Remember the heady days of *checks calendar* less than six months ago, when NFTs had sky-high values? Well, if you felt pangs of uncertainty at the time, and wondered if it was all a bit bubble-y, then imagine how the people who bought NFTs at that time feel now. “OpenSea turns into NFT ghost-town after volume plunges 99% in 90 days” is the headline in crypto news outlet Coin Telegraph, and it isn’t one that inspires huge confidence in the NFT space. Neither does the sub-headline “NFT bubble is bursting” or the data that shows that the floor price – ie the minimum that someone will pay – of a Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT has dropped by 53% since May’s high.
Of course, huge and rapid spikes and troughs are de rigueur in CryptoLand, where steady growth from investments with intrinsic value are boring, and going to the moon is the whole point for many people. Back then, lots of people got very rich very quickly (at least, they did if they then flipped that crypto into fiat money) selling NFTs or selling real estate in the metaverse, and so on – and all their new money felt like a good counterargument to the people who wondered out loud where the actual value was in these things being bought at such expense. Now, those NFTs they sold are worth a lot less, or to put it another way, the people that bought them may have own something that is now worth a whole lot less than they paid for it. But, of course, this is crypto, and prices may rise again soon.
To reiterate our long-held view: web3 tech and NFTs are going to be useful pieces of digital technology that can support entirely new businesses in the music business, just like the email protocol does. But the OpeanSea trading volume (along with this headline, from the same publication: “‘Most of crypto is still junk’ and lacks use case — JPMorgan blockchain head”) is worth devoting some thought to.
As ever: if you’re considering using web3 technology, seek out the true usefulness and make sure it enables something of value beyond a spiky price.
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