A whopping 31 million collectibles have been sold for $22.96 billion in the last 1 year. The tremendous growth of the creator economy has resulted in lots of monetization opportunities for artists across the world. Moreover, Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are the rage in industries like art, entertainment, fashion, gaming, music, real estate, sports, etc. Undoubtedly, the frenzy is yet to stop. The first NFT named Quantum was developed by Kevin McCoy in May 2014. It was a pixelated octagon with various shapes. Importantly, the animated NFT eventually fetched $1.4 million in a Sotheby’s auction held in November 2021. Are you an entrepreneur with a deep interest in the metaverse? It is time for custom NFT development.
Decoding the meaning of an NFTs
It is a unique kind of crypto collectible created by artists and sold on blockchain-based marketplaces. Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) can represent paintings, gaming weapons, photos, videos, memes, fashion accessories, songs, properties, sports goods, trading cards etc.
NFTs are indivisible, non-interchangeable, scarce, as well as interoperable. Currently, Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain (BSC), Polkadot, Flow, Tezos, Solana, WAX, and Waves are the popular blockchain networks where NFTs of artists, brands, celebrities, and influencers are getting launched. Hence, it is an apt time to create an NFT development platform.
Understanding why NFTs are popular now
For a long time, big tech companies and social media platforms had control over the data of users. Netizens could not monetize their GIFs, emojis, photos, videos, memes, posts, and stories. However, Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are a game-changer. Artists get ample liberty to price their digital collectibles, organize an auction, and sell them on marketplaces of their choices.
Currently, the famous NFT trading platforms are OpenSea, Rarible, Axie Infinity, Foundation, Decentraland, NBA Top Shot, SuperRare, The Sandbox etc. The numbers reflect the huge adoption of crypto collectibles across the world. As per NonFungible, a data tracking portal, investors bought around 717,117 collectibles for a mind-boggling $1.5 billion in the last 1 month. Interestingly, the secondary sales (492.890) was more than twice the primary sales of (224,227).
NFTs are also being used for conducting crowdfunding campaigns and supporting skilled artists. Moreover, Next-Gen technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) will represent the future of the creator economy.
Analyzing if NFTs are a viable investment?
- Buyers need to possess cryptocurrency like Ethereum (ETH), Binance Coin (BNB), Solana (SOL) etc.
- They need to link their software wallets like Authereum, Coinbase Wallet, MetaMask, MyEtherWallet (MEW), Trust Wallet, Portis, Fortmatic, Torus etc.
- Subsequently, investors will receive real-time updates when artists offer their NFTs for sale. They should take part in the auction and place their bids within a specific deadline.
- Artists will review all the offers submitted by buyers. They will choose the best one based on their requirements and business goals.
- Are all NFTs authentic? Investors can verify the originality of crypto collectibles by checking their token ID, the token standard, and the contract address on blockchain explorers. Importantly, they can later decide to invest or not.
Predicting the future of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)
Play-To-Earn (P2E)
Gone are the days when gamers utilized to battle it out against players on Xbox and PlayStation. Today, the phenomenon of Play-to-Earn (P2E) gaming is gaining more traction. Moreover, project creators are also raising funds for their Player-vs-Player (PVP) and Player-vs-Environment (PVE) games.
Besides that, the success of Axie Infinity, Gods Unchained, Zed Run, and Splinterlands indicate that the NFT gaming industry is reaching new heights. Moreover, players are earning rewards in digital currencies after winning various competitions and challenges.
Cross-chain compatibility
Both artists and collectors prefer interoperability these days. It offers advantages like seamless transfer of assets from one blockchain to another, low gas fees, and a better user experience.
For instance, Rarible is a multi-chain NFT marketplace. It operates across 3 blockchains, Ethereum, Flow, and Tezos. Hence, the benefits include co-creation of NFTs, hassle-free sharing of order books, and lazy minting.
Importantly, real-time information is available about metadata, the number of orders placed by collectors, and rankings of popular artists who sold the largest number of crypto collectibles. This ensures transparency.
Launchpads for promoting promising projects
The spectacular growth of Web 3.0 projects has promoted creativity, as well as innovative business ideas. Hence, business visionaries can conduct crowdfunding campaigns and raise funds easily from retail and institutional investors. They can choose options like Initial Decentralized Exchange Offerings (IDOs), Initial Exchange Offerings (IEOs), Initial Game Offerings (IGOs), and Initial NFT Offerings (INOs).
Generally, project creators need to disclose information like email address, name of the incorporated enterprise, short-term and long-term roadmap, the economic model of the tokens, and sales plan. For instance, if they are planning to launch a game, project developers should opt for either Fixed Price sales or Mystery Box for selling off the crypto collectibles to players.
Changes in laws
As more artists sell their unique crypto collectibles, various nations will change laws. Hence, creators, as well as NFT collectors need to comply with rules and regulations related to Copyright Infringement, Intellectual Property, and Royalty.
Besides that, artists and investors will have to follow guidelines related to Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT), Know Your Customer (KYC), and Anti-Money Laundering (KYC).
The emergence of sidechains
Polygon has become the fastest-growing sidechain in the world and is leading the Web 3.0 revolution. With additional funding of $450 million, the Ethereum scaling platform offers a host of advantages. It comprises low transaction fees, compatibility with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), scalability, and multi-layer security measures.
As of today, Polygon operates on the Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. Hence, investors can access a variety of wallets, stake their crypto holdings, and also transfer their assets via cross-bridging. Around 7000 Decentralized Apps (DApps) have been deployed on Polygon. Users have processed 3.4 million transactions and also saved a whopping $140 million in gas fees.
Polygon has also integrated with NFT marketplaces like OpenSea, Aavegotchi, Playdapp, OneOf, and Phigital. The various benefits include greater throughput, transparency, and governance tokens for influencing different proposals. You can avail of NFT development solutions to attract creators and investors in big numbers.
Wrapping Up
The world of decentralization is here. Want to be the pioneer in it? Partner with a white-label solution provider for custom NFT development.