NFT trends are taking the world by storm with the popularity of digital artist Beeple, the opening of the NBA NFT marketplace, the astronomical value of Axie’s Infinity virtual land, and groups like the Bored Ape Yacht Club. These upcoming trends will digitally change the way we experience the web, brand products, buy and sell art, and even create music. With the connection of blockchain technology and Web3.0, more and more brands are venturing into the world of augmented reality and NFT. To help you successfully invest in NFT projects in the future, we list the top 7 NFT trends in 2023.
Table of Contents
- NFT Market Trends 2022 – $16.54 Billion in Monthly Trading Volume
- Top 7 NFT Trends in 2023 – Business Revolution in the Metaverse
- 1. Growing Share of the Alternative Chain Solana
- 2. NFT Fashion Trends – Digital Power for Trendsetters
- 3. AR NFT – Stimulate Quick Purchasing Decisions
- 4. Big Brands are Getting Involved in Trending NFTs
- 5. Play-to-Earn: In-Game NFT Earning Mechanism
- 6. NFT Music Trend – Easier to Create, Sell and Distribute Music
- 7. NFT is Becoming Increasingly Popular on Social Media: NFT Avatars
- Best Investments in NFT Trends
NFT Market Trends 2022 – $16.54 Billion in Monthly Trading Volume
ResearchAndMarkets reports that the global NFT market size is expected to reach $97.6 billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 31.6% during the forecast period. Statista also expects the number of NFT users to reach 64.45 million by 2027.
In January 2022, NFT search trends showed an all-time high in global interest, with monthly trading volume reaching $16.54 billion in key NFT marketplaces. Some of the NFTs that contributed to the milestone include the Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC), Axie Infinity and more, with sales of about $252.33 million and $126.49 million, respectively.
North America accounted for the largest revenue share of the non-fungible token market in 2021. With the adoption of NFTs by Millennials in a growing number of regions and a huge increase in the number of artists creating digital artworks, the regional market growth will continue to fuel the NFT boom.
Top 7 NFT Trends in 2023 – Business Revolution in the Metaverse
Non-fungible tokens like BAYC, CryptoPunks, or CryptoKitties are becoming household names, even if they’re worth hundreds of billions of dollars. This is one of the best indicators to keep the trending NFT projects going. NFTs have become one of the most secure ways to store information and keep assets, so utilities, gaming industry, entertainment industry, fashion industry and others are tapping into the potential of NFTs. Even in a hard economy in 2022, there are plenty of great projects, such as new gaming and metaverse development, and advanced AI technologies created to enhance the utility and creative processes of NFTs. Here, we list the top 7 potential NFT art trends in 2023.
1. Growing Share of the Alternative Chain Solana
The Ethereum blockchain, which has long hosted the vast majority of NFT projects, comes with some well-known drawbacks, including high gas fees. While this is just an inconvenience for crypto millionaires, it sets a high barrier to entry for everyday investors. Therefore, NFT creators start to launch their projects on other, more affordable blockchains like Solana and Avalanche.
Unlike other blockchains, Solana is a third-generation blockchain that uses a hybrid consensus algorithm, and combines proof-of-history (PoH) with proof-of-interest (PoS). It can handle more than 50,000 transactions per second, while Ethereum can’t process over 30 at the same time. The mechanics of 3D NFTs or NFT gaming are primarily implemented on the chain, but will never be possible on Ethereum due to high gas prices. The low cost and high speed offered by Solana could open a whole new door for NFT development. It’s time to mint NFTs without gas fees.
The sub-dollar transaction fees involved in alternative chains have attracted a growing number of NFT collectors who are unable or refuse to trade on Ethereum. These platforms now handle hundreds of millions of dollars in NFT volume. Solana-based NFT exchange Solanart has processed more than $544 million in sales since its launch in June 2021. In January 2022, the NFT tracker CryptoSlam! announced that Solana NFT trading volume exceeded $1 billion for the very first time. According to JPMorgan, Ethereum’s market share in NFTs has fallen from around 95% to 80% in 2021, with the Solana blockchain capturing most of the lost g volume share.
2. NFT Fashion Trends – Digital Power for Trendsetters
Fashion and retail businesses want to keep up with the times by exceeding customers expectations, so NFT is organically integrated into fashion trends. By taking NFTs to the next level, these enterprises can build a target group that can be relevant to and comfortably engage with their future products, significantly increasing their user engagement and sales conversion rates. In fact, many brands in the fashion industry have gone digitalization, providing consumers with various fashion NFT projects. This trend will grow in 2022, to the point where it will be more feasible to make clothes in the virtual world before producing them in real life.
Gucci and Superplastic have teamed up to launch SuperGucci NFT, which brings unstoppable digital power to runway fans and trendsetters. It is expected to be accessible in the near future on an Insta-ready gadget near you.
Dapper Labs’ first digital wearable NFT collection, launched in collaboration with the fashion house of Manufacturer, has paved the way for multiple digital fashion experiences. Nike and the NFT Cryptokicks are also good examples of virtual fashion.
3. AR NFT – Stimulate Quick Purchasing Decisions
We live in the age of visual and immersive experiences, so the opportunity for brands to better express themselves to consumers is invaluable, especially for those who sell both physical and digital products. With AR, consumers can connect the NFT artwork they are viewing to their real environment and then start new experiences through sound, visual or virtual try-on effects. The wearable NFT experience enables consumers to fully experience the artwork, helping them make quick purchase decisions while increasing brand trust. Eventually, everyone who gets the chance will want to buy the NFT items they can wear or use in the metaverse. AR NFTs will then become even more important.
Although 3D and AR NFTs don’t actually exist in physical environments, they can be used in many fields, from gaming and virtual reality platforms like Decentraland to CGI movies or even museums. If you are selling digital goods, such as jackets or shoes for avatars or in-game assets, you should make your customers virtually try them on before purchasing, which can help you solve any questions they may have about the assets. AR will influence the way they perceive the NFT artwork because it adds another dimension to it and makes it more valuable.
You might wonder if people buy non-existent things for themselves. On the contrary, they have shown great interest in these virtual collections. When Andrés Reisinger’s surrealist digital furniture collection came up for auction, the buyer didn’t question its usability, but instead asked questions like “Where will I use these?”. In the end, the items were bought at an online NFT auction for $450,000.
4. Big Brands are Getting Involved in Trending NFTs
The trending NFT will be set to get even hotter in 2023 as big brands in many industries explore the latest Gen Z marketing and build brand value through NFT artworks. Food brands such as Taco Bell, McDonald’s and Campbell’s, as well as luxury labels such as Louis Vuitton, Dior, Nike and Gucci are all releasing limited-edition NFT collectibles as a way to raise money for charity, generate new revenue streams, drive social media engagement and increase brand loyalty.
Just as Nike introduced a limited-edition pair of trainers in its physical stores, brands launching limited NFT collections have seen the value of those NFTs rise from their original price to higher levels in the secondary NFT marketplaces. A great example is Pringles, which created a limited collection of NFT crisps with a “virtual flavor” called CryptoCrisp. It is an MP4 file, limited to only 50 copies, showing an animated spinning golden Pringles can with a “CryptoCrisp” flavor. They were priced the same as a standard Pringles can, at about 0.0013 ETH, or about $2. These NFTs are currently available in some popular NFT marketplaces, such as Rarible and OpenSea, with prices starting at 4 ETH.
5. Play-to-Earn: In-Game NFT Earning Mechanism
“Play-to-Earn” refers to the possibility for players to earn assets through the game, which they can invest on different platforms. Anywhere users collect and trade in-game assets, NFTs can dramatically improve their experience. This earning mechanism has changed the way we make money with NFTs. Every player with assets in the game can resell them at will on other NFT marketplaces.
The Axie Infinity game is an example of this. Based on the Ethereum blockchain, it combines NFTs and cryptocurrencies at the same time, facilitating a large number of transactions. To get started, you need three axies to access the game and create your own universe or kingdom. You are required to buy land for building a kingdom as the game is about organizing the lives of creatures in a particular empire. Lands and axies are limited, and each player has the potential to increase the value of his property in order to resell it later at a higher price. The game now has over 2 million daily active users and an estimated $1 billion in transactions.
The SandBox also uses this process. Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and decentralized apps (DApp) have also noticed a significant increase in traffic from this game.
6. NFT Music Trend – Easier to Create, Sell and Distribute Music
NFTs allow musicians to build specific terms and rules into their smart contracts, which can include access to particular events, music releases, and more. This not only helps them build connections with their fans, but also create new revenue streams. The music NFT trends continue to be popular with artists into 2022 and beyond, as they are able to retain ownership of their music rights and collect royalties for playback and sales without the intervention of intermediaries.
American band Kings of Leon is one of the first to leverage this technology. Their eighth studio album, When You See Yourself, was released as an NFT token in March 2021, generating more than $2 million in revenue. Jack Dorsey also stepped down as CEO of Twitter to run Block, which aims to get streaming services like Tidal to adopt music NFTs.
Kay formed the virtual band The NFTs with fellow Bored Apes. His other project, along with StereoheadZ NFT, a decentralized music label and community, is Stationhead, a live music and broadcast platform. Stationhead will exist in the metaverse, where listeners could drop in or launch their own music. NFTs on the blockchain will reward fans who track royalties for musicians or follow a band.
In general, with new digital platforms popping up every day, creating, selling and distributing music has never been easier.
7. NFT is Becoming Increasingly Popular on Social Media: NFT Avatars
Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok are all embracing the NFT world in their own way, which is highly acclaimed and anticipated by their fans. YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki addressed YouTube’s key priorities for 2022 in her annual letter to creators:
“We’re also looking to the future, and we’ve been watching everything that’s going on in Web3 as a source of inspiration to keep inventing on YouTube.” In the realm of cryptocurrency, non fungible tokens (NFTs), and even decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), the past year has revealed a previously imagined chance to strengthen the bond between creators and their audience.”
Twitter has also been confirmed to support setting NFT as your profile picture. Soon after, Meta Platforms Inc., which owns Facebook and Instagram, announced that it would also allow NFTs as profile pictures. You only need to temporarily connect to your crypto wallet, then your digital assets are set to a special hexagonal shape that identifies you as the owner of that NFT. NFT avatars are digital images that are unique in every way and can’t be reproduced, which would address the identity and NFT theft issues.
NFT avatars can be seen as identity markers, so it’s not hard to understand the enthusiasm that the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) has generated on social networks. The wave came especially from cryptopunks in 2017. Today, they remain the most prominent collection of 10,000 cryptocurrencies. The most expensive NFT in the series is estimated at more than $11 million, with $4 billion in crypto punk transactions. Currently, the tier price of a crypto punk is $400,000, and celebrities like Jay-Z or Snoop Dogg have them.
Instagram is also taking selfies to new heights, with CEO Adam Mosseri saying the company is actively considering the potential of NFT use cases.
Best Investments in NFT Trends
There are already a number of NFT projects that focus on the utility of tokens, which can increase their value and the way we use them on the blockchain and in real life. The NFT art trends are growing and we are likely to see significant progress in 2023. Here are some amazing projects to keep an eye on:
- Sandbox
- Decentraland
- SolSand
- Bored Ape Yacht Club
- Beyond Life Club
- Degenerate Ape Academy
- Cryptoon Goonz
- Crypto Baristas
- Sound.xyz
- Moon Birds
- Invisible Friends
Bottom Line
NFT technology has penetrated various industries, including gaming, fashion, music, art, real estate, intellectual property, finance and more. Many investors are betting big on NFTs, with Meta, Twitter, and Reddit all working on NFT projects, and new NFT startups popping up every day. From venture capitalists to celebrities to ordinary collectors, NFTs are taking the public by storm. We expect the NFT trends to continue through 2023 and beyond.
