2022 : Year of NFTs on Internet Computer

Non-fungible tokens, popularly known as NFTs, are here to stay, and you can expect the NFT marketplace to continue to expand in 2022 as mass adoption continues across various blockchains. Today, we are going to look at six reasons you may want to invest in NFT projects to diversify your portfolio, assuming you haven’t done so already. Along the way, we will consider some of the best NFTs to invest in and what the future may hold as NFTs continue their explosive growth.

What Are the Benefits of Using Non-Fungible Tokens?

First, we need to take a look at the benefits of NFTs because the fact of the matter is that non-fungible tokens are growing beyond just being art on the blockchain. This is the first reason I’m bullish on NFTs in 2022 – Utility.

BTC Flower #1582 holds the current record for the largest sale at 777 ICP (over $15,000)

“What’s in it for me?” is the question being asked by collectors. Adding utility to the tokens is the answer. Let’s take an example from BTC Flower, arguably the best NFT to invest in on the Internet Computer blockchain after seeing 27x gains in just the first three weeks for investors who participated in the public sale. So what is the utility of this NFT (besides being incredible art from the world-famous Ludo)?

· DAO – The Flower Power DAO provides voting rights to the community, allowing collectors to help direct the project’s future endeavors.

· Airdrops – ETH and ICP Flowers slated for release later in the year will be dropped for free to BTC Flower holders.

· Collaborations – There is already a collaboration in place with DJ White Shadow to release an NFT collection, and owning a BTC Flower allows the collector to take part in a private presale of this and other future collaborations. There is also a fashion collaboration in the works to produce BTC Flower apparel.

Another huge benefit when it comes to NFTs is Community. People want to feel a part of something larger than themselves. Some of the most successful NFT projects use Discord, Twitter, DSCVR, Telegram, and other platforms to connect collectors, make announcements, play games, and build a fun environment for everyone to collect and enjoy one another’s company.

An example of stellar community building on the Internet Computer is the ICPets community. Many people invest in NFT projects for the same reason they buy products at the store. They hear about it from a friend or through marketing.

ICPets has built up a wonderful community by being active daily in their Discord server and by interacting with the community across various social media platforms. They even dedicated a percentage of funds from their initial sale for future marketing efforts – a smart business plan for NFT developers to follow.

Rise of NFTs

Just a few years ago, the entire NFT market added up to about $41 million in sales. In 2021, that number was into the billions, and 2022 is not showing any signs of slowing down. That leads me to the third reason I’m bullish on NFTs in 2022 – Mass Adoption.

I think Gigiaverse Labs understands the importance of this well. They already have two extremely successful projects on the Internet Computer, with ICPunks and ICats being the number one and number nine projects in terms of market cap.

However, they have also released projects on the Ethereum blockchain as well as on Polygon, a layer-two Ethereum solution. Next up is Solana. But rather than keeping their efforts spread out where a collector would have to have multiple wallets and logins, their goal is to create a unified NFT marketplace where you can invest in NFTs on multiple chains.

Another significant factor contributing to the rise of NFTs is Gaming. There is no shortage of gaming NFTs when it comes to the Internet Computer. ICmoji is leading the way with their first game, ICmoji Origins. It’s free-to-play using three characters that rotate daily. But if you want to build and save teams or play in the weekly tournament for prizes, you need to own the ICmoji NFTs you intend to use. A new collection is also getting ready to drop, which will add to the number of mojis for use in an upcoming PVE game (ICmoji Adventures).

ICmoji Origins - the 1st NFT video game on the Internet Computer - Tournament mode is now active

ICSnakes is an NFT with a playable game inside the NFT! They’ve already had one contest for users that resulted in prizes for those who could score the most points using a challenging mode of the game. While the Snakes team is busy working on their own NFT marketplace, they are also planning a multi-player game.

Ahihi won ICSnakes' 1st season with this impressive display - every NFT in the collection is a fully playable game.

Other NFT projects looking to add a game in 2022 include Cronic Critters, Dfinity Space Apes, IC Puppies/Kitties, ICTurtles, Dfinity Bulls, and there are other projects that have either teased or at least hinted at the possibility of a game in the future, such as Poked bots.

Last but certainly not least, the ICPSquad P2E game is coming later this year. Don't forget to mint your avatar now! You can learn more about the minting process here.

There are already 5,104 ICPSquad members! Join today and prepare for Season 0

What to Expect in 2022

The last two reasons I’m bullish in 2022 may be the biggest reasons to invest in NFTs. First, I want you to think about Integration.

The DFINITY Foundation released the Internet Computer's Bitcoin developer preview on Feb 3

The Internet Computer is set to launch integration with the Bitcoin blockchain by the end of Q1, and that introduces a whole new blockchain to NFTs since Bitcoin doesn’t have smart contract capabilities on its own. The many rising De-Fi platforms on the Internet Computer such as Infinity Swap, ICP Swap, Sonic, Liquid ICP, and more will help bring De-Fi to an entirely new subset of blockchain users. Then, later in the year, Ethereum integration will link the Internet Computer to the number one blockchain to invest in NFTs at the moment. Who knows what other blockchains could see integration in the future?

I’ll conclude with what is on everyone’s mind in 2022 – the Metaverse.

From ICGallery to ICPBunny, many projects are talking about building the metaverse on the Internet Computer. 2022 is going to see many projects reach their goal and begin to collaborate with one another to bring more and more NFTs into the metaverse. Perhaps we will even see some of these metaverse projects fuse as some become more popular or successful than others.

In the end, NFTs will be your ticket to enjoying the metaverse in 2022 and beyond. The entire Dfinity Community looks forward to seeing you there.