Bitcoin visionary Hal Finney ‘predicted’ booming NFT market — in 1993

From $650,000 Hashmasks to Simpsons parodies worth millions, NFTs are huge in 2021 — but Hal Finney described the scene nearly 30 years ago.

In a 1993 message posted to CompuServe’s bulletin board, Bitcoin father figure Finney outlined the concept of online cryptographic art — trading cards to be exact — to sell the idea of digital cash.

Despite the sarcastic tone, Finney touched on a number of now-familiar crypto-art elements, including digital signatures, rarity, and the ‘back and forth’ nature of NFT trading.

The NFT market has exploded in recent months, and it’s predicted to get even bigger over the next year.

• In January, $12 million worth of new Ethereum-based art hit the market.
• There’s now an estimated $80 million worth of crypto-art deployed on Ethereum.
• To date, over 60,000 pieces have been sold via about 50 different marketplaces.

[Read more: SEC likely finds MetaKovan’s Beeple-backed crypto very ‘interesting’ — here’s why]

Finney probably wasn’t expecting those stats when he penned his throwaway message back in ’93.

But the Bitcoin legend predicted a multi-million dollar crypto industry three decades in advance — with a joke.