NFT is not a JPEG! BAYC proved it

Its logical outcome should be a change in the public paradigm in the perception of non-fungible tokens: these are not only funny pictures with monkeys or pixelated punks worth a great deal of money.

So, what is NFT in terms of investing?

By purchasing your NF token, you establish the right to own the selected object (which does not have to be a picture at all). The token itself is a bytecode that provides access to data generation that is invariably enshrined in a unique identifier. Then interested applications (for example, marketplaces) access the address specified in the identifier, gaining the ability to download the corresponding files.

Thus, the buyers of NFT obtain the rights to something of collectible, creative, practical, or investment interest for them. Essentially, this is no different from buying other rights (e.g., a contract for the purchase or lease of real estate).

Obviously, there are clear differences in content and form: the NFT object is digitalized and tokenized, and the history of the negotiation of rights to it is securely and permanently recorded in the blockchain. Since this trend was massively picked up by progressive artists whose copyrights were less protected, the “pixel image” of the industry was formed.

It’s worth remembering that the true commercial potential of global media platforms like Instagram or TikTok wasn’t immediately realized by their influencers either. And once comprehended, it was far from immediately materialized and capitalized.

Successful NFT collectors are very similar to insta-stars: both understand the nuances that “work”. The pages and stories of top bloggers can be entertaining; at the same time, it can be funny when beginners broadcast their daily lives to the world, being inspired by their idols. To think that it’s just about the image is a fatal shallowness.

For example, the ecosystem of the most iconic NFT project in the world, Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), today includes not only collections of instantly recognizable “bored apes” and “mutants” but also the Otherside metaverse, which very quickly became one of the largest sellers of virtual land bought by rap gangsters like Snoop Dog.

Another secret of the project’s success is the community, which includes many influential celebrities. It has become fashionable to have any NFT from BAYC, branded merchandise stands out at major sports shows, and NFT images replace avatars on social networks of top stars.

The Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT sale is becoming an event, with former owners writing on their pages that they are sad for their tokens and believe that they will meet again in the future. There are already full-fledged clips (as it was in the last work of Eminem and Snoop Dogg) and festivals (Ape Fest) that are dedicated to “Apes”.

This whole subculture has nothing in common with cynical crypto speculators who measure success in dollars and “x’s”. It’s not a JPEG that you’re buying!