After a long day of doom scrolling on Twitter, you might leave behind a crowd of verified NFT profiles featuring apes and punks to switch to another social media channel for a new stream of content.
Except now, chances are the whole horde of monkeys, punks, zombies and others are following you around the internet. New data has revealed that the NFT market is accumulating terrific numbers – and social media giants are ready to cash in on the trend.
Notice me, metaverse!
Data from Messari Research showed that the market cap of the NFT market was more than $15 billion. What’s more interesting, however, is the composition of the sector. NFT avatars made up the largest share of the market cap with a value of close to $8 billion.
Messari analyst Mason Nystrom also Noted that NFT avatars were more valuable than NFT games, art, and collectibles combined.
He admitted the difficulties of a market drawdown, but added,
“However, the long-term horizon of the NFT ecosystem is bright as the NFT industry continues to expand as newcomers enter the space and new companies issue non-fungible tokens based on existing or new intellectual property.”
Talk about the devil…
The newcomers have certainly caused a stir in the NFT ecosystem, and how. While Twitter’s unveiling of verified NFT profile pictures has sparked both appreciation and controversy, another platform has now joined the team: Only Fans.
The content subscription platform – thought to be friendly for creators monetizing adult content – shared that users could display verified NFTs as their profile picture. OnlyFans’ CEO explained this was to “empower creators.”
However, we need to look deeper. OnlyFans told Reuters that it only supported Ethereum-made NFTs at the time and verified NFTs with an Ethereum icon. This drastically narrows the options for DeFi enthusiasts. This also raises the issue of the popularity of the verified NFT profile picture feature when users have to deal with extravagant gas charges.
Wen sequel?
Things are heating up in the NFT space as more blockchains race to add NFT functionality for their users, in an attempt to shake Ethereum’s dominance. What’s more, new NFT marketplaces are rising to challenge OpenSea’s trading volumes. If that wasn’t proof enough, metaverse coins are getting popular, with even Grayscale Investments considering them.
With digital giants like Meta and Twitter investigating NFT features and a rising market cap, it looks like the monkeys and punks are here to stay.
