If fashion only lasts for a while, that of NFTs will only have survived two years. Popularized in 2021, they notably made it possible to democratize digital art but today, they no longer attract investors. NFTs, for “non-fungible token”, “are now seeing their fall”, states a recent study by DappGambl, a site specializing in cryptocurrency.
Of the more than 73,000 NFTs screened, “many projects are now struggling to find buyers with pessimistic market prospects for their future value.” The first tweet from former Twitter boss Jack Dorsey particularly paid the price. Sold for $2.9 million in 2021, it is now valued at a few dozen dollars.
“In a highly speculative and volatile market,” nearly 23 million people now hold worthless NFTs, the study reports. Only 1% of the 73,000 NFTs examined “are valued above 6,000 dollars”, or around 5,625 euros. “This is a reality that should serve as a brake on the euphoria of NFTs,” mentions DappGambl.
Only a few have sold for millions of dollars, like the Bored Ape Yacht-Club collection, which features portraits of apes. If it benefits from a real artistic value recognized by buyers, this is not the case for the majority of other NFTs. “Projects lacking clear use cases or compelling stories […] find it increasingly difficult to attract the attention” of customers, the study explains.
DappGambl, however, puts things into perspective and assures that “NFTs still have a place in our future” and could “resist market slowdowns”. On condition of respecting one of these three factors, stated by the cryptocurrency specialist: “being historically relevant (like Pokémon cards which are resold at a high price), possessing true art or offering utility.”