NFTs: what happened to them?

 NFTs: what happened to them?

Any method devised by Homer Simpson to get wealthy quickly almost always backfires.

The poor father in the most recent episode of The Simpsons converts himself and his son Bart into NFTs in an attempt to gain millions of dollars.

When Homer learns that "the NFT craze is over" via a flying pizza cat, everything goes awry.

Both NFT supporters and detractors have praised the episode for its ability to parody a segment of the cryptocurrency industry that peaked a few years ago but has since quieted down.

Is the flying pizza cat correct, and do NFTs really no longer exist?

According to a thorough investigation, the once-crazy Non Fungible Token market has lately dropped to its lowest point, with October being called "Floptober".

Still, some believe there is hope.

NFTs are digital ownership tokens that are often purchased using cryptocurrencies.

Although they are often connected to pictures or movies, having an NFT typically does not grant the buyer the image's copyright. Although anybody may read, copy, and save it online, only the buyer is recognized as the token's legitimate owner. Proof is engraved into the blockchain's immutable record, which is a massive online spreadsheet of transactions.

Dapp Radar experts claim that the value of NFT transactions has recently dropped to its lowest level since the market's peak.

The total quantity of money sold in the sector, or trading volume, has decreased by 89% since the start of 2022.

It was $12.6 billion (£10.4 billion) in the first quarter of 2022, and as of the third quarter of 2023, it is just $1.39 billion.

Additionally, the sector is shrinking. The makers of the lucky Bored Ape NFTs, Yuga Labs, revealed an undisclosed number of layoffs last month.

Among its most well-known series is Bored Ape Yacht Club. Millions of dollars were previously paid for NFTs, driven by wealthy customers such as talk show presenter Jimmy Kimmel and media sensation Paris Hilton.

Although Paris Hilton tweeted about her collections almost every day in January and February 2022, she hasn't blogged about NFTs on X, previously Twitter, since October 2022.

The value of the cheapest NFT in the collection, Bored Ape NFTs, peaked in the beginning of May 2022 and cost about $268,000 (144 Ethereum tokens), according to the NFT Price Floor website. It is now just $56,000.

Due to increasingly poor bids, US collector and artist Taylor Whitley was compelled to sell six of his seven highly valued Bored Ape NFTs.

"Since the market is so awful, I should sell even if I haven't really wanted to. He told the BBC, "I believe the NFT market could even go lower."

Taylor rejected many greater bids for his most prized Bored Ape in the past, but this month he sold it for $212,000 dollars.

If he had sold at the top, he might have received at least ten times more for his NFTs. Even though it hurt, he was an early investment and still earned huge gains. He made 1,000 times more money on his most recent transaction than on his first $200 investment.

The industry is made up of millions of smaller companies and artists for every Bored Ape NFT.

Angie Taylor, a Scottish artist, used to get up to $8,000 every NFT piece, but these days she only makes around $600.

She was forced to return to her part-time tutoring work before to NFT.

While I still sometimes sell bits and pieces, I still have to have a day job. With nothing else, I can't support myself on this anymore," she declares.

However, she always believed that the bubble will pop.

"I kind of budgeted for this to happen, because I thought, this is a boom and bust type of situation," she explains.

It's obvious that buyers are in control of the market, and many contented purchasers are taking advantage of the slump.

Recently, Adam, also known online as Little Fish, won $663,000 for his crypto punk artwork NFT.

Although the European full-time cryptocurrency investor recognizes that the sum is substantial, he believes he received a good deal on his CryptoPunk #36009.

After all, its seller turned down a $1.18 million offer a year ago.

The precise reason I purchased it was the decline. Individuals are hopeless. You can get summer clothing on the cheap throughout the winter," he explains.

Adam thinks that NFTs will experience summer once again, and he plans to "enjoy it" when it happens.

His comparison of seasonal variations to the present bitcoin market situation is accurate.

In 2022, there were many crashes that caused the value of digital currencies, like as Bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH), to plunge and then stabilize. These collapses are referred to as a crypto winter by many.

Though there have been some recent indications of a thawing, with Bitcoin reaching $34,000 per coin, the growth has slowed and is still far from reaching the $70,000 mark in late 2022.

Despite being a distinct product, NFTs are constructed using the same blockchain technology as cryptocurrencies, and many of the largest NFT purchasers have wealth levels that closely align with those of cryptocurrencies. They have more money to spend on NFTs as cryptocurrency values rise.

MetaKovan, also known as Vignesh Sundaresan, is the largest NFT investor in history.

His historic $69 million acquisition of an NFT from American artist Beeple was one of the main drivers of the market's March 2021 surge.

"It's still a long way to go after we can look back and see whether, you understand that it was a good purchase or not," admits Sundaresan. "It was definitely a lot of currency, but it wasn't a significant amount of my wealth."

Though he feels the bubble is finished, Mr. Sundaresan still thinks NFTs have a bright future as art treasures.

"In the world of cryptocurrency, things move quickly, therefore I don't believe the price will be the focus of NFTs in the future. Since there is no real scarcity, those who speculate are running a significant risk, he claims.

Vignesh is scathing of the sector that profited from the speculative boom and duped a lot of people out of their money.

"I've not seen any good sustainable businesses around NFTs," he adds.

Pudgy Penguins, an NFT company that just began selling plush toys based on its NFT characters, seems to be defying the trend, nevertheless.

Royalties are paid to the associated Pudgy Penguin NFT holder for each toy sold.

It seems that allowing NFT owners to profit from their intellectual property is a trend that might spark interest in the goods again. According to the NFT Floor Price webpage, Pudgy Penguins has maintained its floor price close to its high in January 2023.

Additional methods that customers are being given further incentives include real NFTs, artist royalties being waived, and invitation-only event participation.

Pranksy, a British NFT entrepreneur, believes that innovation is essential to a market comeback.

"I predict a select group of innovative people as well as companies will be able to spearhead mainstream adoption," according to him.

He believes that the market will rise again, but he concedes that the past levels of "pandemonium" are unlikely to be reached.