Let’s talk about the future of the NFT. Not in terms of an NFT market analysis, or even necessarily NFT growth. Instead, let’s consider the fact that NFTs are the future, and discuss some of the ways that NFTs can change the world.

NFTs will revolutionize the art world

Maybe this is the easiest NFT prediction on our list because it’s already happening. NFTs are shaping the art world in a few key ways.

NFTs allow artists to make money from their work without relying on the nuances and peculiarities of the private art market. For centuries artists have depended on others – critics, appraisers, and other artists – to vet their work and determine its value. In many ways, the art market has dictated who can buy and sell art, and what types are worth investing in. 

With NFTs, any artist can sell their digital artwork for whatever a consumer wants to pay for it. They can receive a royalty for future sales of that same work of art. Any artist, regardless of art market pedigree, can sell digital art for millions of dollars if that’s what consumers will pay. Fortune reiterates, “NFTs introduce the concept of digital scarcity to art and collectibles, granting more economic power to those who make the content.”

NFTs also provide the art buyer with a permanent certificate of ownership on the blockchain. This verifiable ownership concept is already being applied to non-digital art and objects like real estate. We expect that this utilization of blockchain technology will continue to grow.

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NFTs are democratizing

An important element of NFT popularity is that they have a democratizing function. First, there is the democratization of art that we discussed above. Additionally, NFTs are already being sold as memberships into organizations, clubs, or even movements. In this model, an individual can buy into a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), with NFT ownership giving them voting rights. As XRToday puts it, “DAOs are a great means for fans and creators of NFT projects to come together and contribute to ideas for its future.”

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NFTs can foster decentralization

Decentralization is a powerful tool, and is a part of how NFTs will help change the world. Along with Web3 and other metaverse technologies, NFTs are putting more decision-making influence into the hands of more people who are outside of traditional power structures. Through decentralization, larger businesses cannot regulate the parameters of this autonomous community.

XRToday explains that DAOs “build on this focal concept of decentralization, introducing organizations run by groups of people with no typical business hierarchy. In a DAO, the rules and transactions of the group are recorded and managed on the blockchain, removing the requirement for central entities.” 

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NFTs promote engagement and community

We think that the biggest way that NFTs will change the world is by helping brands cultivate communities of fans and supporters that will be engaged and loyal. This connection with community has everything to do with the predictions we made earlier. 

The decentralized and democratic nature of the NFT space puts power in the hands of the consumer and the creator, cutting out the middlemen of corporate-owned ecosystems. In the decentralized future of NFT and Web3, users can choose where to spend their money and where to spend their time. 

A carefully crafted NFT project, with a superb roadmap and some folks to rally behind it, can begin to form a community for and with the NFT creator. This is true for an individual artist, and it’s true for a brand. The secret is in the engagement process. 

As we’ve said in our blog on building sticky online communities, “These days, it’s not enough to create a social media account and hope that a community springs up around you. In fact, it’s largely the opposite — so you’ll need to be intentional about the process.” And this is where the NFT roadmap comes in. 

The roadmap is your chance to be transparent, telling your potential community what you plan to give them for their money, and how you intend to keep them engaged after the NFT transaction. Offering a cool NFT collection is nice, but offering people a chance to be connected to something, and to share some creative connection with your brand is the true potential of the non-fungible token. 

As our Head of Growth, Michael Walton, puts it, “NFTs will create stronger movements. Because you have skin in the game, and you have a way to communicate a common goal, you will have stronger movements that are aligned in values. And decisions made are stronger, because it’s not one person deciding it, it’s a collective.”

With NFTs, brands can increase brand loyalty and monetize their audience. 

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