Most Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), a unique asset stored on the blockchain that cannot be replicated (unless you can right-click), have no value. While I’m no fan of lifeless Bored Apes, I’m not saying that just to be mean—cryptocurrency analysts dappGambl determined that out of the 73,257 total NFT collections it analysed, 69,795 had a 0 Ether (ETH) market cap. Which is to say, $US0.
Even when looking at 8,850 brand-name, top NFT collections like CryptoPunks, 18 per cent of them now have a $US0 floor price, and 41 percent are worth between $US5 and $US100, “which may signal a lack of perceived value among these digital assets,” dappGambl surmises.
And, if it’s possible, “the situation may even be bleaker than these numbers suggest,” the analytics site continues.
For example, MacContract on Ethereum has a floor price of $US13,234,204.2, but its all-time sales is only $US18. This stark discrepancy between listed floor prices and actual sales data exposes a significant issue in the NFT market—inflated valuations that don’t reflect genuine buyer interest or real-world transactions.
Do NFTs have a future?
It’s a little funny to hear NFTs being undone in such grim specifics; they suck the life out of Earth and too often look like bad MS Paint jobs. I’m okay with dancing on NFTs’ grave. But dappGambl’s research is depressing for tons of people scammed out of millions through various NFT rug pulls in the crypto zeitgeist over the past two years—including a group of Logan Paul fans still waiting on the $US1.3 million he promised as compensation for his nonexistent, NFT-based game CryptoZoo.
More positively, deepGambl’s research could defang future NFT scams by marking them as what they are: worthless.
But “as the market matures, NFTs are likely to […] pivot from mere collectibles to assets with tangible utility and significance,” dappGambl suggests. I don’t know, I think we should let them rest in peace.