NFTs are not dead: Wealthy crypto collectors are still driving the market, says Animoca Brands’ Yat Siu

The once hyper market for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) looks to be in the doldrums, with token valuations a fraction of 2021/22 highs, not to mention that France’s flagship event for the sector, NFT Paris, was canceled just one month before it was due to open.

In the doldrums, but definitely not dead, said Yat Siu, co-founder of Animoca Brands, a Web3 development and venture capital company that has become involved in tokenization of real-world assets.

Wealthy collectors are driving a vibrant NFT marketplace, Sui said in an interview at the CfC St. Moritz crypto conference. Some investors will have a connection to a type of digital art, the same way a family office scion might be a collector of artwork by Picasso, for instance.

“Have NFTs remained popular among wealthy collectors? Yes, of course. I’m a big collector myself, and I share similar insights with my peers in this space. It’s a community,” Sui said.

“A Picasso collector, for instance, would have an affinity towards all the other people who collect Picassos; you’re kind of part of that club. It’s also true for Ferraris, Lamborghinis or Rolex watches. This is just a digital version.”

Sui says his own personal NFT portfolio is “down like 80% or something,” but adds that these were never purchases he was going to flip. “These are long assets that matter.”

NFTs are a class of one-of-a-kind tokens that first appeared on the Ethereum blockchain in late 2017 with collectible cats. Like other trends in crypto, NFTs have come in waves, becoming a thing with Cryptokitties, and then returning with more development and capital behind them, peaking in 2021/22, at which time monthly sales were over $1 billion.

Today, Sui points to monthly NFT sales of close to $300 million, driven in the main by wealthy digital art aficionados. For instance, billionaire Adam Weitsman has been buying NFTs like Otherdeed lands — NFTs representing land deeds in Otherside, a 3D blockchain-based virtual world created by Yuga Labs — and Bored Apes, very publicly, Sui said.

“Remember that five years ago this was a zero dollar market,” Sui said. “So it’s all relative and depends on the perspective you take. And of course the beauty of this is all the data is there to see on the blockchain.”

On the subject of the flagship NFT Paris event, Sui said the cancelation is not an indictment of NFTs, nor of the conference, which is well run.

“I think it’s an indictment of France, which at one point was very pro-crypto,” Sui said. “France has completely veered away from crypto. When it comes to NFTs, things like [fantasy soccer game] Sorare was under scrutiny by gambling regulators. And we see the same anti-crypto stance in Europe more broadly.”

Another key concern regarding Paris is security, Sui said. In the past year, France has seen a spate of kidnapping and abduction attempts of crypto executives and investors.

“NFT Paris wasn’t just a victim because they couldn’t get sponsors. A lot of people, including myself, you’ve been kind of trying to avoid Paris a little bit just because of security issues,” Sui said.