11 NFT Trends to Watch in 2022 (and Beyond)

Recent NFT Trends include various artwork, valuable collections, and big brand participation in established communities.

These are the hottest trends in the NFT world that are developing discussions around crypto’s newest subculture.

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Let’s take a look at the latest NFT trends in our compilation below.

11 NFT Trends to Look Out for in 2022 (and Beyond)

Taking Out Loans Using NFTs
Big Brands Jumping on the NFT wagon
NFT Take on Hollywood
A Home Away from Home
Fashionable NFTs are now in style
Intellectual Property Rears its Head
Social Media Gets a Piece of the NFT Action
Crypto Exchanges Begin to Sell NFTs
VC Money Flows into NFTs
Alternative Chain Taking Over from Ethereum
Increasing Government Regulation

11 NFT Trends To Keep an Eye on

Following the explosion of NFTs, several new use cases of the technology have been popping up here and there. 2021 saw the introduction of NFTs to decentralized finance, art, gaming, smart contracts, fundraising, and many others. If you are still a novice to NFTs, read more on How to Sell and Make an NFT here.

So, what good tidings do NFT brings into 2020?

Below are some of the top trends you should look out for in 2020.

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1. Taking Out Loans Using NFTs

NFT loans are an emerging use case and Investors are utilizing their NFTs and NFT collections as collateral to get loans for new potential investments and emergencies.

In 2021, many DeFi (decentralized finance) platforms were developed that support NFTs being used as collateral to get loans.

Arcade, for instance, is a DeFi platform that provides NFT-backed loans. Once both the lender and borrower have agreed to the terms, the collection is locked in an escrow account managed by a smart contract issued by Arcade. Until the loan is paid in full or defaulted, the NFT(s) are locked up and irreversible.

NFT is another marketplace where users can put up NFT assets as collateral for loans or offer loans to other users. In exchange for an ETH loan, any ERC-721 token can be used as collateral. The NFT is returned to the borrower once the loan is repaid. If the loan is not paid back, the asset is returned to the lender.

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2. Big Brands Jumping on The NFT Wagon

NFT is gaining interest from different brands from many industries, each devising innovative strategies to get a cut of the action. Limited-edition NFT collectibles are being released by food brands like Taco Bell, McDonald’s, and Campbell’s, as well as luxury labels like Louis Vuitton, Nike, and, Gucci, as a method to raise money for charity, generate new revenue streams, boost social media engagement, and enhance brand loyalty.

Pringles® created its digital collection of crypto-themed crisps with a “virtual flavor” called CryptoCrisp — limited to only 50 copies. The limited-edition NFT is an MP4 file that shows an animated spinning golden Pringles can with the “CryptoCrisp” flavor.

The CryptoCrisp NFTs were priced at the same as a standard Pringles can which is about 0.0013 ETH, or around $2. The NFTs are currently available on Rarible and OpenSea at prices starting at 4 ETH.

Using NFTs to build brand value has become the newest approach in many big brands’ marketing playbooks, and it’s a trend that’s not going away in 2022. As marketers begin to explore innovative branding potential in the metaverse, expect more brand-specific NFTs to be issued by corporations across all industries.

3. NFTs take on Hollywood

NFTs provide up a whole new world of possibilities for crowdfunding, merchandising, and monetizing TV and film projects. Some major industry figures have already started releasing NFT TV series including:

GenZeroes: Set to premiere in March 2022, GenZeroes is a live-action NFT TV series from the House of Kibaa. Only NFTs can be purchased to view the show’s NFT release and episodes. Viewers also get access to a variety of rewards depending on the amount of NFT they buy from fractional ownership of the show to special memorabilia and even graphic comic books.
Stoner Cats: Stoner Cats, an adult animated web comedy about cats who get high, raised $8.4 million in an NFT sale that gave buyers exclusive access to episodes of the show. The NFTs, which serve as a lifelong ticket to stream the concert, are said to have sold out in less than 30 minutes. It’s hardly unexpected, given that Vitalik Buterin (Ethereum developer), Jane Fonda, Ashton Kutcher, Chris Rock, are among the cast members of the program, which is produced by Mila Kunis.

The NFT TV broadcasts are only a small part of a much wider picture. There are also TV shows that aren’t NFTs but are based on NFT characters, such as Time Studios’ Robotos TV series, which is being created by Time Studios, Time Magazine’s film and TV production company.

NFTs are being used to fund many TV shows and film projects, including Men of the House, whose pilot episode was entirely funded by NFT sales.

NFTs have also made their way into televisions, with Samsung announcing an “NFT Aggregation Platform” in its newest TV models (The Frame TV, MICRO LED, and Neo QLED) scheduled for release in 2022. Viewers can utilize the functionality to browse NFTs for sale on a variety of markets and even purchase them right from their television.

It’s a significant endorsement of NFT, and it’s possibly the clearest indicator yet that the entertainment industry and NFTs are only going to get closer in the future.

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4. A Home Away from Home

The real estate market will change, and soon you’ll be able to stroll around in the metaverse and own the area you walk on. It’s currently tough to create an NFT for an entire property, but they’re fantastic ways to share ownership. The NFT works in a similar way to a digital deed that is recorded in a digital ledger. The next stage will be to develop the technology so that metaverse newcomers can buy and sell properties and ‘acres’ of land in the digital realms they enter.

Play-to-earn, land-based NFT games are already being explored by games like The Sandbox, where “LANDS” are owned by users to monetize and build experiences. Check out our best NFT games of 2022 here. The network claims that only 166,464 LANDS will ever be available to provide social experiences to the community, build residences, develop multiplayer experiences, and host games.

It’s not just land that can be farmed in these games; the new metaverse platform Mobox shows how to become involved in MOBOS NFT yield farming.

5. Fashionable NFTs are now in style

By taking NFTs to the next level, fashion and retail enterprises may build a target population that can relate to and comfortably engage with their future offers in order to better position themselves for success.

A groundbreaking partnership between Gucci and Superplastic has resulted in the launch of the SuperGucci NFT, a groundbreaking partnership that brings the unstoppable digital force to runway fans and trendsetters. Gucci is a well-known fashion giant and equally high-end fashion architect who has joined forces with Superplastic to launch the SuperGucci NFT. It’s expected to be accessible on an Insta-ready gadget near you in the near future.

6. Intellectual Property Rears its Head

NFT markets are now being developed to facilitate the trading of intellectual property in the fields of technology and science to help labs raise funds.

RMDS, a California-based data and artificial intelligence (AI) platform is pioneering the movement. They envision connecting investors with scientists as well as linking science and technology IP with associated science lovers, investors, and collectors to enter into NFT sales.

They also plan to open new fundraising channels by March 2022 through the world’s first NFT marketplace for science and technology IP, which will also help to accelerate technology transfer.

7. Social Media Gets a Piece of the NFT Action

There’ve been a lot of speculations on the blockchain grapevine about the possibility of Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok has been mingling in the NFT world in their ways — a well-received and much-anticipated update by social media fans.

Susan Wojcicki, the YouTube CEO, wrote about YouTube’s main priorities for 2022 in her annual letter to creators:

“We’re also looking to the future, and we’ve been watching everything that’s going on in Web3 as a source of inspiration to keep inventing on YouTube.” In the realm of cryptocurrency, nonfungible tokens (NFTs), and even decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), the past year has revealed a previously imagined chance to strengthen the bond between creators and their audience.”

Twitter has been confirmed to support NFTs being used as profile pictures. After a temporary connection to your crypto wallet, you can set up an NFT as your profile picture. Your digital asset is set to display in a special hexagon shape that identifies you as the owner of that NFT. This is expected to resolve the concerns with identity and NFT theft that have been causing a lot of buzz on the site.

Instagram is also pushing selfies to new heights with CEO Adam Mosseri indicating that the company is actively considering the potential for NFT use cases.

8. Crypto Exchanges Begin to Sell NFTs

The previous 18 months have seen an explosion in the demand for NFTs. Until recently, the auction sites that specialize in NFT sales were the major beneficiaries of this development.

However, because NFTs are purchased using cryptocurrency, most consumers must first purchase tokens on a centralized exchange (and then transfer them to a virtual wallet).

Seasoned crypto users won’t have a problem buying and selling NFTs but newcomers would find it a scary experience.

For example, sending Ethereum from one wallet to another can cost anywhere from $50 to $100 or more. Also, the slightest error during the transfer process can result in the funds being lost forever.

With millions of dollars on the line and customers already using crypto trading platforms as a stepping stone, centralized cryptocurrency exchanges have a great chance to enter the NFT industry.

Binance was the first high-profile exchange to reveal its plans, launching its NFT branch in June 2021. Fast forward to today, and two of Binance’s biggest competitors, FTX and Coinbase, have announced plans to launch their own NFT exchanges.

9. VC Money Flows into NFTs

It didn’t come as a surprise to see venture capitalists looking to profit from the NFT rush. The trend began modestly, with industry heavyweight Andreessen Horowitz investing $23 million in OpenSea’s Series A round.

Since then, both the number of VC investments and the cash amounts spent in the NFT area have increased dramatically. Velvet Sea Adventures and 01 Advisors (aka O1A) announced in February 2022 that they will invest $100 million in the NFT platform Pixel Vault, Inc.

The project’s purpose is to use Pixel Vault’s existing intellectual property (especially superhero NFTs) to create a comic book-style series that chronicles key Web3 industry events (and drama).

Around the same time, Tom Brady’s NFT project, Autograph, received a $170 million Series B investment from Andreessen Horowitz and Kleiner Perkins.

Autograph NFTs, unlike most projects, contain more than just “ownership” of digital art. Instead, purchasers gain access to exclusive content, secret communities, and first-hand encounters with the NFT producers (many of which are famous sports stars).

10. Alternative Chains Taking Over from Ethereum

Alternative Chains Challenging Ethereum For NFT Rights

The expenses associated with buying and selling NFTs – which entailed interacting on the Ethereum blockchain – were negligible when the first generation of projects launched in 2017. Fast forward to the summer of 2021, when the NFT rush erupted, the identical costs had skyrocketed into the hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars.

While the fees were a minor annoyance for crypto billionaires and hardcore flippers (some of whom make hundreds of thousands of dollars), they posed a significant barrier to entry for ordinary investors.

To remedy this issue, NFT developers began establishing their applications on less expensive blockchains (like Solana and Avalanche). The sub-dollar fees associated with transacting on alternate chains, on the other hand, attracted a rising number of NFT collectors who couldn’t (or wouldn’t) transact on Ethereum.

Today, alternative chain systems now process NFT volumes worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

11. Increasing Government Regulation

Although cryptocurrency investors aren’t new to government regulating the industry, the government’s interest in regulating NFTs is a relatively new phenomenon.

Regulators have been skeptical of the $20 billion+ NFT business since NFTs are acquired and sold using cryptocurrencies, and the wallets used to do so are (in most cases) anonymous.

The US Treasury Department, in particular, has produced research underlining the fact that NFTs can be used to both launder money and fund terror operations.

Furthermore, not all laws are aimed at illegal activities. The Financial Action Task Force in France is aiming to explain how NFTs should be classed and what specific criteria should be used to establish if an NFT is a virtual asset, security, or something else.

The Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States is likewise seeking to determine which NFTs should and should not be designated securities.

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