Mike Novogratz, Galaxy Digital’s CEO, and founder is an investor and entrepreneur who has once again shared his passion and excitement for the crypto industry in a public speech. Mike has been adamant about his belief that non-fungible tokens (NFTs) will be the defining trend of 2022.
The Galaxy Digital CEO isn’t only passionate about cryptocurrencies and NFTs in his speeches. He has invested more than 85% of his net worth into cryptocurrencies. Currently, this net worth translates to nearly 5 billion dollars.
Novogratz’s Prediction
Mike Novogratz makes the case that NFTs, cryptocurrencies, and the metaverse are trends that have suddenly entered the mainstream and don’t show any sign of going away. The popularity of those trends is not exclusive to tech leaders but has spread to the general public.
Tech companies are following the trend by incorporating cryptocurrency transactions and non-fungible tokens into their operations. While once financial instruments and trends were inaccessible or unfamiliar to the average person, now there is a massive amount of information on how the blockchain and NFTs work. Not only that, NFTs have so much variety that anybody can learn and engage with the trend in an accessible way.
Even celebrities, such as Justin Bieber and Eminem, have jumped on the trend by becoming part of the Bored Ape NFT Club. Another example is the singer of the “Peaches”, who has paid $1.3 million worth NFT to get access into the Bored Ape Yacht Club collection. Celebrities are often what starts and keeps the craze of the trend by inspiring ordinary people.
It’s not just individual examples that hint towards the steadily rising popularity of NFTs. The NFT trading volume in January has surpassed six billion dollars, according to statistics from the Block.
They say that the “monthly NFT volume grew 129% in January relative to December. Much of the increase was due to the latest contender in the NFT marketplace scene, LookRare, which accumulated nearly $2 billion in volume after its launch on January 10. “
NFTs: Successful But Not Always Perfect
NFT collections have been a unique opportunity for many people to get into digital communities that give them a sense of belonging and exclusive ownership of a non-fungible token that gives them pride. NFTs have been a lucrative financial opportunity for many creators to earn money on the other side of this trend.
Take the Bored Ape Yacht Club, one of the most popular NFT collections right now. The collection has created more than 750 million worth of wealth, with everybody from the average folk to Snoop Dog and Paris Hilton joining on the trend.
The collection has shown some vulnerabilities despite its popularity. The smart contract technically allows the wallet owner to mint an infinite number of NFT pieces without even paying the network cost of 0.08 ETH. This could mean that a breach of security may lead to millions of NFTs getting generated and crushing the collection price.
Admittedly, there are some flaws in the design of NFTs that allow for exploitation. Another example is the technical problem in OpenSea, the largest NFT marketplace, where people could buy and sell NFTs at lower prices and higher prices, which led to a massive profit. This issue has been resolved, but many others, such as the system’s vulnerability to hackers, have yet to be sufficiently fixed.
