Along with growing their digital collections, large businesses acquire popular non-fungible tokens as they gain popularity.
Without a question, the non-fungible token (NFT) sector is one of the most popular elements of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. Indeed, NFTs are typically the subject of heated debates both within and beyond the organization.
This explains the growing popularity of NFTs beyond the sphere of cryptocurrency, which big businesses like Visa and Budweiser are increasingly acquiring from popular collections. These are separate from the more common interactions between businesses and non-fungible tokens, which generally involve the creation of their digital goods.
As with cryptocurrencies and blockchains, broad adoption by established firms generates a frenzy fuelled by fear of losing out. Numerous NFT collections have seen considerable price floor increases as a result of other collectors’ precedent-setting.
Apart from the present buzz, some crypto enthusiasts argue that NFTs can serve as more than a memetic reminder; they may even function as the web 3.0’s “killer app.” If this is true, nonfungible tokens may be used to support spin-off enterprises in the decentralized Internet’s developing decentralized Internet, which could become the main point of the future Internet iteration, similar to how e-commerce and social media dominate today’s cyberspace.
Visa purchases cryptocurrency startup Crypto Punk
Visa stated on August 23 that she paid 49.50 Ether (ETH) for Crypto Punk #7610, which is about $149,939. Almost definitely, the announcement spurred a revolution in the cryptocurrency sector and beyond, with numerous CryptoPunks being bought by rich buyers willing to pay top money.
CryptoPunks is a member of the 2017 “OG” non-fungible token league, which existed before the current trend for non-fungible tokens. Larva Labs published this collection in June 2017 and it features 10,000-pixel pictures sized 24 by 24 pixels in an 8-bit art style. Punks praised the ERC-721 non-fungible token standard as the forerunner of blockchain-based generative art.
Crypto Punks were initially provided for free to collectors who expressed interest. Since 2020, as NFTs have grown in popularity, the vintage collection has become increasingly valued (at least by fungible token standards).
The lowest price for CryptoPunk, according to Larva Labs’ website, is ETH 119 (about $400,000. Numerous owners have rejected their Punks in the aftermath of Visa’s acquisition, owing to a rise in new demand.
At the time of writing, CryptoPunks’ 30-day trading volume exceeded half a billion dollars. CryptoPunks’ trading volume exceeds 50% of the August NFT volume. Chinese internet millionaires have also gone on board, earning considerable wealth via CryptoPunks.
In the contemporary day, luxury NFTs such as CryptoPunks appear to have supplanted the Lamborghini as the prestige icon of crypto. Celebrities from both the inside and outside of crypto are increasingly seen wearing the popular NFTs on their social media channels.
Adoption and maintenance of corporate brands through the use of NFT
Cuy Sheffield, CEO of Visa Crypto, explains why the firm acquired CryptoPunks: “To help our clients and partners, we require a first-hand understanding of the infrastructure required for acquiring, preserving, and exploiting a worldwide brand.” While corporate usage of NFTs is not unique, Visa’s decision to acquire an NFT rather than build a digital collection based on a business’s commodities is novel.
According to Jesse Johnson, founder, and CEO of Aavegotchi’s Pixelcraft Studios creator, Visa’s visa to the field of NFT is “only the tip of the iceberg.” “The market will witness a growth in the usage of NFTs by brands, organizations, and businesses in the months and years ahead. While the transition to the new mode of client communication will begin, whole sectors will eventually transform.”
According to Johnson, the popularity of NFTs will cause whole industries to rethink and realign customer incentives.
According to Christian Ferri, co-founder and CEO of NFTPro, a company that advises global brands such as Prada and Lamborghini on the nonfungible token market, corporate interest in nonfungible tokens spans investment and marketing and catalyzes increasing brand engagement among younger demographics.
According to Cointelegraph, Ferri indicated that the present craze for pricey NFT artifacts will wane: “When the market corrects, the term ‘high equity’ will fade considerably, if not totally, from any non-financial transactions that are not connected with high status. This will refocus attention on a new level of digital value, where NFT customers will want and demand digital genuine items from recognized brands with a greater, more predictable weight.”
NFT’s attention has already been sparked by the corporate sector, with numerous large firms looking to create a market presence. The social media giant Facebook said that NFTs will be included in its Novi digital asset wallet service.
Bytedance, the parent firm of the famous social media site TikTok, is also mulling an NFT invasion, according to Chinese media reports. On 26 August, Zhang Yiming, the founder of Bytedance, allegedly disclosed the company’s plan to join a WeChat NFT group.
NFTS, spin-offs, and Web 3.0
With non-fertility tokens establishing themselves as the dominant method of obtaining digital assets, several pundits have begun to emphasize the enormous investment potential of non-fertility tokens, particularly within the new decentralized Web architecture. In some respects, NFTs may come to symbolize the modern internet’s change brought about by e-commerce and social media.
Ferris believes that “NFTs constitute the backbone of the third trade or virtual trading wave.” NFTs are used in a variety of aspects of the growing digital matrix, from digital avatars to virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR), gaming, and metaverses.
Additionally, this growing penetration raises worries about possible connections to important pillars of the digital world, such as e-commerce and social media. Certain firms have already begun to create infrastructure at the intersection of NFTs and social media, gaming, and e-commerce. “NFTs enable genuine ownership of digital objects that are often utilized as utilities,” Johnson said to Cointelegraph.
“While companies may utilize NFTs for several purposes, the major one is gambling. In the coming years, the “play-to-earn” characteristic of NFTs will become revolutionary. This move from static digital collectors to tokens creates genuine use and prepares the path for the next generation of NFTs, particularly as more organizations and businesses become engaged.”
Indeed, play-to-earn gaming has established itself as a major component of the NFT sector, with titles such as Axie Infinity capturing the interest of players worldwide. The increasing popularity of non-financial transaction (NFT) games that need no financial transaction illustrates the possibilities at the confluence of gaming, blockchain, and virtual economy.
Jenny Q. Ta, the founder of blockchain-based social media site CoinLinked, recently told Cointelegraph that NFTs might be the missing link in the Internet’s disintermediation process. Ta asserted that NFTs will boost material ownership on Web 3.0, resulting in the emergence of a new virtual economy.
Ta’s CoinLinked was recently bought by HODL Assets, an NFT aggregator platform. HODL Assets intends to deploy its NFT marketing solution following the purchase, which will incorporate e-commerce and social networking elements.
