The NFT space, in its primary form as an art marketplace, is doomed.

History has already shown why. The advent of the printing press skewed the value of creativity. Visual art could proliferate (to be commoditized) and an ever-widening price gulf was created between originality and consumables.

The recent Azuki saga exposed this. Churn out replicas of a collection of replicas and a floor price vaporizes.

It doesn’t matter if it was an honest misjudgement, cash grab, or whatever else - it simply exposed a truth: 99.9% of NFT art isn’t very good, tokenized or not.

Which means that it likely has less than zero value when you factor in the gas cost to send it to the dEaD zone and scrub a wallet.

It isn’t all doom and gloom. OG collections, forged over time, will likely thrive. The lore behind the frothy success of CryptoPunks, BAYC, and Fidenza will be hard to shake.

Generic collections with existing, strong communities have a shot at maturing if they can realize promised creative development.

A handful of 1:1 artists could eclipse both of the above in terms of largest individual sales. All down to their unique talent.

The overall NFT space might enjoy bounces alongside any wider bull market, but it’s rekt. For good.

Instead, the real opportunity is likely in NFTs with utility.

Think: GameFi assets in the first successful Web3 titles. Social access tokens that enable exclusive community memberships. Established global brands translating their values onto blockchains. Tokenized representations of IRL collectibles.

These are NFTs where external value exists beyond any combination of ranked visual traits.

It’s time to stop producing variations of Space Robo Bull #3409, with common blue mohawk and almost-rare Feels Good Man shirt, and focus on integrating qualities over copycat artwork.

The NFT space, in its primary form as an art marketplace, is doomed.

History has already shown why. The advent of the printing press skewed the value of creativity. Visual art could proliferate (to be commoditized) and an ever-widening price gulf was created between originality and consumables.

The recent Azuki saga exposed this. Churn out replicas of a collection of replicas and a floor price vaporizes.

It doesn’t matter if it was an honest misjudgement, cash grab, or whatever else - it simply exposed a truth: 99.9% of NFT art isn’t very good, tokenized or not.

Which means that it likely has less than zero value when you factor in the gas cost to send it to the dEaD zone and scrub a wallet.

It isn’t all doom and gloom. OG collections, forged over time, will likely thrive. The lore behind the frothy success of CryptoPunks, BAYC, and Fidenza will be hard to shake.

Generic collections with existing, strong communities have a shot at maturing if they can realize promised creative development.

A handful of 1:1 artists could eclipse both of the above in terms of largest individual sales. All down to their unique talent.

The overall NFT space might enjoy bounces alongside any wider bull market, but it’s rekt. For good.

Instead, the real opportunity is likely in NFTs with utility.

Think: GameFi assets in the first successful Web3 titles. Social access tokens that enable exclusive community memberships. Established global brands translating their values onto blockchains. Tokenized representations of IRL collectibles.

These are NFTs where external value exists beyond any combination of ranked visual traits.

It’s time to stop producing variations of Space Robo Bull #3409, with common blue mohawk and almost-rare Feels Good Man shirt, and focus on integrating qualities over copycat artwork.