he speculative wave of NFTs has surely reached its peak. We’re ready for the underlying tech to unlock a new wave of innovation. This will be based on mainstream brand adoption and new types of customer connections.
This time last year, a buyer could have landed a Bored Ape Yacht Club for around $300. Today, even the cheapest primates will cost a minimum of $90,000. Conversely, projects like Cool Cats have seen their value cut in half over the past couple of months – from an all-time high of 16 ETH to below 5 ETH.
The top NFT collections are brands. Make no mistake, membership of BAYC or WoW says something about you and means something to you. Using your NFT as your profile picture or as your vehicle license plate is a very public form of brand association.
In the next wave – NFT 2.0 – we will see exciting innovation from the top NFT collections. They will extend into metaverse, gaming and real-life partnerships with mainstream brands.
But more interestingly perhaps, we will see mainstream brands enter the fray with purpose. This will move us beyond the underwhelming promise of “utility” to a new level of sophistication in NFT technology adoption. At its core is bringing people closer to the brands they love.
The hunt for utility
To date, utility has tended to include anything from merchandise and the promise of future airdrops. Or access to a forthcoming game in which the NFTs can be used to earn income.
Whatever the case, utility more often than not tends to be conflated with empty promises that will likely never come to fruition. For NFTs to deliver on their perceived value, it is crucial that collectors are granted utility beyond the ownership of the asset.