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NFTs: What happened?
At the beginning of 2021, the internet was in a craze around what seemed like a new innovation within the digital space. Whether it was on Twitter, Instagram, Clubhouse rooms, or even LinkedIn, people were discussing it A LOT. The acronym NFT was pretty much a household name. But what happened to the non-fungible tokens?
Back in April there was an article from CNN stating “that the average price of NFTs plummeted almost 70% from a peak…” (CNN Article) and there are now reports that sales are down even beyond that. Some speculate that sales are down 90% since the market peak. So what exactly happened to NFTs? Why did they go from the new hit thing, to falling into obscurity? Well here are my thoughts.
Too Many Cooks
In some cases market saturation can help really drive progress and innovation within a segment. The only downside is it can also do the opposite. A pro and con to NFTs is ease of entry. Almost anyone that was tech savy could publish an NFT on something like OpenSea and find buyers, espically those with a following on a social media platform. This certainly helped NFTs rise in popularity but it was also something I believe caused it’s current downfall. Similar to how during the Renaissance period there might have been plenty of artists but only the strongest of those survived to be top sellers today, there is a correlation to the trend with NFTs. Like any business or sale of goods, the consumer needs some type of added value in order to validate their purchasing decision. When a consumer is persented with so many options we get overwhelmed and have a hard time determining on what to purchase. Most times our purchasing decision is based on the value we specifically give a certain item or service. When hearing about a new NFT every single day, it becomes almost impossible to engage with all of them, causing the supply to be higher than the demand.
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Art is incredibly subjective. We all have moments were we can walk into a museum and see something that we particularly question why this specfic piece was choosen. Now imagine that 100x. With art coming down to personal taste, mixed with the amount of NFTs available, it is difficult to drive desire to a specific piece. This is also true with things that are outside an…
