NFT should not just be a trend for profile pictures; what it truly aims to do is to bring "ownership" onto the blockchain and establish a property order belonging to the digital world. To survive, it is essential to clarify value, create genuine scenarios, and stabilize mechanisms. The most critical aspect is: there must be real content, real value, and real transactions. Only then can NFTs truly transform from "speculative tools" into "rights confirmation tools," allowing digital content to possess identity, value, and vitality on the blockchain.
After discussing SocialFi, let's take a look at NFT projects.
What is NFT for?
NFT, short for Non-Fungible Token, is a non-homogeneous token. In simple terms, it is "a collectible on the blockchain," which can be an image, a piece of music, a video, or even a piece of code, signifying "uniqueness and non-replicability." It is one of the earliest concepts to gain traction in Web3, and everyone knows that "profile pictures can sell for millions," with many first hearing about blockchain through it.
NFT aims to redefine the concept of "ownership," allowing digital works to be confirmed and traded like physical items. However, from the peak to the trough, the NFT space has exposed several issues:
1. Too much speculation, too few applications:
In 2021, NFTs exploded in popularity, with top profile pictures selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars. But as the hype faded, it became clear that most projects were merely re-skinned speculative plays without real use cases. Data from 2024 shows that over 80% of NFT projects became worthless within a year, unable to withstand the bear market. Web3 games have not taken off, music NFTs lack platforms, and the infrastructure for tickets/membership cards has not been built, leaving far fewer NFTs that are "usable" compared to those that are "hyped."
2. Lack of transparency in value, irrational pricing:
Many NFTs lack clear pricing logic, relying solely on "faith" and "community consensus." What you claim is worth 100 ETH today might drop to 0.1 ETH tomorrow. Artistic value, practical value, and financial value are all mixed together without a unified standard, making it difficult for users to understand and for project teams to clarify, leaving only "you throw, I catch."
3. Closed circles, new users can't enter:
The NFT community has a strong culture, but the sense of exclusivity is too strong. New users do not understand what "floor price" or "blue chip" means, and by the time their wallets are connected, the whitelist has already been snatched up. In 2024, new users on NFT platforms accounted for less than 10%, with traffic being consumed by old players, lacking a path to break the circle.
4. Weak rights for creators:
In theory, NFTs can help creators confirm rights and share profits, but in reality, platforms take a cut, image theft and plagiarism occur, and secondary market resale profits are not properly distributed, leaving the interests of original creators unprotected. Many artists even report that "issuing NFTs is not as good as starting a Patreon."
Now, looking at this NFT project, what problems does it solve?
If you say you are not speculating, what practicality does your NFT have? What rights can it empower? Is there a real scenario supporting its value?
If you say your value is clear, what is your pricing logic based on? Is there algorithmic support? Is there scarcity or a basis for consensus?
If you say you support creators, how do you confirm rights? How do you share profits? How do you protect originality? Is there on-chain tracking and automatic revenue sharing?
Ultimately, we must return to these three points:
- Are you more transparent, fairer, and easier to circulate than traditional copyright/collecting systems? Can you apply more effectively than existing NFT projects?
- Do you have technological or mechanism innovations? For example, cross-chain circulation, or the linkage between NFTs and DeFi/DAO?
- Are there real works being issued? Are there real users buying? Are there real creators participating? Rather than just "speculating on the floor price, snatching whitelists, and passing the baton."
NFT should not just be a trend for profile pictures; what it truly aims to do is to bring "ownership" onto the blockchain and establish a property order belonging to the digital world. To survive, it is essential to clarify value, create genuine scenarios, and stabilize mechanisms. The most critical aspect is: there must be real content, real value, and real transactions. Only then can NFTs truly transform from "speculative tools" into "rights confirmation tools," allowing digital content to possess identity, value, and vitality on the blockchain.
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