Glossary
CryptoKitties
The 2017 Ethereum game by Dapper Labs that popularized NFTs — collectible breedable cats that congested the Ethereum network at peak demand.
CryptoKitties launched on Ethereum in November 2017 from Dapper Labs (now behind Flow). Each cat was an ERC-721 NFT with unique "cattributes" derived from its parents' DNA — players bought, sold, and bred cats, with rare combinations selling for tens or hundreds of ETH.
The game's peak in December 2017 produced enough transaction volume to single-handedly congest Ethereum — pending transactions backed up for hours and gas prices spiked dramatically. CryptoKitties is the foundational reference point for both NFTs as a category and for the scalability case for Layer-2s.