October’s trending NFT collections demonstrate that NFT investors are shifting their focus to digital collectibles that offer more than just an image or set of rare traits. Whether it be the chance to leverage digital purchases in the real world, earning passive income through DeFi mechanics, or fractional ownership of top-tier NFT projects via a DAO, non-fungible tokens are reflecting buyers’ increasingly sophisticated needs.
The growing trend was highlighted in the latest DappRadar New Dapps Report, firstly by the MekaVerse collection, which dropped two weeks ago. Pre-launch hype, and a limited supply in comparison to high demand, caused large trading volumes in the project’s first days. Since then, it’s gone on to generate over $139 million in trading volume, making it the 13th most traded collection of all time. What’s interesting is that this happened against a backdrop of bad press, negative sentiment on social media, and even fraud allegations spurred by technical issues around the storage and revealing of the images for the project. Nonetheless, demand remained — and remains — high.
Why? DappRadar’s CEO, Skirmantas Januskas, thinks that it’s partly because of the power of community: “ This is the wild card that can make or break a project, that should not be underestimated, and that demonstrates just how difficult it can be to make predictions, have and fulfill expectations in the NFT space.”
And while we all know about how important crypto communities are, there is more here that deserves our attention — that the project’s roadmap includes real-world utility: milestones like 3D printing to transform the Mekas into toys, merchandise, and apparel inspired by the collection.
“The demand we’re seeing for this project — especially considering the negative press — signals that NFT buyers are becoming more sophisticated and forward-thinking, that more and more investors are cottoning on to the fact that NFTs can materialize beyond the digital world. That, ultimately, the NFT concept is widely applicable and that it could change the way we transact, interact, own, live,” Skirmantas goes on.
The latest edition of the New Dapps Report highlights three more projects that reflect this trend of NFT projects with additional utility. Kaiju Kingz is very similar to the popular CyberKongz, with a yield-bearing utility token and breeding mechanism, while MutantCats innovatively provides owners with fractional ownership of top-tier projects like CoolCats or CryptoPunks via a DAO. Similarly, Yakuza Cats Syndicate — an NFT project with game mechanics — aims to evolve into a complete play-to-earn game, including second-generation NFTs.
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