While 2021 was the springboard for the world of NFT, 2022 could be the year of reckoning as adoption of this innovative form of digital commerce grows.
Summary
Brands driving NFT adoption
A few days ago, Korean technology giant Samsung announced the launch in 2022 of three new television models with an integrated NFT platform for trading artworks.
In early December, Adidas launched its first collection of original NFTs, which in just twenty days climbed to the top 50 of the best-sellers list, with over 18,000 sales, worth €60 million.
These are just two of the latest examples that explain, better than any other word, the growing popularity of NFTs.
Gucci, Coca Cola, Nike, Disney and McDonald’s have recently created original NFTs that have been a huge hit with users.
NFT trading volumes
According to statistics from the company DappRadar, in 2021 the sales volume of NFTs reached a record $22 billion, a huge increase from around $100 million the previous year.
“Hollywood, sports celebrities and big brands like Coca-Cola, Gucci, Nike, and Adidas, made their dent in the space, providing NFTs with a new level of exclusivity. The power of attraction of these famous names profoundly impacted NFTs and the blockchain industry overall”,
reads DappRadar’s latest report.
In March last year, a single work by digital artist Beeple sold at auction for more than $69 million.
Bored Ape Yacht Club, a collection of 10,000 NFTs represented as cartoon primates that are used as profile pictures on their owners’ social media accounts, raised $26.2 million.
Gaming is one of the sectors driving the adoption of NFTs
Gaming and sports in the NFT sector
The world of gaming has literally been revolutionized by NFTs, which allow a much more direct interaction between users and the game than the traditional system, thanks to the possibility of earning tokens by playing.
Axie infinity, the most popular game, has already generated 3.8 billion dollars, and record numbers of users are playing Sandbox or Decentraland, virtual NFT games in the metaverse. Ubisoft, the major game publisher behind Assassin’s Creed and Just Dance, recently launched an in-game NFT platform based on Tezos.
“Every single [game] studio I know of—from the largest, top company to the smallest—will have a product, if not many involving blockchain [in 2022],” he said. “What this will create is the fastest and most adopted business model transition that we’ve ever seen”.
This is what Sebastien Borget, co-founder and chief operating officer of The Sandbox, told Decrypt newspaper two days ago.
The world of sports, ranging from football and American football to basketball and Formula 1, have partnered with major NFT companies such as Sorare and Socios, to increase interactions with their fans and related merchandise revenue.
All these clues point to a very explosive 2022 for the world of NFTs and the metaverse closely linked to it.
