Co-ordinate to a contempo report by Cointelegraph Research, the volume of nonfungible tokens (NFTs) sold this year could eclipse $18 billion. From artwork, music and in-game characters to videos and photographs, these minted certificates of ownership for digital assets on blockchains are well sought after by collectors, investors and philanthropists alike. They can also be freely traded across decentralized NFT platforms such as OpenSea. Without further ado, let'due south await at the biggest trends developing in the NFTs space.

ane. Glory and contemporary NFTs

Of course, at the number i place this yr, as in that location was no shortage of NFT drops and collaborations in the amusement manufacture. Highlights include Mila Kunis' Stone Cats NFTs drops, which sold out in nigh 35 minutes and caused soaring gas prices on the Ethereum blockchain to process the transactions.

In November, rapper and songwriter Snoop Dogg auctioned off a 3D collage consisting of 10 dissimilar portraits of himself at diverse stages in his professional person career, with the winning bid amounting to 188 ETH (around $700,000). In mid-December, NBA star Kevin Durant appear a partnership betwixt his business firm Xxx 5 Ventures and Coinbase to collaborate on NFT drops.

Then, there was director Quentin Tarantino announcing the auction of seven uncut scenes from Pulp Fiction as NFTs built on the privacy-oriented Secret Network. However, Tarantino may have had also much of an appetite in joining the hype, as productions company Miramax filed a lawsuit against Tarantino over alleged copyright infringement stemming from his NFT auction.

Notwithstanding, as directly rated by crypto enthusiasts, the most popular NFTs are those featuring "pixelated punks" created past artist Crypto Punks. The group currently holds the top sales volume on OpenSea.io with 750,300 Ether (ETH) worth of digital art (virtually $3 billion in today'south price) traded since its inception in 2022. Their success has too attracted partnerships and deals with top Hollywood agents.

2. Play-to-earn NFT games

NFTs are not only meant to be displayed. One blockchain game, Axie Infinity, involves players dueling one another or nonplayable characters and completing daily quests with in-game creatures known every bit Axies. Each Axie is a unique NFT that can exist bought and sold on the Ethereum blockchain. The minting of Axie NFTs is known every bit breeding in the game, with rarer Axies having meliorate stats and subsequently costing far more. Co-ordinate to its official marketplace, the total volume of Axies bought and sold in the by 30 days corporeality to over 125,000 ETH, or around $500 million.

In improver, players tin purchase virtual land NFTs in the game. Such digital real estate represents locations where monsters and bosses spawn, in improver to hosting an abundance of resources. The nigh expensive Axie Infinity land e'er sold took place last month for 550 ETH ($two.three 1000000 at the time).

Another pop choice is NFT fantasy soccer game Sorare. Through Sorare, players can manage their own soccer teams via digital player NFT cards. Co-ordinate to its CEO, Nicholas Julia, over half a million players joined the platform organically without marketing efforts.

3. Metaverse NFTs

Developments in the Metaverse, a digital realm comprising a 3D augmented reality, have been gaining traction ever since Facebook rebranded itself as Meta dorsum in October. NFTs play a pivotal function in the Metaverse to guarantee the uniqueness of virtual assets such as histrion avatars. Meta's head of Metaverse products, Vishal Shah, said in an announcement that the new platform "will make it easier for people to sell limited education digital objects like NFTs, brandish them in their digital spaces and even resell them to the next person securely."

Right now, in that location is a massive 21-level skyscraper being congenital in the Metaverse by Bloktopia to pay homage to the maximum 21 million Bitcoin (BTC) that can always be created. Notable consumer brands like Adidas and Nike are too entering the Metaverse, partnering with contributors to develop NFT artwork for their namesake brands. Higher up all, developers at virtual metaverse game Sandbox wish to defend the realm against the threat of monopoly from large tech.

Bloktopia in-game screenshot. Source: Bloktopia

iv. NFT philanthropy

There has been meaning growth in the number of charities accepting crypto donations in 2022. Ane platform facilitating such transactions, the Giving Cake, saw donations surge to over $100 1000000 this yr, compared with $iv one thousand thousand for all of 2022. The firm is partnering with NFT platforms so a portion of auction proceeds can go direct into crypto non-profits, with direct NFT donations existence a possible future evolution road. In the U.s., investors can deduct their charitable donations directly against their ordinary income, usually over a few years, resulting in a win-win situation for all.

But, philanthropic ventures in the NFT realm get in beyond. Thus far, NFT auctions have helped raise plenty funds to build a school in Republic of uganda and back up frontline healthcare workers. In 2022, an upwardly-and-coming NFT sale will help raise awareness for contemporary artists with developmental disabilities. Meanwhile, the proceeds from another will get to a charity of selection past the quondam Italian royal family.

Crypto Giving Tuesday Epitomize. Source: The Giving Cake

5. NFT world art

With traditional art, artists have to travel around the world to participate in exhibits and auctions to make their piece of work known — a privilege only reserved to those with sufficient capital. But, with the rising of decentralized NFTs marketplaces, anyone around the world can mint, showcase and sell their art with little startup capital letter, thereby connecting cultures worldwide.

Two notable mentions are the Melanated NFT Gallery and Mongol NFTs. Melanated NFT Gallery features contemporary African and Latinx artwork such as landscapes, photographs of jazz icon Miles Davis, DJ music, guitar sound, trading cards and other music. Meanwhile, the Mongol NFTs platform contains NFT images of pastoral nomadic steppes of the namesake land and its history, traditions and customs as told past Mongol artists. Information technology has surpassed 100,000 registered users and 1.5 billion Mongolian Tugrik ($550,000) in sales.

NFT Arts past Mongolian Artists. Source: Mongol NFT