The Artist’s Journey
The second week of September 2018 marked a pivotal moment for the nascent world of crypto collectibles and digital art on the blockchain. While the broader cryptocurrency market continued to reel from the September 5 crash that wiped out tens of billions in value, a small but dedicated community of digital artists, game developers, and blockchain enthusiasts was quietly building the infrastructure for what would eventually become a multi-billion dollar NFT ecosystem.
CryptoKitties, the Ethereum-based digital cat breeding game that had famously clogged the Ethereum network in December 2017, remained the poster child for non-fungible tokens. By September 2018, the game had processed over 3.2 million transactions and generated more than $40 million in sales since its launch. However, daily active users had plummeted from a peak of over 14,000 in December 2017 to fewer than 500 — a stark reminder that novelty alone could not sustain a digital economy.
Yet amid the declining metrics, something more substantive was taking root. Artists and developers were beginning to understand that blockchain technology offered more than just a platform for collectible cats — it provided a fundamentally new way to establish ownership, provenance, and scarcity in the digital realm.
Collection Mechanics
The technical architecture underpinning crypto collectibles had evolved considerably since CryptoKitties’ initial deployment. The ERC-721 standard, which had been formally proposed in January 2018 and was working its way toward final approval as an Ethereum Improvement Proposal, was rapidly becoming the de facto framework for creating non-fungible tokens. Unlike ERC-20 tokens, which are interchangeable and identical, ERC-721 tokens each carry unique metadata and properties — making them ideal for representing one-of-a-kind digital assets.
Several new collections had launched or were in development by mid-September 2018. Decentraland, a virtual reality platform powered by the Ethereum blockchain, was preparing for its first land auction, where users could purchase parcels of virtual real estate as NFTs. Gods Unchained, a blockchain-based trading card game, was assembling its collection of unique, tradeable cards that players would truly own — unlike traditional digital card games where the publisher retained control of all assets.
The mechanics of these collections reflected a growing sophistication in how NFT creators approached scarcity and value. Early projects had relied almost entirely on artificial scarcity — creating limited numbers of tokens and hoping demand would follow. Newer projects were incorporating utility, gameplay mechanics, and community governance into their token designs, creating more sustainable value propositions.
Utility and Perks
One of the most significant developments in the crypto collectibles space during September 2018 was the growing recognition that NFTs needed to offer more than mere collectibility. Projects were increasingly tying real-world utility to their tokens, blurring the line between digital collectibles and functional blockchain assets.
Decentraland’s LAND tokens, for instance, weren’t just collectible items — they represented actual territory in a virtual world where owners could build experiences, host events, and monetize their creations. The platform had raised over $24 million in its 2017 ICO and was positioning itself as a decentralized alternative to virtual worlds like Second Life. Each parcel of LAND was a 10-meter by 10-meter square in the Genesis City, a fixed area of 90,601 parcels that would never expand.
Opera, the web browser company, made headlines during this period by announcing native Ethereum support in its mobile browser — a move that promised to dramatically lower the barrier to entry for users wanting to interact with dApps and crypto collectibles. For the NFT space, this meant that discovering, buying, and trading digital collectibles could soon be as simple as browsing a website, without the need for browser extensions or specialized wallets.
Secondary Market Action
Trading volume in the crypto collectibles market had declined significantly from its December 2017 peak, reflecting both the broader bear market and the natural cooling of the initial CryptoKitties hype. However, several trends in the secondary market suggested that a more mature trading ecosystem was emerging.
OpenSea, which had launched in late 2017 as a marketplace for crypto collectibles, was gaining traction as the go-to platform for NFT trading. The marketplace supported multiple standards and collections, providing liquidity that individual project-specific marketplaces couldn’t match. By September 2018, OpenSea had facilitated thousands of trades across dozens of collections, establishing price discovery mechanisms that didn’t exist during the initial CryptoKitties frenzy.
The average sale price of CryptoKitties had fallen dramatically — from peaks of over $100,000 for rare “fancy cats” to more modest sums in the $10-50 range. But this price correction was actually healthy for the ecosystem, as it drove out speculators and attracted genuine collectors and enthusiasts who valued the digital cats for their aesthetic and breeding properties rather than as quick-flip investments.
Bitcoin traded at approximately $6,517 on September 15, 2018, while Ethereum sat at $220.59. The low ETH price made gas costs for minting and trading NFTs relatively affordable, which paradoxically encouraged experimentation and new project launches during the bear market.
Final Verdict
The crypto collectibles space in September 2018 occupied a curious position — caught between the hype-driven mania of late 2017 and the utility-driven ecosystem that would emerge in 2020 and beyond. The bear market had been brutal to NFT prices, but it had also forced creators and developers to focus on substance over spectacle.
The technological foundations being laid during this period were genuinely innovative. The ERC-721 standard was creating a shared language for non-fungible tokens. Marketplaces like OpenSea were building the infrastructure for liquid secondary markets. Gaming projects like Gods Unchained and virtual worlds like Decentraland were demonstrating that NFTs could serve as more than just collectible baubles — they could represent ownership of in-game assets, virtual real estate, and digital identities.
For observers watching the space in September 2018, the trajectory was clear even if the timeline was uncertain. Digital collectibles and NFTs were not a fad — they were the early expression of a fundamental shift in how humans create, own, and trade digital assets. The bear market was simply the crucible in which the strongest projects would be forged. Those paying attention during these quiet months would be well-positioned when the broader world finally caught on to the revolution happening on the Ethereum blockchain.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. NFT investments carry significant risk, including the potential for total loss. Always conduct your own research before making investment decisions.
CryptoKitties at 3.2M txs and Ethereum barely survived. imagine if anyone tried to do anything useful back then
DAUs dropping from 14k to 500 is the most NFT metric ever. hype, crash, rebuild. every cycle same pattern
the artists building in sep 2018 while everyone else was panicking are the ones who made it. bear markets breed real products