Top 10 Inspiring NFT Trends

From finance, art, gaming and investing, NFTs are here and have managed to disrupt a wide range of industries. Until recently, NFTs were only buzzwords used by cryptocurrency experts. 

While we are certainly used to our digital world being disrupted by new technologies, 2021 was the year NFTs became mainstream by demonstrating endless potential for online businesses. 

With tech giants like Twitter, Meta and Reddit all working on NFT projects, as well as NFT startups popping up globally, it’s safe to assume that this technology will become permanent.  

In 2021, according to data from DappRadar, a market tracker platform, the total sales for NFTs had reached a staggering $25 billion. Really, what does the future hold for the world of NFTs?

In this article, we’ll begin by defining the NFT and continue with a showcase of 10 exciting NFT trends and applications to look out for in the year 2022.

👨‍💻 As passionate software developers, we bring your projects involving NFTs to life. Build your offshore IT projects with us !

What is an NFT? 

NFT stands for Non-Fungible-Token. That might sound confusing at first, but all it really means is that an NFT is a one-of-a-kind item that cannot be replaced or exchanged with anything else. 

By being unique and never having the same value, NFTs are digital certificates of ownership that are recorded on a ledger using blockchain technology, in order to verify their authenticity.

Even though Ethereum is the most popular blockchain used to buy and sell NFTs, other blockchains like Solana, Polygon, Flow and Binance’s Smart Chain can also be used efficiently. 

An NFT can take many digital forms such as an MP3, MP4, GIF or JPEG. Whether it’s a still or moving image, or an entire music album, NFTs can be used to establish unhackable ownership. 

Let’s proceed with 10 inspiring current trends from the world of Non-Fungible-Tokens (NFTs). 

1. Energy-Efficient Ethereum 2.0 

A major problem with NFTs is that a huge carbon footprint is generated every time someone ‘mints’ or produces an NFT on the Ethereum blockchain. In other words, a single transaction on the Ethereum blockchain uses as much energy as an entire household over a day and a half. This is why developers have come up with Ethereum 2.0, which promises to significantly lower the blockchain’s energy costs, to offer higher output and boost the value of NFT created on it. 

2. Digital Ownership

Right now, NFTs are mostly used to provide artists, musicians and other creators with digital certificates of authenticity and ownership. In the very near future, almost anything, from vegetable seeds to architectural plans, will have an NFT certificate attached to them, instantly letting you know who is the current owner and/or original creator. By adding digital tags to physical objects and real-life experiences, NFTs will establish new business opportunities. 

3. NFT Gaming

With NFTs being integrated into existing computer games, and with hundreds of new games developed entirely with NFTs in mind as of 2021, the technology demonstrates huge potential for reshaping the operation of in-game marketplaces. Play-to-earn schemes offered by popular games like Axie Infinity have resulted in over $1billion traded within the Axie platform – rightfully establishing the game as one of the world’s most valuable NFT projects. 

4. NFT Sports

Combining blockchain decentralization with the uniqueness of video collectibles, RealFevr and NBA’s Top Shot have basically established the first-ever NFT marketplace for sports fans who want to own videos of their favorite sporting moments and players. Similarly, Sport Moments uses NFT to  deliver fans, teams, players and sponsors with excellent value through digital sport points and game-day experiences.  

5. NFT Music

Above all, NFTs can drastically reshape the relationship between music artists and their fans. The technology makes it possible for music fans to directly invest in the career of their favorite musicians and artists, to receive exclusive perks, as well as to ultimately profit from early-buying NFTs of albums or songs that could gradually rise in value. NFTs can benefit music artists directly, as they bypass the need for a record label, distributor or streaming platform.   

6. NFT Finance

There are now new services that allow users to use NFTs as collateral for loans. This allows NFT investors to gain investment liquidity without having to give up the asset’s ownership. It is very much like a mortgage, in which you leverage an existing asset in order to create liquidity. Do you have a million-dollar NFT in your wallet but no disposable assets in the bank? Companies like Drops enable you to take out loans by putting your NFTs as collateral. 

7. NFT Medicine

Ever participated in a clinical trial for money? We all know that data is the most valuable asset within an increasingly digital economy. This is why companies like Aimedis enable patients to own and monetize their personal medical data, offering new revenue streams by selling them to pharmaceutical companies, and essentially establishing the world’s first medical and scientific NFT marketplace. 

8. NFT Art

There is no doubt that NFTs completely revolutionized the concept of digital art by providing creators with guaranteed ways to prove ownership and directly profit from selling their art online. However, in the near future, we’re not only likely to see new digital artworks created and sold as NFTs, but also galleries and private funds minting and selling digital twin NFTs of real, physical art pieces.   

9. NFT Identity

Proving ownership and securely transferring ownership is what NFTs do best. This is why NFT technology is perfect for efficient identity-verification applications. They can be used on anything from computer game avatars, all the way to facilitating easy borderless travel, fast know-your-client verification and even for hosting decentralized government services. 

10. The Metaverse

The Metaverse, projected to kick-off within 2022, will be a decentralized mix of smartphone apps, 3D digital spaces, events and platforms that will combine physical and virtual realities. Within this immersive environment, and as we continue to accumulate a wide range of digital assets, cryptocurrencies and NFTs will essentially facilitate sale exchanges as well as provide an unmatched proof of ownership. For example, consider how an NFT can prove that you are the real owner of a virtual store on the Metaverse.

Do you have an IT development project that affects your business that could benefit from NFT integration? At Bocasay, our dedicated teams of developers enable large companies around the world to expend they offshore IT projects. Please contact us to find out how we can help you with your next project.