What Comes After NFTs?
Some thoughts on what is next after the NFT hype
Hey DEFI TIMES community,
It seems like the NFT hype cycle is coming to an end.
This doesn’t come as a surprise. In fact, it was expected.
In crypto, we have hype cycles, which come and go. Hype waves are nothing new!
No doubt, NFTs were another hype wave in the crypto markets. That doesn’t mean that NFTs are a fad and they will go away soon. Quite the opposite is true: NFTs will change the world… it’s a revolutionary technology!
However, the NFT hype cycle seems to fade right now…
Now, the question is: What’s next?
Let’s go through some possible scenarios!
Listen to our latest episode on NFTs with the LEGEND Adam Draper!
DeFi Is Due For Another Run Up
DeFi has been lagging attention for months now. Even though some of the top layer one projects (Like Avalanche, Solana, Cosmos, etc.) have been performing extremely well, we are yet to see another DeFi-Summer-like scenario.
Especially DeFi Blue Chips on Ethereum, have been underperforming the market. Just take a look at the Aave chart. From the outside, it looks like nothing is really happening in DeFi at the moment:
But when you look closer at how fast DeFi moves, you start to see the big picture. Even though Aave’s price has not been performing well, the community is still working hard to provide incredibly valuable products.
For example, Aave is currently building a decentralized social media platform. In addition to that, Aave is also building Aave Pro, which is an institutional-grade lending and borrowing platform. Aave is truly building awesome products… and prices are yet to catch up!
I’m sure that DeFi is set for another all-time high soon. We are doing nothing less than changing the world because DeFi is revolutionizing the financial system… building globally accessible, fair, and open financial services for everyone!
Sure, gas prices on Ethereum are quite high at the moment. That’s why I personally believe that the next DeFi hype wave will take place on other base chains (Solana, Avalanche, Cosmos, etc.) or on L2 solutions (Optimism, Arbitrum, etc.).
But DeFi is not the only candidate for another big crypto hype wave.
DAOs and Social Tokens
DAOs are going to change the way we work on the internet. DAOs are basically a whole different type of organization we have never seen before. Their structure is completely bottom-up. Nobody is in charge. There is no CEO... no executives.
DAOs are a social experiment questioning the way we work today. There are no applications, contracts, and regular salaries. But the process is quite simple: You provide value, the community decides that your work is valuable, and you get paid for your work.
You can work for multiple DAOs at the same time. Nobody will ever be excluded based on skin color, race, or sexuality. In fact, the nature of DAOs is inherently open, inclusive, and empowering.
It’s safe to say that DAOs are changing our understanding of what work means to us. However, we are yet to see a “DAO season.”
This “DAO season” could come sooner rather than later.
As the DAO space grows, we will see more and more people promoting the idea! It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy!
Play To Earn Games
Play to Earn Games are a very new niche in crypto… and it’s something I personally haven’t researched a lot about!
But Play to Earn games have the potential to bring crypto to the masses - just like NFTs.
NFTs have become big in such a short time because they are fun to use… and you can even make money with them!
NFTs were destined to be the first crypto app to ever reach the mainstream. Just like NFTs, Play to Earn Games could become big in the near future.
The concept is very simple: Users can earn real money or other rewards by simply playing a game!
One of the coolest Play to Earn Games is Axie Infinity. Axie Infinity players earn NFTs or that they can sell for real money. Especially in the Philippines, the game has become extremely popular. Axie Infinity players earn three times as much as the minimum wage - simply by playing.
Could this be the next big thing?
Decentralized Social Media
Decentralized Social Media was supposed to be one of the early use cases of crypto. However, building a great social media platform on top of a blockchain turned out to be way more difficult than expected!
One of the early attempts was Steemit. In 2017, Steemit had massive momentum, hundreds of thousands of daily active users, and billions of dollars in market cap.
The problem was that the underlying blockchain wasn’t scalable enough for millions of users. And after the bull run of 2017… it collapsed!
Since then, we haven’t seen any good attempts to build another decentralized social network… until Aave came along and announced that it will build the next Twitter on Ethereum.
Could this start the next crypto hype wave?
Maybe not in the short term. Aave’s social media protocol is still in early development and they are yet to announce a launch date. Initially, it was planned to launch in late 2021, but I could even imagine it to take until Q1/Q2 2022.
But once it’s launched… we could see interesting things happening.
Decentralized social media protocols are overdue to find a product-market fit!
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DISCLAIMER: All information presented above is meant for informational purposes only and should not be treated as financial, legal, or tax advice. This article's content solely reflects the opinion of the writer, who is not a financial advisor.
Do your own research before you purchase cryptocurrencies. Any cryptocurrency can go down in value. Holding cryptocurrencies is risky.