How the NFTs and NFT Marketplaces Are Set to Evolve in 2022

NFTs were more considered as a “craze” among people. As with several things that came up in digitization, this was also believed to be just a short-living party. 2021 was extremely favorable for NFTs as they caught a wide spectrum of importance globally. Last year Beeple sold his NFTs through Christie’s auction house for $69 million. The NBA Top Shots managed by the NBA officials recorded revenue of earning $715 million by selling the best moments from the NBA tournaments as NFTs. 

This blockchain-based medium enables individuals to monetize their digital content. When discussing NFTs, one thing that strikes our attention is the “future of the NFT .”According to several research and surveys, it is revealed that NFTs will receive huge prominence in the next few years. As a result of such prediction, the market is gearing up to invite entrepreneurs into the zone. To all those entrepreneurs out there - here’s a blog highlighting NFT marketplace development. 

Top Traded NFTs - Huge Throwback to 2021

As mentioned above, the year 2021 was extremely glorious for non-fungible tokens. Here are the top NFTs that were sold in the previous year.

We all know that Beeple’s Winklemann’s collage of daily images dating back to 2007 was the most expensive NFT ever traded in the market. To add a feather to the crown, Beeple’s Everyday: The First 5,000 Days was sold in 2021 for a whopping amount of $69 million.

Winklemann once again appeared in the limelight when his NFT “Human one” hit the NFT market in November. This hybrid physical-digital creation was sold for $28.9 million.

CryptoPunks are known for their unique Generative NFT arts, which are completely different from one another. The CryptoPunk #7523, which was regarded as the “Covid alien,” was sold for $11.75 million. 

Followed by the covid alien, CryptPunk #3100 became the next sensation. This CryptoPunk was traded on OpenSea and was sold for $7.67 million. 

Another CryptoPunk alien with a cap, shades, and smoking pipe caught the attention of the buyers. The CryptoPunk #7804 was sold for a value of $7. Fifty-seven million in the last year. 

Distinct NFT Marketplaces to Consider Before Launching One

NFT marketplace is a broader term that covers the entire nation under one single umbrella. There are two different types of NFT marketplace, namely augmented and streamlined NFT marketplaces. The streamlined marketplaces lend their support to a broad range of NFTs and offer more generic services to sellers. On the other hand, augmented NFT marketplaces are highly specialized and focus on providing a full-service experience. 

Streamlined NFT marketplaces are more like eCommerce marketplaces. Here the platform supports both auction and fixed price sales for the users. More or less, they represent the traditional eCommerce platforms like eBay and Amazon. The marketplace will boost the users to opt either for fiat currencies and Cryptocurrencies. Their platform will have a pack of features that will support the trading activities. 

Augmented NFTs focus on a narrowed approach where they will enable the users to mint, market, curate, price, portfolio trackers, and even full-blown games built on the NFTs. To be very precise, there are marketplaces that will concentrate on just one aspect instead of providing all the services. Platforms like SoRare and NBA Top Shots are the best examples for this type of marketplace where individuals could find NFTs concerning just one type of nature. 

Streamlined or Augmented: What to Choose Between?

Wondering what to stick on with for your NFT marketplace development? Those companies have a predetermined set of target audiences who wish to establish a brand within one arena. People who have a high fandom over sports and games will flock to these kinds of augmented platforms. 

Let me now shoot out another example for streamlined NFT marketplaces at this instance. Coca-Cola partnered with OpenSea and listed the vintage Coca-Cola collections of coolers, jackets, and logos. Since this NFT does not orient with any specific industry, they decided to collaborate with a streamlined NFT marketplace like OpenSea to sell their NFTs. 

5 NFT Trends Awaiting In 2022

While launching your NFT marketplace, it is important to foresee what the future has in the other end. When analyzing the current status, one thing remains sure the future is in the hands of the metaverse. In terms of the metaverse, there will be several top-notch trends which I have listed below for your understanding!

1. Profile Picture Projects (PFP)

The craze towards NFTs will go even to an extent and enable the social media networks to have profile pictures on NFTs. If so, people will start integrating their social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter with NFT profile pictures. Soon people will start showing creativity in the form of pixelated arts like CryptoPunKs or BAYC. 

2. NFTs In the Form of Play-to-Earn (P2E)

The advent of NFTs paved the way for the introduction of gaming, blockchain-based, crypto-powered play-to-earn games. NFT gaming not only lets the users get the entertainment element fulfilled but also makes them an owner of the in-game assets. The users will get to earn their in-game rewards and assets in the form of NFTs, which they can trade in all the secondary marketplaces. 

In recent years, NFT gaming has been winning the attention of people from all over the world. Gaming has also raised the temperature in decentralized finance (DeFi). DappRadar is a perfect example for the same as they recorded an increase of 63 percent of users in November 2021. The interactive wallets of the users are noted to be live in the Dapps, respectively. 

3. Fundraising Models for Charity 

NFTs are opening the path for explorations that we have not even heard of before ages. The terms fundraising and NFT mind sound like an oxymoron, but digitization has connected the strings attached within each other. Charities can easily generate their funds easily through decentralized platforms without gathering any crowds. The smart contracts employed in the marketplace will help in organizing a decentralized community for fundraising. 

Tokenizing the charities will be a great opportunity for the NGOs to generate their revenue. They can even tokenize a video and sell it as an NFT. This will scale up their revenue to several folds. 

4. Major Brand Adoption 

We are witnessing several brands making their entry into the NFT space. Some of the big brands like Adidas, Arizona, and Coca-Cola have joined the movement of tokenization. Brands are utilizing these NFT trends as an extensive opportunity to establish their brands to a higher level. In the early paragraph, we have seen how Coca-Cola tokenized its NFTs and sold them in the marketplace. Very soon, this will become an obsession, and several brands will plunge into minting their NFTs. 

5. Enhances Social Benefits and Subscription Model 

When trying out experiments is an art, NFTs are Picasso in it. They are very attractive in providing a wide range of utilities to the users. Times magazine from the US was the first one to try out NFT based digital subscription models. Their new initiative in terms of subscription models has raised the eyebrows of millions of people. However, their digital subscription initiative will surely make big rounds in the corner. 

Wrap Up

The recent trends in the NFT space are literally making entrepreneurs enter the market. Before getting started with the NFT marketplace development, go on through the recent trends that are prevailing in the market.