Guide: What beginners need to know about the NFT trend
What do Paris Hilton and bored apes have in common? That’s right, you can buy them as NFTs. Non-fungible tokens are the hype of the hour. The DMEXCO guide tells you everything you need to know!
Are NFTs the investment of tomorrow?
NFTs are the new investment hype. The digital marketplaces are booming, whether on Binance, SuperRare, OpenSea, or in 3D gaming worlds such as The Sandbox metaverse. The Web3 gold rush has only just gotten underway, but it has already turned the world of finance on its head.
What are NFTs? Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are certificates of authenticity of digital artifacts, such as virtual art, GIFs, memes, and in-game items. The data of NFTs is stored on the blockchain in a decentralized way, making them non-replaceable, indestructible, and impossible to forge.
BAYC and tweets: digital tokens as prestige objects
Celebs are promoting NFT trading, and ordinary mortals are also getting in on the action. And all of them are engulfed by the fear of missing out – the value curve could shoot up as early as tomorrow, just like we’ve seen with cryptocurrencies. But is NFT trading the investment of the future or just a hype?
The digital tokens are ultimate prestige objects: soccer star Neymar opened his digital wallet in 2022 and spent 370,000 U.S. dollars on an NFT from the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) project, where more than 10,000 bored apes live on the blockchain and meet up in an exclusive club. By acquiring an NFT here, investors are given a digital ape identity that grants them access to the club. With a sales volume of over 2 billion U.S. dollars to date, BAYC is the second-strongest NFT project.
Aside from bored apes downing a digital beer at the bar, investors can put their money on other NFT projects, including Paris Hilton’s future, the scanned original screenplay for Pulp Fiction, and even tweets: “just setting up my twttr” was bought for 2.9 million U.S. dollars in 2021.
Forging new marketing paths with NFTs
NFTs have not only landed in the world of finance, but they’re also taking over marketing. After adidas entered the metaverse with its “Originals” range, Nike is now following suit. Together with the RTFKT creative studio, it launched a virtual sneaker collection on the Ethereum blockchain in April 2022. The Cryptokicks are available to buy on OpenSea and are also dying to be worn because Snapchat has integrated the virtual sneakers into its platform using AR lenses. All that’s missing is a matching hoodie, but Nike fans won’t need to wait much longer: the sports shoe manufacturer is planning digital collections.
The digital tokens clearly open up endless new opportunities to marketers.
In our DMEXCO guide “NFTs for beginners”, we round up all the key facts. Here’s an overview of what awaits you:
- NFTs and Web3: rethinking the Internet
- How do blockchains work?
- What exactly are NFTs?
- Example: non-interchangeable (non-fungible) vs. interchangeable (fungible)
- What types of NFTs are there?
- How do you buy and sell NFTs?
