Bankless: NFTs are evolving, please pay attention to these five trends
The NFT ecosystem is rapidly growing, and its landscape has been constantly changing. Trends such as anime PFP projects, Shitpost NFTs, customizable collectibles, and further integration of NFTfi are expected to gain more traction.Original Title: 《NFT themes on the rise》
Original Author: William M. Peaster, Bankless
Translation: Yangz
The NFT ecosystem is experiencing a period of rapid growth.
Consequently, the landscape of this field has been changing, and this constant flux often leads to the rapid emergence of NFT trends.
At this point, some newer NFT themes have made significant progress recently, or in my opinion, are about to make progress.
So, let’s take a look at five NFT trends that I believe are poised to gain further traction in the second quarter of 2022.
1. Anime PFP Projects
Delphi Digital NFT expert Teng recently pointed out that around March 2022, the NFT economy seemed to enter its third major market cycle since June 2021.
If we look at the trading volume, a key indicator of the NFT economy, we can break it down into several phases:
- Pre-inflection point (before June 21)
- First cycle (June 21 to the end of October): Art frenzy
- Second cycle (end of October to March 21): PFP frenzy
- Third cycle (March 21 - ?)
So, what is driving this new wave of activity? Teng believes a major contributing factor is the explosive rise of the anime-themed Azuki NFT series since January 2022.
Typically, a trigger point can spark a new wave of attention. In this case, Azuki opened the third cycle with its reputation for "better art" and being "the next BAYC."
It is the third PFP project to break the 30 ETH/$100,000 barrier; previously, only BAYC and Punks had achieved this, while MAYC was close.
Azuki's rapid popularity has also sparked a new wave of other anime NFT projects throughout the ecosystem, such as Akuma, Kiwami, Shinsekai, and more. Therefore, in the coming months, momentum and trend will make anime PFP a major trend.
2. Shitpost NFTs
"I haven't actively traded NFTs in a while, not sure what's at the top of the rankings today."
frankfrank…
Wikipedia describes shitposting as posting "offensive, ironic, low-quality" content online. The frankfrank project, launched a day ago, represents the booming development of shitpost NFTs, or at least symbolizes this type decisively entering the NFT ecosystem mainstream. This project is hard to explain because there’s really nothing to explain, but the nearly 2000 ETH in trading around frank NFTs since the project’s launch speaks for itself. Don’t ignore truly strange things.
3. Customizable Collectibles
Image Source: HyperLoot
The minting of HyperLoot began this week, which is a new NFT project within the broader Lootverse. I’ve seen many people say they really enjoyed the minting experience, and I understand why: it allows for a very fun way to customize your character! And this is just the latest example of NFT collectibles allowing minters to personalize their NFTs, and I look forward to this trend becoming an increasingly popular way for future projects. It makes collecting a shared entertainment process, and I believe this momentum can have many positive downstream effects on collectibles.
4. More "NFTfi" Integrations
Image Source: The Idols
The Idols is a recently launched NFT project, whose collectibles are backed by ETH or stETH staked with Lido, a yield token increasingly popular in DeFi. Additionally, the fixed and variable yield DeFi protocol Element Finance has just launched its own Elfiverse NFT collection.
Whether it’s a community-operated project like The Idols or an official DeFi project like Elfiverse, there’s no doubt that we are about to see more DeFi + NFT experiments. So, keep an eye on the "NFTfi" track.
5. Full-Chain NFTs
Image Source: Gem
My previous Metaversal article was about full-chain NFTs, but since then I’ve seen more full-chain NFT collections emerging, so I think I should reiterate that we will see more such projects in the near future. The recent heat of this trend stems from the launch of the Layer Zero protocol, an interoperability protocol that allows blockchains to easily communicate with each other. This capability opens up new possibilities for NFTs, so I am very much looking forward to seeing more early experiments around full-chain technology in the near future.
