The NFT world is witnessing a familiar spectacle: the return of faces from the 2021 boom. We’re excited to have Maji Da Ge back as a fiery Memecoin aficionado. At the same time, Yi Nengjing, formerly associated with the fated Theirsverse, is diving back into the thrilling waters of Web3. Are they heroes or parasites, lured back to a pasture they once helped to destroy? Is this a real sign of life, or the final death throes of a once thriving hype machine?
Hype Is Not a Strategy Anymore
Let's be blunt: the numbers paint a grim picture. Some experts are saying we are on the verge of NFT market worth billions. The harsh truth is that transaction volume dropped almost 29% last quarter. As a result, transactions are up 78%. At the same time, unique buyers are up 44%, a sign more individuals are buying less expensive NFTs. It’s akin to prizing a restaurant for moving more dollar-menu products while their bottom line disappears.
And don’t get me started on the celebrity project graveyard. Remember Jay Chou's PhantaBear? Shawn Yue's ZombieClub? Yi Nengjing's Theirsverse? Investors watched more than 98% of their assets disappear. But many of these projects aren’t just bad investments, they’re cautionary tales. It's tempting to blame the "crypto winter" of 2022, but the reality is these projects were built on sand, and the tide went out. It’s tempting to point the finger at mother nature, but were they ever built strong to last from the ground up?
Why this focus on celebrities? Because the 2021 NFT craze had nothing to do with art or utility. It was all about FOMO. A skyrocketing Bitcoin price, along with impulse buy celebrity endorsements, was the recipe for the perfect storm of speculative mania. Yet the excitement over NFTs was infectious. A few people thought they were a surefire path to wealth.
| Metric | Change | Implication |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction Volume | -29% | Less money flowing into the market. |
| Transactions | +78% | More small-value transactions. |
| Unique Buyers | +44% | Wider participation, but at lower price points. |
Celebrity Power, or Fool's Gold?
The market has changed. Investors are sick and tired of following celebrities blindly. They're demanding real value, tangible utility. They’re looking for NFTs that provide access to special content, membership in a DAO, or in-game items. Each of these constituents are looking for NFTs that serve a functional purpose beyond just pretty pictures (or apes, or what have you).
And this is where the return of performers like Maji Da Ge and Yi Nengjing can be so important. If they can’t turn that market around, it will be the death knell for the hype-driven NFT model. Their projects need to create enduring engagement or they will likely flop substantially. When they do, it will signal that the market has fully grown up, that investors are choosing substance over celebrity.
The NFT community is evolving. They're not just passive consumers anymore. They're active judges of value. They’re shining a light on projects, insisting on transparency, and putting the feet of project creators to the fire. The bar to entry has been raised, and that’s a positive development. It pushes makers to create tangible projects, with tangible utility.
The Community Is Now The Judge
It’s a fundamental change, from speculation on hype to value-creation on consensus. It could mean fewer elite projects, maybe, but better floor values for the few good ones and rarer gems. That would be a much more serious, less emotional free-for-all market, where projects are evaluated based on their merits rather than their movie star support.
That’s not to dismiss celebrity endorsements as having no value. Sure they don’t do as much to drive awareness, attract new users or create the initial buzz. But they should never be a substitute for creating real value. They’re not a magic wand that can take a bad or lackluster project and make it something great.
At the end of the day, the future of the NFT market doesn’t lie in the hands of the celebrities, it’s with the community. As long as they keep expecting utility, transparency, accountability of the industry, the market will keep growing up. If they let themselves get played by the hype again, the market will continue to be a speculative and grifting wild west. We, as investors, have to act accordingly.
The government should not intervene. The beauty of the NFT market, as with any market, is its self-correction. The meritocracy of the free market only rewards those who do make value. Second, it penalizes every person who gives vague commitments. May the community dogma denounce it and may the market determine its success or failure.
The government should not intervene. The beauty of the NFT market, like any other, is its ability to self-correct. The invisible hand of the free market will punish those who offer empty promises and reward those who build real value. Let the community be the judge, and let the market decide.
