Posted May 02, 2022
NFT-THING OF THE PAST OR NEW INVESTMENT CHANCE
There is no doubt that the year 2021 has remained engraved in golden letters in the history of the crypto world.
In addition to the previous “Bull run” where in November we got a new “All time high” of Bitcoin (68,790 USD), this 2021 will be remembered for something else too.
And that is the expansion of NFTs and the influence of a new kind of virtual value on the crypto market.
Everyone remembers well the frenzy surrounding the BAYC (Bored Ape Yachting Club) collection.
Value of one NFT at one time exceeded 500,000 USD.
A large number of famous singers, athletes, and actors, for instance, kept a picture of the NFT from this collection, which was owned by them, on their social network profiles.
Consequently,BAYC very quickly became a status symbol.
Moreover,immediately after that there was an expansion of the NFT market where each new collection tried to overtake the popular “monkeys”.
Now, three years later, the situation is drastically different.
The NFT market is experiencing a severe “Bear market”.
Unlike the crypto world, many cannot reliably claim whether there is a comeback for this branch of the crypto industry.
Based on the facts and our research, we have created a text about our predictions.
What’s next in the NFT market, as well as whether it’s worth investing in NFT tokens, and in which projects?
WHAT IS AN NFT?
NFT (Non-Fungible Token) is a type of digital token based on blockchain technology.
What separates it from cryptocurrencies is its uniqueness and indivisibility.
This means that each NFT has its own unique identity that makes it different from other tokens.
NFTs have their own unique value and characteristics and are not interchangeable in terms of their value.
Often they are used to represent digital artwork, music, video games, or other digital resources.
Their uniqueness enables transparency, immutability and security regarding the ownership of these digital assets through the blockchain.
They have grown in popularity as they allow artists, creators, and digital content owners to monetize their works in an innovative way.
NON FUNGIBLE MARKET 2021 VS 2023
Trade volume of as much as 24.7 billion dollars NFT market reached in 2021.
Following year, that volume grew to 26.3 billion.
However, already in 2023, the trading volume of NFTs has drastically decreased by more than 50%.
By the end of the previous year, the value of total trade was slightly more than 11.8 billion.
We can see it is a huge drop.
This negative trend was gradually taking place.
Back in 2022, CoinGecko’s Crypto Industry Report showed that digital art volumes were declining quarter-on-quarter.
And they dropped over $10 billion from the first to the fourth quarter.
FAMOUS BRANDS IN THE NFT WORLD
On 2021 and 2022 we could see an increasing number of NFT collections, as well as the interference of companies from the real world.
Companies like Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, Adidas, Lacoste are just some of the firms that made their NFTs wanting to enter this market.
Previous year 2023 had led to a total lull.
With the decline in the market volume, the desire of new users to enter this market has also fallen.
Many already existing collections have put themselves in a “Stand by” position waiting for a better moment to work on their project given the current lack of “Hype” around NFT.
Type of business like this created dissatisfaction among many owners of NFTs.
Especially if the items from the pre-created “Road Map” were not followed.
Dolce & Gabbana is Good Example of this
For example, Dolce & Gabanna, along with several different benefits, guaranteed its holders different types of gifts.
These gifts were in the form of “IRL” products of this brand (t-shirts, sweatshirts, sneakers) at least once a year.
First year they kept their word.
Later they realized the complications that come with connecting real-world companies and the “web3” industry.
Users of NFT had to pay huge amounts of tax at the time of delivery for many products.
Despite the fact that DG refunded that amount to all holders, they did not dare to do this type of giveaway again.
Many owners of their NFTs saw this as a form of fraud, as this was one of the main reasons they bought their token.
Over time, NFT has turned into a “copy-paste” market where everything boils down to the current “Hype“.
Unreasonable promises are about various potential games as well as “staking” of NFTs that bring virtual tokens with no real use value.
Others Follow this Road
Certain collections that have been on the market since the very beginning have understood the point of differentiation in relation to the competition.
Also they understood importance of adapting to the current changed situation.
These very collections show that even in times of complete stagnation of NFTs, it is possible to progress and generate profit for its holders.
Indicated are the ones that can be consider for purchase in such difficult times for the NFT market.
Here are examples of some of the projects that have rightly been on our radar.
PUDGY PENGUINS
Collection of 8,888 NFT penguins on the Ethereum blockchain represents Pudgy Penguins.
A group of students founded the company in July 2021 and sold it for a total of $2.5 million in April 2022.
By far, this collection has generated a volume of 282,000 ETH.
Important point is that the creators of this collection had 5% “creator’s earnings” from this amount.
Thanks to this adorable intellectual property, as well as cute content and products, Pudgy Penguins has built a strong community and achieved widespread popularity.
Additionally, “Penguins” were the first to go a step further, appearing in the real world.
More precisely, plush toys of these cute penguins can be bought in many markets across America (planned also in Europe), making them the first NFT project to do so.
Since then, “Pudgy Penguins” is constantly working on improving its brand, and candy, clothes, and the like are also expected.
Though it is not yet official, the assumptions are that all holders of this NFT will have passive income from all IRL “In Real Life” sales.
Literally it could be understood as if you own shares of this company.
Price to the Top
Best indication of how good this move has been is the fact that the NFT price of this collection has enormous price jumpe.
From 3 ETH ($6,900) to a whopping 16.75 ETH ($38,000) since September 2023.
There is no doubt that if they continue at this pace, they have a huge chance of overtaking many other famous collections.
They can overtake and the most successful collection of all time, Bored Ape Yacht Club, whose value is in constant decline.
However, the price of Pudgy Penguins is extremely high at the moment.
We believe that few people can set aside so much money at this moment.
Especially at the time of the difficult bear market for NFT where there are no guarantees that investment will be returned.
JACK BUTCHER
Although the title of the collection should be in the subtitle, we could not decide which of the projects of this creator is more successful.
Especially considering that Jack turns to gold everything he touches.
It is safe to say that Jack Butcher is the person who has prevented the NFT market from falling down for quite some time.
At the beginning of January 2023, a huge saturation of the market was already felt.
Every subsequent project that came out was failing very quickly.
Nevertheless, a free collection appeared under the name “Checks” by Jack Butcher.
He was already a well-known creator in the web3 world with a specific way of thinking and creating.
Huge Success of Jack’s collection
Within a few weeks, the NFTs of this collection went from zero to a whopping 2.8 ETH.
Everyone wanted to follow the new trend imposed by Jack, the so-called “Open edition”.
Difference compared to the classic collections that were published until then was that there is no maximum number of NFTs.
So the mint is carried out for a certain period of time and that at the end of that time we find out what the size of the collection will be.
It was the same with Jack’s other project “Opepen”.
“Opepen” is a collection of 16,000 NFTs.
In the coming period, Jack Butcher will make visuals for series of 80 pieces each (200 sets in total).
Holders “apply” themselves if they want to participate in the lottery so that their undiscovered Openpen gets look just like as they want.
What’s even more interesting about it are Jack’s collaborations with other projects.
So the Openpe set in which Butcher collaborated with “Pudgy Penguins” has a value per token of 5.9 ETH.
For this reason, entering with some investment into this project can be a good idea.
Knowing that with every announcement of a new set, the price rises.
If you are lucky enough to be among the 80 drawn holders, you can earn huge amount of money.
AT THE END
The NFT market is currently in the state in which the crypto market was in January 2023, i.e. at the peak of the “Bear” market.
Unlike crypto, many investors fear whether NFTs were a “one time miracle” or whether they will have their own bull and bear market cycles like crypto.
Certain experts believe that a new pump of the NFT market can be expected after the peak that is happening in the crypto market.
Considering that before the beginning of the next Bear, many will want to “transfer” their money to some new investment opportunity.