bitreporter.com
- Nearly 1 million people tweeted about NFTs last month.
- California, Oregon, and Washington account for a large portion of interest in digital assets.
- The West Coast has often been an early adopter of new technology.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Interest in crypto-based digital assets is primarily focused in the West Coast, while middle America seems to have been left out of the conversation, according to data from bitreporter.com, a site dedicated to analyzing blockchain trends.
The digital assets, known as non-fungible tokens or NFTs, have picked up steam in the past few months. Last year, NFTs accounted for a $250 million market, according to a report from tech tracking company L'Atelier BNP Paribas and nonfungible.com. In the past 30 day alone, NFT marketplaces have generated over $1 billion in revenue, according to CryptoSlam.
Last week, digital artist Beeple sold a crypto art piece for a record breaking $69.3 million. Many musicians have also capitalized on NFT mania, bringing in millions of dollars in a matter of hours.
Last month, nearly one million people tweeted about NFTs, according to bitreporter.com. The states that tweeted the most about the digital assets include California, Oregon, and Washington.
"It's not surprising that NFTs are seeing interest peak on the West Coast, especially in regards to NFT art and the implications it has for the art world in general," a spokesperson from bitreporter.com told Insider. "California in particular is known for its 'first mover' adoption of new tech, art, gaming, and culture."
Many creators use Twitter to inform their fans about recent NFT drops. Twitter and Discord have also become popular sites for reselling digital assets across NFT platforms.
The site used geotagged tweets about NFTs to track involvement across the country, looking at anything from keywords to hashtags and phrases related to crypto art.
California and the West Coast has often been an early adopter of new technology and ideas. Silicon Valley investors have been known for driving investment trends and some of cryptocurrency's earliest and biggest investors live in the West Coast.
"Many thought Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies were 'crazy' or 'didn't make sense,'" the spokesperson told Insider. "That is often the case up until the point society determines that those assets have actual value. The same thing will likely hold true for NFTs, but they will likely be refined in the future, with some holding value and others becoming fairly worthless."
Several investors and celebrities have already expressed interest in NFTs. Billionaire Shark Tank investor Mark Cuban has been very vocal about his interest in digital assets, from buying highlight reels off NBA Top Shot to investing in the NFT trading platform, Mintable.
Cuban told Insider NFTs could create their own economy, providing small businesses and creators with new streams of revenue.