An NFT (non-fungible token) may seem incomprehensible or worthless, but when we enter the gaming universe, it’s clear what users see in their avatars, shields, weapons, spells and bonuses.
Similarly, when someone buys a photograph or an autographed item, that person knows that there are similar ones or copies, but chooses to pay to have an exclusive item.
In this sense, it is understandable that some people want to collect digital items that are registered on the blockchain. For example, we have some NFT collections that gained status after some of their items crossed the $10,000 mark. Meet some of them.
Clone X, Nike’s NFT collection
Clone X is a collection of 20,000 NFTs created by studio RTFKT in collaboration with artist Takashi Murakami.
The initial offering in November 2021 attracted so many interested parties that the solution was to sell each digital artwork for 2 ETH. The success of the collection culminated in the purchase of studio RTFKT by Nike, a brand of sports clothing and sneakers, marking its entry into the metaverse.
The 3D-style images depict humans, robots, angels, demons, etc. Clone X #4594 sold for 450 ETH on the OpenSea marketplace in late 2021, equivalent to $600,000 at the time.
Azuki, the anime from the metaverse The Garden
This NFT collection released in January 2022 is composed of unique digital arts in the anime segment (Japanese cartoons). The 10,000 non-fungible tokens sold out within minutes, raising around $31 million.
Azuki was created with The Garden metaverse in mind, a unique virtual world where Web3 enthusiasts, artists and interested parties come together to build a decentralized future.
Chiru Labs is the company behind this release, which created some controversy, as one of its co-founders, “Zagabond”, had participated in three other projects that ended up being abandoned. This disheartened the Azuki community and caused the collection to lose value.
Meet y00ts, the digital sheep
If the bored apes were successful in the Bored Apes collection, why not bet on friendly sheep? That was the proposal of the y00ts collection, created by the company Dust Labs, which previously launched the NFT DeGods project, another success in the segment.
Each y00t has unique characteristics, totaling 15,000 items in the form of non-fungible tokens. The launch took place on the Solana network, evading the high registration fees on the Ethereum blockchain. The cost to create a digital ram was 375 DUST tokens.
Another novelty of this project is that the intellectual property (the rights over the image and brand) belong to the community. As such, there is a public record and approval is required for commercial use of these images.
What is Pudgy Penguins?
Pudgy Penguins is a collection of cute hand-drawn penguin images. Each of the 8,888 items has its own characteristics and accessories, which are recorded in the ERC-721 format on the Ethereum network.
The project was launched in July 2021 by a group of developers using nicknames and its success was instantaneous: all images sold out in less than 20 minutes.
However, the project’s hype proved excessive, with promises of games, movies, and prize giving that never materialized. In the end, the fights between the creators ended up bringing down the quotation of this NFT collection.
Is it worth buying NFT?
The NFT buyer needs to understand that these digital collectibles do not compare to cryptocurrencies as each item is unique. Thus, in addition to the price varying between each piece, the liquidity of this market is very fragmented.
A cryptocurrency can be immediately sold on any exchange, decentralized or traditional, and even converted into cash. In the case of non-fungible tokens, the holder is left to advertise his item on markertplaces and wait for an interested party to appear who offers or agrees to pay a fair price.
Bearing in mind the differences between these markets, it can be rewarding, even emotional, to collect these digital items.