Non-fungible tokens or NFTs are gradually emerging as a central element of digital projects across a number of industries, from fashion and music to gaming and finance. Today we will take a look at the most widely spread types of NFTs, find out what’s inside and try to guess in which direction the market will develop in the future.
1. Digital Art NFTs
Banking on the benefits enabled by blockchain technology like digital scarcity, proof of authenticity and ownership, and economic opportunity creation, a number of digital art NFT collections rose to fame.
The Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks are widely considered some of the most influential digital art NFTs, each featuring unique tokens with distinctive traits and characteristics.
More recently, we’ve seen the emergence of generative art NFTs as a novel category of digital assets and NFT art created not by the human mind but by artificial intelligence.
2. In-Game NFTs
Within a blockchain game, NFTs can play the role of in-game currency and can also represent gaming assets. These normally include any characters or avatars, skins, equipment, add-ons, original content and a wide variety of props. Token holders can trade these both inside and outside the game, opening up the opportunity for real-world financial benefits.
3. Music NFTs
Music NFTs have become an alternative for many musicians seeking a more democratic and fair way of monetizing their content. Superstars like Eminem, Steve Aoki, Jay Z and The Weeknd have released their own NFTs.
Music NFTs open up access to the industry, safeguard ownership rights and allow artists to have direct access to the profits of their work. Moreover, when an artist or band creates an NFT, they can set up the percentage of royalties they’d like to get for every token resale. So every time a song is sold or streamed, musicians get automatically paid without having to go through intermediaries like streaming platforms or money hungry labels.
Eminem made $1.78 million by selling his NFT collection Shady Con. (Source: NME)
4. Collectible NFTs
After digital artwork, one of the most popular types of NFT is undoubtedly collectibles. Given the digital scarcity and rarity enabled by blockchain technology, collectible NTFs have naturally become some of the most sought-after.
Much of the hype comes from fans rushing to buy sports memorabilia, trading cards and limited-edition NFTs by some of the world’s biggest celebrities.
5. Virtual fashion NFTs
As part of a trend-setting industry, fashion houses wholeheartedly embraced blockchain technology and NFTs, even before they became more widely known.
Gucci has built a permanent town inside Roblox after holding a flash campaign inside the same platform last year that was visited by over 20 million players. Burberry has collaborated with Mythical Games to launch a non-fungible token collection in their flagship title, Blankos Block Party.
Dolce & Gabbana’s NFT collection called “Collezione Genesi” generated $6,120,409 in sales. Nike’s RTFKT collection of “Fewo Sneakers” reached $3,100,000 in sales and currently holds second place. “The Burberry Blanko” generated $374,978, Givenchy’s “Chito x Givenchy NFT generated $159,311, and Gucci’s “Gucci Aria” generated $25,000 in sales, as of February 2022. Finally, Louis Vuitton also has an NFT collectible called “Louis the Game,” but it isn’t for sale. (Source: Statista)
6. NFT Tickets
NFT tickets are already being tested by many event holders and promoters. Some of the benefits of leveraging blockchain technology in this context include fraud prevention, economic opportunity, speed and cost reduction.
For instance, take NBA TopShot – an official, NBA-licensed NFT marketplace where users can buy, sell, and trade video highlights from NBA matches, has generated $955.62 million worth of trade volume since its release in 2020. As of right now, there are 563,821 traders on the platform who made 19,194,254 sales between them. (Source: Dapp Radar)
7. NFT Memes
Blockchain technology is making favorite viral memes a lucrative enterprise as well. Just take “Doge”, everyone's beloved Shiba Inu internet dog. That meme sold for an eye-watering $4 million last year. Other classic memes have also managed to reach impressive price tags, further underscoring the financial potential simple pictures have in the crypto world.
“Disaster Girl” was sold for $573,136 at an auction. “Nyan Cat” price reached $515,817, while, “Overly Attached Girlfriend,” was sold for $459,260. Outside the top three, the highest-selling meme NFTs include “Grumpy Cat,” which was sold for $100,860, “Bad Luck Brian,” for $45,517, “Leave Britney Alone” for $43,027, and “Success Kid” for $35,204. (Source: Statista)
8. Virtual Real Estate NFTs
Real estate prices in some of the biggest metaverse-like platforms saw a surge of as much as 500% last year, in part thanks to big brands like Nike and Gucci investing in their presence in virtual worlds. (Source: DappRadar) For many, having a real estate non-fungible token is a much better use of blockchain technology.
9. Fundraising NFTs
As the crypto sphere continues evolving, NFT fundraising is emerging as a valuable tool for generating capital and raising funds, in particular for charitable organizations and NGOs. Typically, this process unfolds in two ways:
- Standard sale of NFTs for profit;
- Raising money towards a specific cause.
In addition, nowadays, people have become interested in donating in the form of NFTs and cryptocurrency. This has many advantages for a charity institution as they can choose to keep the funds and let the investment grow over time (as an endowment) or convert the crypto donation into fiat money.
10. Domain Name NFTs
Non-fungible tokens are centered on the idea of ownership and authenticity of digital assets. On the internet, domain names allow users to find specific websites, connecting people to the information they’re looking for. NFT domains follow the same idea, but allow users to purchase a specific name without having to use a traditional domain register.
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In addition to the above, there are also less common types of NFTs, such as NFT with access keys or tokens, and many others.
Thus, when trying to guess in which direction the NFT market will develop in the future, it seems very likely that mixed types of NFTs, containing several values, will appear soon.
Possibly, someone will release NFTs with already traded tokens inside, allowing developing and existing projects to organize token sales in an innovative manner. This would also create a brand new yet vast secondary market for the users.