https://decrypt.co/89158/15-biggest-nft-influencers-of-2021

110.3K followers

The pseudonymous Punk4156 emerged early in 2021 after purchasing his titular CryptoPunk for a record-breaking $1.25 million worth of ETH, and was soon immortalized in artwork by Beeple . By the end of the year, he had sold off the NFT for over $10 million and exited the leading NFT profile picture project over frustrations about IP and commercialization rights .

As a co-creator of the Nouns NFT project and a proponent of open-source intellectual property, he’s working to change perceptions around what NFTs are and how they should be overseen by communities.

Looking to read epic threads about the potential of NFTs and the metaverse? punk6529 is a deep-pocketed collector and frequent pontificator who reliably shares thoughtful, viral threads about what he sees ahead in the space.

One prominent example about NFTs in the year 2030 begins, “However bullish you are on NFTs, you are wrong. You are insufficiently bullish. 6529 has gone to the mountaintop and there is almost nothing in life that 6529 is as sure of as this.”

as a holder of scads of valuable NFTs from projects like CryptoPunks, Art Blocks, Rare Pepes, Autoglyphs, the Bored Ape Yacht Club

1.6M followers

Like Reddit’s Ohanian, Digg co-founder Kevin Rose is another old-school Web2 stalwart that has gone all-in on Web3. He’s invested in crypto startups both personally and as a partner at True Ventures.

Rose is big on the work of XCOPY and generative art platform Art Blocks and even sold one of his Art Blocks Fidenza NFTs for $2.5 million worth of ETH in August 2021. He has parlayed his NFT and crypto enthusiasm into a pair of popular podcasts— PROOF and Modern Finance —and even launched a PROOF Collective community via NFT access passes.

19.4 million followers

Hip-hop icon Snoop Dogg dived into NFTs with abandon in 2021, outing himself as NFT collector Cozomo de' Medici and building up a glamorous collection of artwork that includes Bored Apes, CryptoPunks and a $3.9 million artwork by XCOPY .

simply amassing a pile of digital art, also advocating for NFTs, mentoring fellow celebrities as they embark on their NFT journeys. He's also walked the walk, launching his own series of Decentral Eyes Dogg NFTs , a Nyan Dogg NFT  with the Nyan Cat meme creator and BeetsDAO, and building his own 'Snoopverse' in The Sandbox.

157.6K followers

Matty, the creator of the @DCLBlogger Twitter account, is an Australia-based NFT guru with a laser-eyed focus on the sector, claiming to be the number one blog to learn about crypto-collectible trading.

Soudagar claims to have made millions of dollars from cryptocurrencies and NFTs, after he “stumbled on” virtual universe Decentraland in 2019, and realized he could profit from reselling NFT items and virtual land. To date, Decentraland has grossed over $140 million in sales of land, avatars, usernames, and wearables.

He’s launched his own series "VeeFriends ,” a series of over 10,000 drawings that come with perks including gift boxes, mentorship sessions, and conference tickets. some of those doodles sold at Christie's for more money than Pollock and Warhol works in the same auction.

He’s also helped to fund NFT platforms Candy Digital and Mythical Games , as well as NFT-driven fantasy soccer game Sorare .

VaynerNFT partnered with the U.S. Open for a series of NFTs. Pride of place in his own collection goes to a CryptoPunk bought for $3.76 million.

he also warns that he expects an "NFT winter" to come soon.