Last week marked an important milestone in the evolution of non-fungible tokens. This time around the news is not about another record sale and neither was it about a blatant NFT scam attempt. Instead, it was about the commemoration of NFT as the first-ever international NFT day was marked on September 20.
It has been a long way coming for the non-fungible aspect of the blockchain; a journey that started with the introduction of the ERC-721 standard by DapperLabs Chief Technology Officer, Dieter Shirley on September 20, 2017. Fast-forward five years and NFTs have grown to become an $11.3 billion space.
The purpose of this piece is not to discuss what NFTs are or what they do, but to talk about the significance of September 20 and what it means for the future of non-fungible tokens.
NFTs are no longer aliens in the web3 space. A mix of notable sales, powerful platforms, and popular collections have combined to catapult NFTs to the fore of the blockchain industry. Today notable companies in the space include Dapper Labs, Opensea, and Larva Labs, just to name a few.
To mark the first international NFT day, many of the top companies in the space had come together to give significance to this day. They include; a16z, Animoca Brands, BuildSpace, Coinbase NFT, CryptoSlam!, Dapper Labs, Flow, Gaia, LearnWeb3, Matrix World, Metaverse HQ, OpenSea, Rarible, Ripple, TheFirstMint, Tokenproof, and XRP Ledger.
To celebrate the day, a host of events — both physical and virtual were planned to bring stakeholders together and discuss trends within NFT. You can have a peep into how the day was commemorated by checking out the International NFT day website. You can also gain access to other upcoming NFT events in 2022 and 2023 across different cities and countries on the website.
Having established the International NFT Day as an annual event, this is quite significant both in the immediate and for the future of NFTs.
First, the ability of annual prominent players in the NFT space to come together and make its first event a success is a success in itself. It shows that they are committed to the future of NFT by working together despite their differences and competition. If key competitors can come together to support a common cause, this is definitely a positive for the space (this might be necessary for their sustenance afterall).
Secondly, and in relation to the first point. The launch of an international NFT day is also significant as it provides an avenue for key industry leaders to come together and set an agenda for the space. New innovative ideas can be discussed, and key issues in the space can be collectively addressed. In recent times, issues around art theft and plagiarism have become rampant and this kind of event can provide an avenue for the industry to develop a concerted effort toward the problem.
Additionally, international NFT day could also serve as a day where the industry creates awareness for NFT. As impressive as the space has grown in the past five years, the potential for growth is still very high. The percentage of people who knows about the capabilities of NFTs is still low and adoption in other sectors is only just emerging. September 20 could prove in educating people on how NFTs could be useful to absorb transform businesses, thus furthering more people into the space.
The launch of the International NFT Day is a good place to start building a future for NFTs. It has been a long way coming and finally, we can begin to see that NFTs are here to stay.
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