT sales across various blockchains. 

BTC-based NFT sales soared 127.63% above the chain’s November totals, as reported by cryptoslam.io statistics.

Other notable high-value NFT sales in December include Cardano’s Deep Vision #05128, which fetched an impressive $551,750, and BNB’s Lockdealnft #91, garnering $329,824. 

Solana’s Boogle #009 completed the list of December’s five most expensive NFTs, selling for $274,209.

Out of the top ten NFT collections in terms of sales, seven were derived from the Bitcoin blockchain. 

Solana’s Tensorians secured the fifth position, while the Mad Lads collection held the eighth spot. 

Arbitrum’s Sentry Node collection claimed the ninth position in December. 

Throughout the month, a total of 11,290,812 NFT transactions took place, involving 469,389 sellers and 600,744 NFT buyers.

As reported, prior to December, NFT trading volume surged by $99 million, reaching $405 million in October, signifying levels of sales not seen since August.