NFTs and the metaverse are two sides of the same coin, and while the latter is on everyone's lips, non-fungible tokens are also generating more and more revenue . After all, NFTs are the backbone of the digital economy born in the heat of the metaverse .
It's clear that NFTs are on the rise, but in which formats do they yield the most returns? According to a recent study by Nansen , investment in virtual plots and avatars is the best performer in terms of performance in the NFT market , obtaining an average return of 129.4%.
The return generated by the investment in virtual plots and avatars is above the return emanating from "blue chip" projects such as Azuki, Clone X and Doodles (50.9%) and also from NFTs linked to the world of "gaming" and art (whose value suffered, in fact, a prolapse in the last quarter).
It should be noted, however, that NFTs linked to the metaverse are also more volatile than "blue chip" collections (which are much more stable in nature). The volatile nature of NFTs emerging from the belly of the metaverse is also greatly influenced by the fact that many buyers in this universe behave like outright speculators, Nansen warns in his report.
The metaverse has unleashed a sort of gold rush that is massively attracting both individual consumers austria number data and large companies to take part in what promises to become a Wild West.
Lifestyle brands such as Gucci, adidas and Atari already own their own virtual plots of land in the metaverse, and even financial firm JP Morgan is also present in Decentralad (a shopping mall of absolutely colossal dimensions where plots worth several million dollars have already been sold). Another financial institution that has sunk its teeth into the metaverse is HSBC, which recently opened a headquarters in Sandbox.
While much of the business born from the combination of the metaverse and NFT is concentrated in spaces such as Sandbox, Somnium Space, Cryptovoxels and Decentraland, the competition is skyrocketing . Horizon Worlds , Meta's metaverse, for example, recently announced that it was experimenting with tools so that creators could market objects and experiences on this platform.
In addition, many companies are currently engaged in creating digital replicas of iconic nature destinations in the real world such as Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills or Silicon Valley.
“As more artists, creators and businesses are innovating in the NFT market, we believe the forces could eventually rebalance in the metaverse,” explains Louisa Choe, a researcher at Nansen.
As the metaverse gains momentum, so do NFTs, which have already overtaken cryptocurrencies in traction.
NFTs are a multi-million dollar business today, but they will cease to be so in the long term if Web3 and the metaverse do not bring truly groundbreaking innovations to the table. Despite the hype, and without real innovations, the NFT market could dissolve like a sugar cube.