NFT creator statistics at a glance
NFT creator activity is easiest to understand when you separate collection creation, trading activity, and royalty earnings. The dataset shows all three moving on different timelines, which makes the creator economy look less like a single market and more like a stack of overlapping cycles.
Big number: NFTGo measured 6.42 million NFT holders by year-end 2023 (NFTGo Annual Report 2024), while active traders fell 47.51% in 2023 versus 2022 (NFTGo Annual Report 2024). That gap matters: ownership kept broadening even as trading participation cooled.
Fast facts
- NFTGo reported 4,856 total collections by the end of 2022 after starting with 1,239 high-quality NFT collections on January 1, 2022 (NFTGo Annual Report 2024).
- Collections under 100Ξ numbered 5,662 projects and represented almost 90% of all NFT collections (NFTGo Annual Report 2024).
- Only 43 collections were above 10KΞ market value, equal to 0.7% of the total (NFTGo Annual Report 2024).
- The average daily buyer-to-seller ratio in 2023 was 0.85 (NFTGo Annual Report 2024).
- BAYC accounted for 10.45% of total NFT trading volume in 2023 (NFTGo Annual Report 2024).
- Yuga Labs earned $178.8 million in royalties from April 23, 2021 to July 12, 2023 (CoinGecko Most Profitable NFT Projects by Royalty Earnings on Ethereum).
Table of contents
- NFT creator statistics overview
- Collection growth and market structure
- Trading activity and buyer-seller balance
- Royalty earnings by creator and project
- Marketplace concentration and collection dominance
- What the numbers say about the creator economy
NFT creator statistics overview
The strongest pattern in the data is that creator success in NFTs is not defined by one metric. Some collections win by volume, some by royalties, some by holding power, and some by simple persistence across multiple market cycles.
A useful way to read the numbers is to split them into four layers:
- Supply layer: how many collections exist and how quickly new ones appear.
- Participation layer: how many buyers, sellers, traders, and holders are active.
- Value layer: how much trading volume and royalty income flows through the market.
- Concentration layer: how much of that value is captured by a few leading collections.
Why it matters: the dataset shows that creator earnings can remain enormous even when trading gets weaker, because royalty income, marketplace share, and collection brand strength do not move in perfect sync (NFTGo Annual Report 2024; CoinGecko Most Profitable NFT Projects by Royalty Earnings on Ethereum).
Collection growth and market structure
NFTGo’s annual reporting shows how quickly the collection universe expanded. On January 1, 2022, NFTGo reported 1,239 high-quality NFT collections. By the end of 2022, that figure had reached 4,856 total collections, a net increase of 3,617 collections in the year (NFTGo Annual Report 2024).
That growth did not arrive evenly. March 2023 produced 1,215 new project releases, and that was 329% higher than February 2023 (NFTGo Annual Report 2024). In other words, creator output could still accelerate sharply even in a market that was no longer behaving like the peak-era NFT boom.
At a glance: collection distribution
| Segment | Count | Share or note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collections under 100Ξ | 5,662 | Almost 90% of all NFT collections | NFTGo Annual Report 2024 |
| Mid-tier 100Ξ to 10KΞ | 1,070 | Middle of the market | NFTGo Annual Report 2024 |
| Above 10KΞ | 43 | 0.7% of total | NFTGo Annual Report 2024 |
The distribution is highly skewed. Most collections sit below 100Ξ, a smaller middle tier fills out the ecosystem, and only a tiny handful reach very large market value. That structure is important for creators because it suggests that the market rewards a few standout brands disproportionately while the vast majority remain small by comparison (NFTGo Annual Report 2024).
Key takeaway box
The long tail is huge, but the top tier is tiny.
- Almost 90% of collections are under 100Ξ (NFTGo Annual Report 2024).
- Only 0.7% of collections exceed 10KΞ (NFTGo Annual Report 2024).
- The market therefore has volume in breadth, but value in a small elite segment.
That mix helps explain why NFT creator statistics often look contradictory. One report can show enormous total market activity while another shows most collections struggling to move far above niche status. Both can be true at the same time.
Trading activity and buyer-seller balance
NFTGo’s holder and trader data show a market that broadened in ownership while cooling in active trading. NFT holders rose 132.44% in 2023, and NFTGo measured 6.42 million holders by year-end 2023 (NFTGo Annual Report 2024). At the same time, active traders fell 47.51% in 2023 versus 2022 (NFTGo Annual Report 2024).
That split matters for creators. It suggests that NFTs were still being held at scale even as the number of people actively flipping or trading them fell. A larger owner base can be a positive signal for creator reach, but lower trading activity often means less frictionless demand in the secondary market.
Buyer-to-seller ratios through 2023
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Daily buyer-to-seller ratio range | 0.52 to 1.02 | NFTGo Annual Report 2024 |
| Average daily ratio | 0.85 | NFTGo Annual Report 2024 |
| Lowest monthly average | 0.66 in April | NFTGo Annual Report 2024 |
| May monthly average | 0.80 | NFTGo Annual Report 2024 |
| Highest monthly average | 0.92 in September | NFTGo Annual Report 2024 |
| Days above 0.95 | 11 days | NFTGo Annual Report 2024 |
| Maximum daily ratio | 1.02 on June 29, 2023 | NFTGo Annual Report 2024 |
The ratio stayed below parity most of the time, which means sellers generally outnumbered buyers. That is consistent with a market where distribution remains broad, but bid-side demand is not strong enough to absorb all supply at previous peaks.
What the ratio suggests
- When the ratio sits below 1.0, the market leans seller-heavy.
- The 0.85 average daily ratio indicates persistent, but not dominant, buyer support (NFTGo Annual Report 2024).
- The narrow spread between 0.52 and 1.02 suggests the market was active enough to avoid complete stagnation, but not strong enough to create sustained buyer dominance (NFTGo Annual Report 2024).
A more subtle clue is the monthly pattern. April was weakest at 0.66, September was strongest at 0.92, and May was in the middle at 0.80 (NFTGo Annual Report 2024). Those are not explosive swings, but they do show the market changing tone over the year.
Royalty earnings by creator and project
Royalty data is where the creator economy side of NFTs becomes clearest. The dataset shows meaningful revenue concentration among a few major studios and collections, especially around Yuga Labs, RTFKT, and Chiru Labs.
CoinGecko’s figures show Yuga Labs earned $178.8 million in royalties from April 23, 2021 to July 12, 2023, which was 2.13 times more royalties than RTFKT over that period (CoinGecko Most Profitable NFT Projects by Royalty Earnings on Ethereum). RTFKT earned $83.7 million, BAYC earned $59.1 million, Otherdeed earned $53.3 million, and MAYC earned $43.7 million (CoinGecko Most Profitable NFT Projects by Royalty Earnings on Ethereum).
Royalty leaders
| Project or creator | Royalty amount | Note | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yuga Labs | $178.8 million | 2.13x RTFKT | CoinGecko Most Profitable NFT Projects by Royalty Earnings on Ethereum |
| RTFKT | $83.7 million | Second in the dataset | CoinGecko Most Profitable NFT Projects by Royalty Earnings on Ethereum |
| Chiru Labs | $59.2 million | Strong third-party creator group | CoinGecko Most Profitable NFT Projects by Royalty Earnings on Ethereum |
| BAYC | $59.1 million | Major Yuga collection | CoinGecko Most Profitable NFT Projects by Royalty Earnings on Ethereum |
| Otherdeed | $53.3 million | Large launch-driven earnings | CoinGecko Most Profitable NFT Projects by Royalty Earnings on Ethereum |
| MAYC | $43.7 million | Key Yuga collection | CoinGecko Most Profitable NFT Projects by Royalty Earnings on Ethereum |
These figures show that creator income is heavily concentrated in a few names, but not limited to a single project. Yuga Labs dominates overall, while specific collections inside or around the broader Yuga ecosystem generate major fractions of that value.
Royalty concentration inside the top groups
- The top three Yuga Labs collections accounted for 87.3% of Yuga Labs’ royalty earnings (CoinGecko Most Profitable NFT Projects by Royalty Earnings on Ethereum).
- RTFKT released over 20 collections, yet its top three collections accounted for 81.5% of its royalty earnings (CoinGecko Most Profitable NFT Projects by Royalty Earnings on Ethereum).
- Azuki represented 75.5% of Chiru Labs’ total royalty earnings (CoinGecko Most Profitable NFT Projects by Royalty Earnings on Ethereum).
This is one of the clearest creator statistics themes in the dataset: diversified collection counts do not automatically mean diversified revenue. In practice, a few standout assets often generate most of the money.
Year-by-year royalty structure
2022 was the strongest royalty year in the dataset, with $330.8 million in Ethereum NFT royalties and 69.6% of all royalties from March 2021 to July 2023 (CoinGecko Most Profitable NFT Projects by Royalty Earnings on Ethereum). That means the market’s royalty engine was far more powerful in 2022 than in the periods before or after it.
| Period | Royalty total | Share of measured total | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 March to December | $110.4 million | 23.2% | CoinGecko Most Profitable NFT Projects by Royalty Earnings on Ethereum |
| 2022 | $330.8 million | 69.6% | CoinGecko Most Profitable NFT Projects by Royalty Earnings on Ethereum |
| January to July 2023 | $34.0 million | 7.2% | CoinGecko Most Profitable NFT Projects by Royalty Earnings on Ethereum |
The shape of those numbers is hard to ignore. Royalty earnings surged, peaked, and then fell sharply into 2023. January to July 2023 totaled only $34.0 million, which is far below the 2022 peak (CoinGecko Most Profitable NFT Projects by Royalty Earnings on Ethereum).
Large launch spikes matter
Some collections generated extremely concentrated earnings in short windows. Otherdeed generated $43.3 million in royalties in May 2022, and that represented 48.3% of the top-10 royalty total in that month (CoinGecko Most Profitable NFT Projects by Royalty Earnings on Ethereum). Moonbirds generated $21.2 million in April 2022, representing 24.7% of the top-10 royalty total (CoinGecko Most Profitable NFT Projects by Royalty Earnings on Ethereum). Azuki generated $10.9 million in January 2022, which represented 24.4% of the project’s January earnings (CoinGecko Most Profitable NFT Projects by Royalty Earnings on Ethereum).
These figures show that one launch month could dominate an entire year’s creator revenue profile. That is a very different pattern from stable subscription-like income. NFT creator economics can be extremely front-loaded.
Marketplace concentration and collection dominance
NFT marketplaces also reveal creator concentration through trading volume and sales count. NFTGo reported that in 2022, OpenSea handled 7.74 million ETH in NFT trading volume (NFTGo Annual Report 2024). In 2023, Blur reached 4.33 million ETH in total volume, while OpenSea recorded 1.7 million ETH (NFTGo Annual Report 2024).
Marketplace comparison
| Marketplace | Volume | Sales count | Active-trader snapshot | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenSea | 1.7 million ETH in 2023 | 7.9 million sales | 642K buyers, 719K sellers | NFTGo Annual Report 2024 |
| Blur | 4.33 million ETH in 2023 | 4.1 million sales | 187K buyers, 210K sellers | NFTGo Annual Report 2024 |
OpenSea led sales count with 7.9 million sales, while Blur logged 4.1 million sales (NFTGo Annual Report 2024). OpenSea also had a much larger active-trader snapshot, with 642K buyers and 719K sellers, compared with Blur’s 187K buyers and 210K sellers (NFTGo Annual Report 2024).
That combination suggests different marketplace roles. One platform can capture more transactions, another can capture more volume per trade, and creator economics may vary depending on where a project is strongest.
What the numbers say about the creator economy
The dataset points to a few durable truths about NFT creator statistics.
1. Growth in collections does not mean equal growth in value
NFTGo’s collection counts expanded quickly, but the value distribution remained extremely top-heavy. Most collections stayed below 100Ξ, while only 43 collections crossed 10KΞ market value (NFTGo Annual Report 2024). That is the classic long-tail shape, except the tail is not just long; it is also very flat.
2. Ownership can rise even when trading cools
Holders rose to 6.42 million by year-end 2023, but active traders fell 47.51% versus 2022 (NFTGo Annual Report 2024). More people can own NFTs even if fewer people are actively trading them. For creators, that means audience size and market liquidity are related but not identical.
3. Royalties are concentrated in very few collections
Yuga Labs, RTFKT, Chiru Labs, BAYC, Otherdeed, and MAYC dominate the royalty leaderboard (CoinGecko Most Profitable NFT Projects by Royalty Earnings on Ethereum). Within those groups, the top three collections often account for the overwhelming majority of earnings.
4. Launch windows matter more than steady-state averages
Collections like Otherdeed and Moonbirds produced massive royalty spikes in specific months (CoinGecko Most Profitable NFT Projects by Royalty Earnings on Ethereum). That means creator timing, launch momentum, and initial demand can matter as much as long-term hold behavior.
5. Marketplace behavior changes the distribution of creator revenue
OpenSea and Blur show different trading profiles in 2023, with OpenSea dominating sales count and Blur leading on ETH volume (NFTGo Annual Report 2024). Creators often feel those differences through secondary-market royalties and collector attention.
Quick reference list
- 6.42 million NFT holders by year-end 2023 (NFTGo Annual Report 2024)
- 47.51% drop in active traders in 2023 versus 2022 (NFTGo Annual Report 2024)
- $330.8 million in 2022 Ethereum NFT royalties (CoinGecko Most Profitable NFT Projects by Royalty Earnings on Ethereum)
- $178.8 million earned by Yuga Labs from April 2021 to July 2023 (CoinGecko Most Profitable NFT Projects by Royalty Earnings on Ethereum)
- 10.45% of 2023 trading volume from BAYC (NFTGo Annual Report 2024)
- 0.7% of collections above 10KΞ market value (NFTGo Annual Report 2024)
If you read NFT creator statistics as a single market story, the numbers look messy. If you read them as a layered system of supply, participation, royalties, and concentration, the pattern becomes clearer: a broad base of collections, a large but cooling ownership base, and a very small number of creator brands capturing most of the money.