NFTs ballooned to a $41 billion market in 2021 and are catching up to the total size of the global fine art market

The market size for digital collectibles known as NFTs is catching up to that of the traditional art market.
By the end of 2021, the marketplace for non-fungible tokens, which are digital pieces of art tied to blockchain technology, reached a $41 billion value, according blockchain data 
company Chainalysis, which updated a previous report.
And according to the Financial Times, which first reported the new metric, total NFT sales would be even higher if digital collectibles minted on blockchains other than ethereum were 
also included.
NFTs are now inching closer and closer in value to the traditional art market, where people buy and sell physical works. The latest estimate from a 2021 report showed sales of conventional 
art and antiques reached $50 billion in 2020. That number was a decline from the year prior, due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Art Basel and UBS Global Art Market report found.