Examining the rise and rise of NFTs

Cryptocurrency and digital market demands have risen to greater heights in recent years given wider technology advancements benefitting consumers and business strategies, with the latest developing trend revolving around the production and distribution of NFTs.

NFTs (Non-fungible tokens) have become one of the digital market’s most sort after products in recent months with more high profile names and corporations now utilising their own range of wider NFT distributions to a variety of eager consumers.

The history of NFTs, and more specifically the concepts surrounding crypto art, date way back to 2012 which was first established with the creation of the ‘coloured coin’ spawned from the Bitcoin blockchain and the introduction of cryptocurrencies.

These coins are commonly tokens that fully represent a number of everyday assets on the blockchain, with the purpose of allowing anyone to prove ownership of such assets, which of course has since further expanded into other expenditures.

The first officially labelled NFT was created in May of 2014 by Kevin McCoy labelled ‘Quantum’ which is a pixelated image of an octagon covered by various denoting shapes with the same centre with the piece still being on sale even to this day for around $7 million.

Other forms of these tokens have since spanned from McCoy’s original piece including game creations, trading cards and meme images that have since been on sale at various NFT auctions.

But perhaps the most popular variant of these tokens is the creation of Crypto Punks images back in 2017, which are still hotly in demand years later.

Nowadays, these assets have continued to grow and have further expanded the market demand for such products with more variations being distributed for all digital consumers across the crypto marketplace via auction.

The NFT upsurge throughout 2021 to present day

While the concept surrounding NFTs was certainly sighted as being a great asset to the crypto industry, the sudden upswing in demand for such pieces of art in recent years has been a great shock to a number of industries which has prompted the wider sale of NFT products across various online auctions.

2021 oversaw the biggest interest in such products given the latest inclusions of various art pieces such as Beeple, The Adiverse and Melania Trump’s watercolour painting of her eyes sold as an effort to raise more money towards charity.

However, arguably the most popular NFT related asset throughout 2021 was the Bored Ape artwork originating from the Bored Ape Yacht Club with this project now spawning over 10,000 renditions and a floor price reach $241.7 thousand thanks to the exposure given by various celebrities, including Post Malone, DJ Khaled, Jimmy Kimmel and Diplo as well as many superstar labelled athletes such as Neymar Jr., Stephen Curry, Ben Simmons and Odell Beckham Jr. to name a few.

The NFT marketplace upsurge has been well documented throughout 2021 and this has since spanned into the early months of 2022 with various crypto art related events being recently setup, including NFT pictured art galleries and various virtual events displaying the latest collection of valuable NFT artwork and products that are now available for sale.

One of the more recent additions to the wider distribution and viewing of crypto art design has been the inclusion of a cryptocurrency exchange in Hong Kong which features various NFT artwork including the various aforementioned Bored Ape Yacht Club framed pieces.

Should consumers invest further in NFTs?

Anyone can create an NFT and sell their pieces across various marketplaces to a variety of eager consumers with various online sites now offering a wider selection of available NFTs for sale.

Sportsbooks including DraftKings now offer punters a chance to buy NFTs online whilst placing bets for various sporting events and competitions featuring their favorite athletes and team who have also begun investing further into the concepts surrounding crypto art.

Any eager digital consumer is now more often looking to invest further into a variety of crypto art related pieces with NFTs being the most profitable and vastly popular asset available in the current market.

These investments can be a great method for a number of marketing related strategies and exposure for a wider list of digital agencies and businesses as it can show that the range of crypto related products that they have since taken a huge investment in and are of high demand in the active market, as well as appeasing to all wider digital audience members.

NFTs can also appreciate in value due to these assets being used quite frequently in blockchain games which have also grown in popularity.

They are also a major part of an expanding market chain and are an enjoyable aspect for any worthy investor to be a part of given how unique and creative such a product is valued at.