The Future of NFTs: where is the market heading?

NFTs have become a very popular phenomenon across industries and professions, and a wide range of people, from visual artists to musicians, have earned larger sums of money from buying and selling them. The NFT market is robust and continuously developing, leading to a rise in NFT users and transactions.

NFTs are unmodifiable digital assets that represent artworks, music pieces, or real-life objects. The truth is that recent claims that NFT sales are flatlining have been widely rebuked: On-chain data from Dune Analytics’s dashboard highlights that the NFT market is still robust, thanks to continuing developments in their utility. It also shows that NFT users and transactions are much higher.

How did NFTs expand over the years?

It’s only through the analysis of the history of NFTs and current economic and social factors that digital asset experts can predict where NFT assets and markets are headed. These experts differ, as experts will, with some predicting an NFT explosion and others an implosion.

The same is true of cryptocurrency markets, of course. And the truth may lie somewhere in between these extreme positions. Here’s what we do know, though. Between 2012 and 2016, some predecessors of the NFTs we see now began to emerge. The next few years ushered in a period of growth and NFTs became more mainstream. Some NFT market analysts have dubbed 2021 “The Year of the NFT.”

NFT trading reached a genuine crescendo last year, increasing by 21,000%. Trading in NFTs reached some $17 billion in 2021 according to CNBC, but other higher estimates are reported by other news sources. in 2022, NFT trading continued to increase at a much more modest rate.

The future of NFTs: will they boom or bust?

Blockchain technology and the trading of digital assets are more familiar to the general public now, even while they may not be thoroughly understood.

Cryptocurrencies and NFTs have their own mystique: they’re The Big Thing right now and have a mysterious allure. They’re rare. They’re unique. Just like physical paintings and sculptures, they’re coveted, often for purely emotional reasons. Some are celebrity-branded and capture people’s fascination with fame.

Then, too, NFTs attract investors with the promise of easy money. Those factors support the conclusion that NFTs will continue to draw interest and expenditures.

NFTs have enabled artists to offer digital originals without any middlemen and are playing a huge role in digital ownership, digital communities, tradeable game assets, and the ownership of metaverse assets. NFTs will enjoy a significant role in online communities, events, purchase of video game assets, digital identities, and assets.

Blockchains ensuring

Blockchains, especially the Ethereum blockchain, are the key enablers of NFTs. The blockchain will be key to ensuring that the current system remains safe from any hackers. Therefore, all kinds of online transactions will be safe with no third-party interference. This will be part of an effort to change the existing system from centralized (Web 2.0) to decentralized (Web 3.0). Through decentralization, individuals will work independently, without having to rely on an intermediary.

Originality and authentication verification

NFTs will also play a huge role in verifying original items from counterfeit ones. This also goes for the verification of academic credentials. No one will be able to draft forged academic credentials, allowing hiring managers to easily verify genuine certificates. All kinds of certifications will be easily verified.

In the same manner, different products will be verified. Many people imitate original items and sell counterfeit ones with impunity. Therefore, it will be easier to know which seller is genuine.

Additionally, these digital assets will play a role in the metaverse, boosting digital identity, item authentication, AI NFTs, personal health data monetization, business, secure transaction platform, true win-win technology, smart contracts, art selling, tickets, events, virtual worlds, and digital commerce.

Independence of artists 

NFTs will boost more independence, allowing artists to create items and sell to their audience without waiting for long processes. Even students, once they come out of grad school, will not have to wait to get employed, but, due to this independent capability, they will be able to creatively create digital goods or engage in freelancing. This will also reduce unemployment rates in different parts of the world.

Through NFTs, artists will have more control over the work they produce without depending on corporate forces or intermediaries. These artists can connect easily with customers and sell their work directly to customers. NFTs will provide access or ownership to unique items. These digital assets can play a huge role in solving the issues in the insurance sector, reducing all forms of fraud. They will also allow creators and artists to own their content and data.

Promising future

The future of NFTs seems promising. In 2021, NFTs had a market size of approximately $41 billion, catching up to that of the traditional art market. Young people, freelancers, and artists will significantly benefit from the growth of NTFs. The buying and selling of goods will be much easier.

NFTs will be a game changer. They require the implementation of different strategies and investors to turn this prediction into a reality. Many professionals in the healthcare sector, architects, designers, educators, and other industries will greatly benefit from emerging technology. Students will learn things practically instead of relying on the theory part of books.

Gartner’s Hype Cycle predictions:

NFTs could still be five years from mainstream adoption, according to the most recent Gartner’s Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies.

Gartner’s Hype Cycle is an annual report that scrutinizes 1,500 new technologies and tools to help users gauge their potential. The Cycle is displayed as a graph that places the tools into categories based on where they are in their lifecycle.

• Innovation Trigger: Potential breakthroughs start to capture the public imagination (and media interest).
• The peak of Inflated Expectations: Early successes — and failures — see interest ramp up.
• Trough of Disillusionment: Initial interest wanes. At this point, investment only continues if surviving providers improve to the satisfaction of early adopters.
• The slope of Enlightenment: Benefits become more widely understood. New product generations appear, and some potential users stay cautious.
• Plateau of Productivity: Mainstream adoption takes hold.

According to the 2021 year report, NFTs were riding the Peak of Inflated Expectations, fuelled by stories of $100,000 pet rocks and $69 million collages.

But as you’ve observed this year 2022, NFTs are somewhere around the point of Trough of Disillusionment, and NFTs industry is losing people’s interest.