Non-Fungible Tokens, popularly known as NFTs have been the buzzword for some time now. NFTs are increasingly becoming popular and not only individuals but also major companies want a piece of it.
Although the market is highly unexplored, the potential seems to be huge. People have started minting, buying, and selling NFTs at unimaginable amounts. An NFT that you buy today could be sold in millions or maybe not. According to a report by Nonfungible.com, trading in NFTs 21,000% in the year 2021, as compared to 2020. This is also why even celebrities are interested in what’s happening in the world of NFTs.
But the question still persists whether NFTs will remain only a buzzword or are they here for the long run? It is natural for questions like these to come to your mind looking at the current situation of NFT and the crypto market. But if we look at it in a way that we have always been reluctant to accept anything new, there is a good chance that NFTs will lead us into our future. Now, let’s look at what experts have to say about this.
1. Lyubomyr Nykyforuk – Solutions Architect, NFT & Blockchain Expert at Softjourn
NFT and blockchain technologies are idealized by many industries – including ticketing and events – because of their promise to increase transparency and safety.
We have many clients come to us to discuss whether Blockchain and NFTs might be the golden answer to solve their problems, but at Softjourn, our goal is to find a long-term solution, not necessarily a trendy one.
The biggest issues event & ticketing professionals want to use NFT technology to solve are lost revenue from tickets being resold by secondary sites and scalpers, patrons using fake mobile tickets to attend events bought from these sites, and fans lacking access to buying tickets, as they are unethically sold out online in a matter of seconds.
Some of the major flaws of using Blockchain and NFTs we’ve identified are inconsistent transaction costs, a lack of technical support, performance issues on some blockchains, privacy concerns, and a significant impact on the environment.
While this technology can be used to solve many problems, like giving organizers more control over the ticket reselling process, there are actually more effective fraud-fighting solutions.
“While this technology can be used to solve many problems, like giving organizers more control over the ticket reselling process, there are actually more effective fraud-fighting solutions,”
– Lyubomyr Nykyforuk.
Providers and platforms do not need to wait for NFT technology to offer a secure service, because there are already existing solutions that work just as well, or better.. However, we will give credit where credit is due; NFT tech shines most when it comes to creating revenue opportunities for performers.
Will NFTs shape the future? Maybe. But if you are considering implementing blockchain and NFT technologies, it is crucial to keep an open mind and fully understand the problems of your system before deciding whether they are the best technologies to use.
2. Nir Kshetri – Professor at University of North Carolina – Greensboro, USA
NFTs have many benefits for enterprises. On the product offering front, NFTs can help create a one-of-a-kind and exclusive product, a new product for niche markets as well as new ways for distributing and monetizing digital products. Other benefits include enhancing product quality with supply chain visibility, preserving the value of products in the distribution network, addressing product-related deviance such as fraudulent returning, and fighting against the threat of illicit products such as counterfeits. Firms are also using NFTs in their marketing communication strategy. They include communicating with new consumers in the metaverse, the use of NFTs in new forms of marketing such as buzz and experiential marketing, and new tools for CSR communication.
Examples:
- Preserving the value of products in the distribution network
- In July 2020, the blockchain-based diamond exchange platform Icecap launched a bid/ask trading marketplace for diamond investors. Using the Ethereum ERC721 standard, Icecap assigns diamonds NFT tokens. Each ERC721 token is unique and thus is referenced on the blockchain with a unique ID. It is possible to determine the owner of a token with the ID.
- One-of-a-kind and exclusive product and a new product for niche markets
- NFTs are being designed to deliver utilitarian benefits to consumers in a number of ways. The NFT music platform Royal founded by DJ and electronic dance music producer Justin David Blau (better known by his stage name 3LAU) makes it possible for artists to give their fans direct ownership of their songs. The fans can also receive royalties if the songs they own become popular. In October 2021, 3Lau released a collection of 333 unique art pieces as NFTs. The NFTs also represented 50% of ownership in the streaming rights of 3Lau’s song. An NFT of 3Lau’s two-minute song “WAVEFORM” gave its owner 100% of the rights.
3. Theresia Le Battistini – Founder & CEO of Fashion League
NFTs are here to stay because tokenization as a financial instrument isn’t going away. Like anything in finance and investing, hastily throwing the baby out with the bathwater is a fool’s errand. In the 2000s’ dot.com bust investors dumped their internet stocks. Private equity firms fled real estate after the 2008 U.S. housing crisis.
But look at how both of those markets are doing now for the investors who stayed the course. When it comes to NFTs, some drops will always fail—just like tech some tech start-ups do. But in the long run, NFTs as a financial instrument is here to stay no matter what anyone thinks about their popularity or what’s happened recently in the crypto markets. For every story, you read in the media about an NFT launch that’s crashed and burned a dozen others are building community, empowering brands, and making investors money.
“But in the long run, NFTs as a financial instrument is here to stay no matter what anyone thinks about their popularity or what’s happened recently in the crypto markets,”
– Theresia Le Battistini.
4. Dan LeBaron – Communications Director at AXIA
What we’ve seen over the past twelve months was the enormous peaks and valleys of an industry in its very early stages. Projects like Bored Ape Yacht Club were enormously successful and the PFP (profile picture project) concept took off. For a short while, it was euphoria; many new founders minted out easily and made small fortunes and collectors were able to mint virtually anything and flip it for large profits hours, days, or weeks later if they wanted to. But then it all came crashing down. We saw what can happen when an industry is largely fueled by speculation and hype and not real-world utility and fundamental value, combined with the macro effect of a tumbling crypto market generally.
While trading volume and floor prices have now decreased dramatically, by and large, I still do not believe NFTs are a fad, though I believe the industry will need to greatly evolve from what it currently looks like. The underlying technology is sound but there are far greater use cases for NFTs beyond trying to get rich quickly by flipping digital collectibles. I believe we will see NFTs greatly democratize the arts for one; an example of this was rapper Tory Lanez releasing his own album via and selling out a million $1 copies in under a minute last August. NFTs can be used to put the power back in the hands of creators and artists and that’s the most exciting part of the space that I’m looking forward to seeing grow and evolve over time.
5. Mike Schaiman – CEO of Non-Fungible Heroes and BBCo Studios
NFTs have certainly seen a bit of a dip – the initial euphoric participation from new entrants was largely driven by speculative individuals looking primarily at the financial value and the gains they could realize. Eventually, that side of NFTs will fade to become less prominent, and in its place will be individuals interested in joining and participating in specific communities – and those can span from a variety of interests, from travel to media and entertainment to sports, and beyond. NFTs represent a paradigm shift in the consumption of media and connection with like-minded individuals, and the latest dip is a natural shake-out of the gamblers and should result in stronger collector communities overall.
6. Kenny Kline – President and Financial Lead at BarBend
As an expert, I believe that the technology underlying use cases I can identify, and the e-commerce bridge across the RW and VR landscapes gives me comfort that NFTs are a Fad with a Future, but that, as is the case with all types of investable assets, it will continue to be a challenge to identify those “yet undiscovered/under-appreciated” digital artists, creative musicians, and multimedia producers who are truly able to bridge the two worlds and build
As the last point, I would strongly urge all people with creative talents in the digital realm to familiarise themselves with the technologies that facilitate and develop certifiable non-fungibility and to investigate methods for gauging the market’s desire for such talents.
In terms of integrating these two ecosystems together, there is still a vast chasm between the RW and VR, and I do not foresee that those with firm leadership in the Digital world connected to the real world will have an automatic lock on moving this presence into the metaverse and back out. It is my hope that this blog encourages more individuals to follow a path of enlightenment, familiarity, and experimentation. There are a number of very interesting platforms that are becoming available for individuals with a genuine creative bent (not hobbyists) to showcase their talent in a way that protects their IP.
7. Charlie Garcia – Chief Editor at WP Dev Shed
However, other types of assets can also be traded as NFTs besides digital ones. Despite being in their early stages of development, financial wealth represented by NFTs are becoming a more appealing option for investors. Avoiding the physical transfer of the thing and having it stored instead lowers the chance of theft and damage for items that need to have their value maintained, like a valuable book like The Codex of Leicester or a rare Greubel Forsey tourbillion watch. NFTs are a popular way to trade collector things and a successful way to prevent the transfer of fake goods. For instance, baseball cards and other sports items can be traded digitally for sums exceeding $1 million. The advantage of this is that it makes it possible to trace an item back to its original vendor, establishing provenance and preventing fraudulent reproduction. It makes sense why NFTs are considered a craze.
“NFTs are a popular way to trade collector things and a successful way to prevent the transfer of fake goods. For instance, baseball cards and other sports items can be traded digitally for sums exceeding $1 million,”
– Charlie Garcia
They are sometimes overshadowed by the excitement that surrounds them. But it doesn’t mean they won’t be around forever. It’s crucial to remember that, as with every revolutionary technology, there eventually comes a “steady state of productivity” – a phenomenon described in Gartner’s inflated expectations, which denotes a time of declining interest after a time of intense hype. The giants of Amazon have in fact reached this peak in the past. Although these seven-figure NFT acquisitions that make headlines may appear erratic, there is no doubting NFTs’ long-term potential. The non-interchangeability of NFTs, in contrast to other digital assets linked to cryptocurrencies, has entirely changed the norms of ownership. All NFT operations are powered by smart contracts and stored in the blockchain. They may thus store a completely accurate history of transfer of ownership thanks to their technology.
Such tangible proof of possession has the potential to revolutionize some sectors, particularly real estate. Only a third of the world’s population has strong rights under the law to their homes or land, making it difficult for those who do not for them to make house improvements or find financial support. We have only just begun to make headway toward a decentralized economy. NFTs’ potential and full extent have not yet been fully realized. The creation of new markets, the expansion of current markets, and the upgrading of the standards for market discipline and asset authenticity are all certain outcomes of this domain, nevertheless.
While some experts suggest that NFTs are going to revolutionize many industries, many of them also believe that it is still extremely soon to judge what holds for NFTs in the future. Anyway, we need to sit tight and watch the future of NFTs unfold in front of us.
