CONTEXT: 2021 WAS A BREAKTHROUGH YEAR FOR NFTs
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are blockchain-based tokens that each represent a unique asset like a piece of art, digital content, or media. An NFT can be thought of as an irrevocable digital certificate of ownership and authenticity for a given asset, whether digital or physical. Leveraging cryptographic signatures, native to the blockchain on which an NFT is issued, one can easily determine the origin and the current owner of the asset in question in seconds. Examples include collectibles, in-game items, and digital art pieces.
Due to the various uses-cases in art and gaming, as well as the increasing adoption of blockchain, and digital assets, 2021 was a breakout year for NFTs. The total monthly NFT marketplace volume increased 16 times from $314 million in March 2021 to $2,53 billion in February 2022.
NFTs are an essential instrument for the mass adoption of blockchain gaming and metaverse projects. Taking into account the vast amount of funding and IT development resources in the space, we expect an increasing demand for specialized infrastructure, which will create various opportunities for the development of dedicated NFT-related products and services both on the retail and the institutional side.
BUSINESS CASE: DEVELOPMENT OF AN NFT MARKETPLACE AGGREGATOR
Similarly to most of the cryptocurrency markets, the NFT trading activities are highly fragmented throughout centralized and decentralized platforms competing for market share by targeting specific segments of the investment community. Some are more retail-oriented, focused on high volume/low value items (Binance’s NFT marketplace), others are entering with a splash via excessive marketing budgets (LooksRare) or capitalizing on brand recognition. The fragmentation of trading activities creates a business opportunity for building an aggregator on top of the existing marketplaces which improves price discovery and user experience.
The task in hand is to create an investment deck/business presentation for an NFT marketplace aggregator which empowers retail and/or institutional clients to monitor, trade, and analyze NFTs from various trading venues all at one place, in exchange for a mark-up fee. The target audience for the presentation will be venture capital funds, angel or strategic investors. Therefore, the deck has to include а detailed analysis of the industry landscape, а precise definition of the problem is solved, an estimation of the addressable market, a description of the revenue generation model and long-term development plans. The team has to identify the technical, financial, marketing, and human resources needed for building and commercializing the product as well as to assess potential risks related to the regulatory framework and any technical vulnerabilities. The presentation should include basic financial forecasts for the revenue, operating expenses, capital investments, use of funds, and an indicative valuation for the funding round. It is expected from the team to identify and shortlist the most suitable type of investor/s given the nature of the business and the development stage of the project. Other important domains to be considered in relation to the product development include: choosing the most suitable blockchain, integrating external partners for additional features (e.g. analytics, layer 2 solutions, lending venues, etc).
Nexo is able to assist with additional research and data, in-house expertise on the technical aspects of the projects, as well as to potentially support the actual realization of the project.