- NFTs are digital assets exploding in popularity and value right now.
- David Pakman is a VC backing
NBA Top Shot , one of the most successful mainstream NFTs. - Pakman says the popularity will continue growing and major brands will create their own.
Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, have jumped into the mainstream recently.
NFTs are digital assets that have been around since 2017, and in 2020 they became a $250 million market. Creators are already realizing the potential to make millions in the relatively new space. $4 sold her digital collection for $5.8 million in a 20-minute auction. A Miami art collector sold a 10-second video for $4 The $4 online marketplace has done over $4 in sales in just the last week.
Venture capitalist David Pakman is a partner at $4 an investor in the company behind
NFTs are still tiny, but they're poised to blow up
Based on the hype over the last few weeks, it seems as if everyone is in the
Of those buyers, 60 to 70% are new to the crypto world, so Top Shot is actually introducing them to NFTs as a concept.
Top Shot and NFTs are "going to grow to be so much bigger than they are right now," Pakman said. Top Shot was launched in October, but it's still in beta. There's been "no marketing, it's just been organic."
"Some NBA players have tweeted about it," he said about Top Shot's massive growth. "We're not trying to create additional demand right now."
Expect digital collectibles from Star Wars, Harry Potter, and other pop culture icons
The NBA's massive early success in early NFTs is probably just a peek at what we're going to see more of, Pakman says.
"I'm sure you'll see Star Wars, Harry Potter, all super popular global IP," will eventually get into digital collectibles. "Those $4 have touched hundreds of millions of people" he notes, and as long as they have internet access they're all potential customers.
Creating digital collectibles is a smart money decision, too. Digital collectibles, compared to analog items, are software, so the creator can continue to make money as it is resold.
"In the physical world, you get a percent of revenue when the plush is sold the first time, but if it goes up in value and people sell it at a flea market, you don't get anything on downstream sales," Pakman said as an example.
Creating digital scarcity like NFTs then becomes a compelling business model to giant companies like Disney, so more of them will create in the space. Creating an ongoing economic relationship, rather than a one-time sale, is very interesting to companies with popular brands.
"You'll get paid forever," as Pakman puts it.
Gen Z is ready to embrace NFTs
Gen Z - widely considered the $4, having grown up using the internet - has over $4 in spending power already. This ease and willingness to $4 can translate into adopting NFTs. They are also used to fast, liquid, global markets for nearly anything - which is exactly what makes NFTs different from analog collectibles.
While