[Report] The Future of Fandom: Give and Take with NFTs

In the past years, blockchain technology has brought us not only cryptocurrencies but also non-fungible tokens, or NFTs. The hype around NFTs took off in 2021 with sales volume hitting $25 billion. Its craze continues to shoot up with no sign of slowing down in the coming years.

NFTs took over 15 billboards in Times Square during NFT.NYC in Nov 2021. Views for TikTok videos tagged #NFT grew by brain-melting 93,000% compared to 2020. There were 17 times more tweets about NFTs than WFH on Twitter in 2021.

People talk about NFTs.  

Many noteworthy entrepreneurs, professional athletes, and celebrities around the globe have already hopped on this virtual train and launched their own NFT collections in various NFT marketplaces. We have analyzed 20 hottest NFT collections launched by celebrities and content creators to see how the NFT trend evolves during times.

Here are the key takeaways:

• Most of these collections are on the Ethereum chain.
• Collections are oversubscribed and sold out in a few hours.
• Some of the collections are with high resale values in the secondary market. Their floor prices might even double their mint prices.
• Early collections focus more on digital artworks. Then we see them presented with music, photographs, videos, or items in NFTs.
• More recent collections are issued with various utilities such as access to community etc.
• Some of the funds raised from launching the NFT collections are used for charities, and content production.

It is not surprising that celebrities and content creators are catching the NFT wave because they have recognized the advantages of launching them. It is lucrative but what is more with this technology?

We see a shift from pure digital artwork launch to NFTs as a tool to build and engage a gated community. NFTs no longer represent THE product but a feature in a product.

So how would the industry evolve with NFTs in the future?

Bluechip NFTs on Ethereum and Fandoms on Solana

‘Haters gonna hate’ and criticism of celebrities and content creators will often come with the negative Ponzi and scam tag. To be frank, Web3.0 social is not here to take over Web2.0 social because the initiative is about building a gated community and offering exclusive content to a smaller and loyal community.

Ethereum gives celebrities and creators high exposure to a huge and potential market because it is still the dominant chain with $660 million weekly NFT trade volume compared to $24 million on Solana. However, if they are building a gated community with premium content, Solana seems to be a better place for them to build on from a direct fans engagement perspective because of its low entry barrier - lower gas fee making it inexpensive for many users to enter.

Revenue Sharing is the New Norm

The business model of Web2.0 social is often between the social platform and the creators where a small part of the advertising dollars will be shared with creators based on their viewership and platform’s everchanging algorithms. Supports from fans are always one way, meaning subscribing for membership, tipping or purchasing merchandise.

Full ownership is one of the key elements of Web3.0 and allows celebrities and creators to manage and monetize their content the way they want to without any intermediaries taking unfair cuts. The technology allows a give and take for both parties, fans and supporters will be able to participate in the success of their celebrities and creators similar to how you invest in blue chip stocks with dividends.

FAAG brought a paradigm shift in the way we communicated but also became the foundation for the 21st century digital community. NFTs will revolutionise how an online community is formed, communicated and connected in the future.

Whether NFTs will take off and become a household brand, it is in the hands of celebrities and content creators, not on Web3.0 social projects because they will be the biggest advocate for education and promotion.

Appendix

Celebrity NFT Collections Summary Table