Now the NFT sphere is experiencing a real boom: many innovations have appeared in it, ranging from decentralized marketplaces, such as Rarible, to merging with Defi technology (for example, the NIFTEX project); and the total volume of NFT transactions has tripled recently. Learn about the perspectives of NFT tokens as seen by experts from an outsource software development company Boosty Labs.

The popularity of unique tokens (non-fungible tokens or NFTs) in recent years is a sign that they can gain a place outside the blockchain industry. But to ensure the sustainable growth of this segment, adequate infrastructure is needed.

The “second advent” of NFT tokens may well be more successful than their debut at the end of 2017, when many participants in the crypto industry first learned about a new type of token, ERC-721, thanks to the CryptoKitties blockchain game.

In the first weeks after the launch in December 2017, the popularity of the game grew rapidly and at some point led to an overload of the Ethereum network, which slowed down all other transactions.

The unique images of the “crypto kitties” proved to be so popular that NFTs were resold for tens of thousands of dollars. But the hype turned out to be short-lived, and they were soon forgotten. The same thing happened with all sorts of clones of this game - CryptoPuppies, CryptoPets, and CryptoPunks – none of which gained long-term popularity.

The NFT renaissance began last year when some luxury articles brands began using the concept of a unique token for their products. But the real “reboot” of the NFT, thanks to which the general public learned about them, took place literally in recent weeks.

This time, the area of application of NFT was digital art. In early March, the $69.3 million sales of EVERY DAY: THE FIRST 5000 DAYS digital collage by artist Beeple as an NFT caught the attention of the media, and NFT was on the rise everywhere. Beeple’s work has become not only the most expensive NFT but in principle one of the most expensive works of art by living artists.

Screenshot of the archive of Beeple’s (digital artist Mike Winkelmann’s) “Everyday” at his website

Selling digital art and collectibles at hefty prices led to comparisons of the NFT segment with the 17th century Dutch Tulip Mania and an ICO boom a few years ago.

But these analogies, like the claims that the NFT is just a bubble, are not entirely accurate. The main thing to note is that the NFT concept solves a specific problem that has existed in the digital art field for years.

Copyright protection has long been a concern in the digital art segment. Proving the authorship of a digital work is often difficult, and the need for a tool that allows artists to assert their rights to their works has been around for a long time.

By making works in a single copy or a limited number of them, the author creates value and, at the same time, scarcity. NFTs can be a new format for selling digital art, and they can also be used to prove authorship of a digital artwork created in a different format, or even a traditional, physical piece of art.

Along with the ability to sell digital art in the form of an NFT, quite traditional art can be sold with a certificate of authenticity in the form of an NFT.

Naturally, the prices that are paid for NFT today are far from reality and are likely to fall. But isn’t it the same with any new product introduced to the market?

Interestingly, one of the complaints of those opposed to NFT – as well as opponents of cryptos in general – is that tokens have no objective value. But this is a problem of contemporary art in general since in the last few decades the boundaries between what is considered art and what is not have become as blurred as possible.

In their new incarnation, NFTs look clearly stronger than they did in the days of the “crypto kitties”. But in order for the NFT segment to develop steadily, attracting more users, a convenient infrastructure for an ordinary user is needed.

Today NFT is at the top of the hype, but sooner or later it will pass. And then the future of the NFT segment will depend solely on whether the average user – not the crypto veteran – can comfortably sell and buy NFTs.

A stable, scalable infrastructure for issuing and trading NFTs will be able to attract many more ordinary people without technical knowledge to the crypto industry.

Steps in this direction are already being taken. The marketplace for NFT OpenSea recently raised $23 million from investors led by Silicon Valley-based venture capitalist Andreessen Horowitz.

For many people, NFTs can turn the entry point into the crypto and Defi realm, and this may happen soon.