2021 was unarguably the decentralized economy’s best year so far, particularly for non-fungible tokens (or NFTs) which experienced a super-sonic boost in terms of both capital and adoption. Sadly, Google’s recent trends report indicates a sharp decline in NFT interest, which has thrown doubt on what could otherwise have been described as a smooth ride for the tokenized economy.

Prior to the report’s release, many experts in the field were of the opinion that the NFT market thrived mostly on hype, and the debate is open as to whether the rapidly emerging economy can survive beyond this hype phase. Experts recommend that people focus their attention on the utility of NFTs, because this is the most sustainable approach to building a market for NFTs.

Although the Google Trends (NASDAQ: ) report indicates a decrease in NFT searches over time, there is one constant. Retail interest in this space is declining. According to the report, search queries for the term ‘NFT’ have dropped to the levels recorded back in October 2021, the same period in which the emerging industry started to enjoy attention on all fronts.

According to statistics from nonfungible (a website that monitors real-time transactions in decentralized assets such as NFTs), the average weekly NFT trade volume has fallen to less than $2,000, compared the ATH of nearly $6,000 at the start of this year.

OpenSea’s trade volume, which may be the largest online NFT marketplace, reflects this steady fall. According to multiple reports, the platform’s NFT transaction volume surpassed $3.5 billion in January, setting a new all-time record, but has since seen a progressive decline.

Interestingly, there are several justifications for the downward trend currently being experienced in the NFT market which go beyond “diminishing hype”. These concerns include the ease of stimulus checks for the pandemic-era, and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

There has been controversy over the number of unexperienced investors who fell prey to NFT scams. They were lured by endorsements from celebrities or influencers. Lana Rhoades was a former actress in adult entertainment who launched an NFT project and then quickly abandoned it.

She explained that she was unable to predict how NFT prices would increase in sales value so her actions resulted from this fact and decided to abandon the project at the mid-point. Rhoades may not be the only person who has experienced such a situation. The NFT space seems filled with abandoned projects.

It is clear that hype was the main driver of most NFT successes. But it doesn’t end there; this leads to several questions of paramount importance. First, is this signifying a major threat to the industry’s health? Is there any long-term survival chance for the NFT industry? Is there any hope that this industry will survive as it fades away?

Is NFTs really sustainable?

Before we can answer the question “NFTs are sustainable?”, let’s first address the questions that were asked in this order:

• Do you think the declining NFT interest is a sign of major industry danger? The interpretation of the data will determine how it is understood. If the trends are predominantly approached from a sales perspective, then the answer is likely to be “yes,” but if it is examined in terms of utility, then the scope is more positive.

As mentioned above, Google’s search trend reports are best used for one purpose, and that is to determine, among other things, retail interest in a product based on the number of times people searched for it, and its related terms, online.

As such, going by Google’s report, which indicates a downward trend in NFT search interest, there is no doubt that retail for related products is facing a lot of prospective uncertainty in the future. If this trend continues, NFTs, related services and participation in projects may see a decrease in demand.

While the decline in search interest is cause for concern about NFT sales’ future, this does not affect their utility. In fact, this could be the push the space needs to pay more attention to experts’ advocacy of just how important the utility of NFTs could become.

Truth is, profit has driven most of the interest in NFT since its inception in 2014. As a result, the value of NFT projects is perceived as being “vague,” because they do not serve any tangible purpose other than to offer the said value attributed to them by holders and collectors, and the industry has largely evolved following this course.

If there is a downward trend in the search results, it’s more common for people to concentrate on extrapolating their true applicability or utility. This can drive up the demand, which could lead to more technologically-oriented projects.

• Is the NFT industry likely to survive as hype fades? The simple answer to this question is “yes,” and the truth here lies in the fact that possibilities for NFT application are endless.

NFTs are not just hype. They have many practical applications, but some of these still need to be optimized. This can be seen in the increasing participation of big corporations in the area.

To date, the industry has seen the likes of Adidas (OTC:), McDonald’s, Ray-Ban, Nike (NYSE:), Taco Bell (NASDAQ:), Microsoft (NASDAQ:), Coca-Cola(NYSE:), and the NBA (NYSE:) among others global brands dip into the NFT/metaverse universe.

Although the vast majority of these brands are already in the NFT market, it is still a small fraction of what NFTs have to offer. These brands are doing unexpected things.

For instance, sportswear giant Adidas, back in December 2021, partnered with ‘Bored Ape Yacht Club’, gmoney, and the team behind ‘Punks Comic’ to debut its NFT project.

As a result, Adidas community members (i.e customers) can access the brand’s virtual wearable collections in metaverse gaming world ‘The Sandbox’, as well as being able to buy gmoney’s physical hoodie, tracksuit and iconic orange beanie.

Louis Vuitton also joined the craze, introducing a themed challenge called ‘Louis the Game’ in February 2022. The high fashion brand tasked its followers with joining its popular mascot – Vivienne – in collecting 200 birthday candles as she retraced the company’s 200 year story.

NFTs have become a powerful marketing tool for brands. They encourage their target audience and consumers to join NFT collections but also involve their communities by exploring themed campaigns.

Individuals have found ways to leverage NFTs in their own way. This includes ways they can promote their skills or generate income. In a publication we recently published, GameFi combined gaming and decentralized financing to provide unique experiences for their users. We also highlighted the important role of NFTs in this ecosystem.

Gamers are joining GameFi programs like Alien World and Alien World in order to play with others and to win NFT Items. Each item can then be traded for valuable cryptos. This is one of the most attractive NFT use cases, but there are other exciting NFT applications that have yet to be discovered. It will be only a matter time before they become public.

One thing is for sure: NFTs’ greatest days are still to come, and regardless of whether current search trends are headed up or down, it’s hard to forecast exactly what the future holds for the emerging industry.

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