NFT Trends

7 NFT Trends to Look Out for

NFTs are expected to dominate the innovative crypto market in the coming years. This blog will help you gain insight into the top NFT trends in 2022.

May 16, 2022

NFTs are changing and evolving every single day, and over the last two years, the NFT market has made a massive turnaround. Since then we’ve seen a lot of new applications for the technology springing up all around.

Like Facebook and Instagram, NFTs are revitalizing our lives. Some giant players are also investing in NFTs because they believe they will play a significant role in the metaverse.

The Collins dictionary has also phrased NFT as the “Word of the Year 2021” as NFTs surprised the world with art pieces like Beeple’s “Everydays: The first 5000 days” and “The Merge” selling at incredible prices of $69 million and $91.8 million respectively. NFTs are believed to perk up not just art but also several other industries.

The global NFT transactions market hit $17.6 billion in 2021, which was 21,000% more than that in 2020 when the NFT market was just worth $82.5 million. Moreover, the NFT market is expected to hit 21.33 billion in 2022.
Below is a list of our picks for the top NFT trends to keep an eye on in 2022:

1. NFT Loans

NFT loans are offered by DeFi platforms that allow NFT owners to mortgage their NFT pieces in exchange for new potential investments and emergencies. In 2021, many DeFi (decentralized finance) platforms were developed to improve NFT liquidity by using NFTs as collateral to get loans.

Arcade, for example, is a DeFi platform designed specifically for providing NFT-backed loans. Arcade app allows NFT holders to request loans using one or more of their assets as collateral. When the lender and borrower have agreed to the terms, the collection is locked in an escrow account managed by a smart contract issued by Arcade. Note, that Arcade gets a percentage of every transaction completed on the platform.

Thus, we may say that NFT owners can use their NFT assets as collateral for loans or offer loans to other users.

2. Big Brands Dipping Their Toes Into the NFT World

NFTs have attracted the attention of major brands from many industries because of the fast rate at which they are gaining adoption and recognition. Some food brands like Taco Bell, McDonald’s, and Campbell’s, as well as luxury labels like Louis Vuitton, Nike, and, Gucci, release limited-edition NFT collectibles that serve as a method to raise money for charity, generate new revenue streams, boost social media engagement, and enhance brand loyalty.

Coca-Cola, a beverage manufacturing giant that has a multi-national presence, ventured into NFTs. The brand launched an NFT featuring its iconic logo, and this sold for $575,883 during an online auction.

Nike patented its NFT shoes dubbed CryptoKicks expecting that different show designs could be bred, leading to the creation of new custom sneakers. Nike even stated that these virtual creations could be brought into the real world.

These brands bring something unique to the table by launching NFTs. NFTs are also a way of keeping these brands alive by making them digital-savvy. NFTs also enable these brands to attract a new type of audience.

3. NFTs Take Hollywood

The world of NFTs provides new possibilities for crowdfunding, merchandising, and monetizing TV and film projects. It enables filmmakers to use NFTs to sell authentic digital pieces of content related to their work that, in theory, can generate more revenue than traditional methods — especially for independent filmmakers.

NFTs are considered to be “the next great revenue stream for filmmakers,” and a “revolution” for creatives looking to monetize their content.

The first feature film released as an NFT was Enderby Entertainment’s Zero Contact (starring Anthony Hopkins). The studio launched the film and related merchandise on its own blockchain platform geared to the film industry, Vuele.io.

A handful of NFT versions of the film launched by CurrencyWorks were sold for a total of $90,000. CurrencyWorks says it also receives a royalty every time any of these NFTs are bought or sold.

Some TV shows are created by Time Studios, Time Magazine’s film and TV production company, and are based on NFT characters. NFTs are being used to fund many TV shows and film projects, including Men of the House, whose pilot episode was entirely funded by NFT sales.

4. NFT Gaming

There are hundreds of games built entirely around NFTs. Moreover, NFTs are even being integrated into existing games. Some games, like Axie Infinity and Blankos Block Party are making waves with play-to-earn (P2E) models allowing gamers to get rewards. These games are particularly popular in developing countries because who doesn’t want to make money playing video games?

Axie Infinity may be considered to be one of the most valuable NFT projects and the most popular P2E game inspired by Pokémon. This game is based on buying, breeding, and training Axies to send into battle. The Axies also are NFTs, and through battles players can earn Smooth Love Potion, which is a cryptocurrency and can be sold on a secondary market for real money.

Around $50 billion is spent annually on NFT-based game purchases.

5. Digital art Collectibles

Digital collectibles are unique virtual tokens that can represent anything from art to sports memorabilia. Any artist can broadcast their work or sell it directly to interested buyers through NFTs. Thus they can get the right price for their art and also gain profits from royalty payments in NFTs through smart contracts.

Sometimes people pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for these NFTs or non-fungible tokens. An investor, Sheldon Corey from Montreal, Canada, told CNBC he paid $20,000 for one of the thousands of computer-generated avatars called CryptoPunks.
The billionaire Dallas Mavericks owner, Mark Cuban has auctioned digital goods online and owns some himself.

6. NFTs and the Music Industry

As the TV and film industry is catching the NFT bug, blockchain experts speculate that NFTs may overhaul the music industry. In the existing system, musicians get a fractional amount per stream. Thus non-fungible tokens are beginning to serve as their new financial model because of the low income. Besides, NFT songs and albums provide more creative freedom to musicians.

Kings of Leon was the first music band to dive into the NFT stratosphere. They were the first to release an album entirely as an NFT.

Daniel Allan, a well-known artist, sold the copies of his various songs as NFTs and earned thousands of dollars. The artist mostly uses a video streaming medium, “Glass,” to present his work, where each video is an NFT. The creator and owner of this video has to decide how he could earn money from his content without any middleman.

7. Profile Picture NFTs

Non-fungible tokens are gaining popularity in social groups. Many people use NFT profile pictures to express themselves online. NFT profile pictures are digital works of art, and each item represents a character’s face and has a distinct set of characteristics that lend it collectability. You would have recently observed some variations of animals like a giraffe or a monkey in the profile pictures on Twitter and Instagram; these are NFTs.

In January 2022 “Twitter” allowed users to interchange their profile images as NFTs. The company is by far allowing just iOS users with a Twitter Blue subscription to set NFTs as their profile image. However, it claims that this support will later be provided to Android and web users because Twitter is determined to embrace NFTs fully.

Wrap up!

The future of non-fungible tokens is overflowing due to technological advancements. NFT tendencies are accelerating and becoming more and more popular. However, different people have different opinions regarding the NFTs’ potential, but one thing is sure these digital assets will continue positively impacting the crypto space in 2022.

NFT trends and their wide-range applications imply a dynamic future full of opportunities, and hopefully, we are prone to see numerous other uses of NFTs in years to come. So, anticipate more of the above-discussed NFT trends to take off and capitalize on your business opportunities.