I've read a lot of very well meaning, starry-eyed opinions of NFTs and to be honest, most of what is claimed is true. But it belies the pragmatic reason that NFTs are popular: mass speculation.
People have been collecting things for years, often at prices that make outsiders scratch their heads. The difference is that the current mainstream hype around NFTs has nothing to do with the true fandom of collectibles of yesteryear, where speculation is a side-effect of scarcity. Current NFT hype is rooted solely in the fact that some people are (seemingly) making money flipping NFTs.
If there was a huge market for buying digital collectibles from artists, athletes, etc pre-NFT then we would see large markets for that. It's not as if there was anything stopping A-list celebs from dropping limited availability collectibles...there just must not have been much demand for it. Gaming has seen healthy digital asset economies because there is utility to use these items in-game. But prices have remained moderated because there is (usually) no secondary market, so people are paying roughly whatever utility they gain from using the items in-game.
So whilst NFTs have potential, and I'm sure we will see some successes, the current popularity is simply down to speculation, as with pretty much everything else crypto.
It's also market manipulation. Most of the celebrities are just hypemen who get a cut for helping someone sitting on a ton of crypto pump NFTs and then dump them on idiots who bought into the get rich quick hype.
People have been collecting things for years, often at prices that make outsiders scratch their heads. The difference is that the current mainstream hype around NFTs has nothing to do with the true fandom of collectibles of yesteryear, where speculation is a side-effect of scarcity. Current NFT hype is rooted solely in the fact that some people are (seemingly) making money flipping NFTs.
If there was a huge market for buying digital collectibles from artists, athletes, etc pre-NFT then we would see large markets for that. It's not as if there was anything stopping A-list celebs from dropping limited availability collectibles...there just must not have been much demand for it. Gaming has seen healthy digital asset economies because there is utility to use these items in-game. But prices have remained moderated because there is (usually) no secondary market, so people are paying roughly whatever utility they gain from using the items in-game.
So whilst NFTs have potential, and I'm sure we will see some successes, the current popularity is simply down to speculation, as with pretty much everything else crypto.