Problems and Opportunities Within the NFT Space

Problems

The NFT market is growing parabolically, but the current infrastructure does not support the industry's ethos of decentralization and end user prioritization. Trading and user interactions are always relatively limited, with mostly barebones applications and exchanges facilitating this market so far. Here are some of the largest problems that need to be addressed within the current infrastructure of the NFT market.

Centralization

Not your keys, not your coins, or in this case, not your keys, not your NFTs. Currently, there is only one mainstream decentralized NFT platform, with the majority fully centralized and at the mercy of their development teams and early investors. By offering a decentralized, community-governed platform, users would be able to have a say in the future direction and features of the platform, an aspect that will inevitably make user-focused features and accessibility one of the main priorities. Blockchain technology is supposed to prioritize community, not the third-party intermediaries - this is a significant problem that the market needs to address en masse.

Network Segregation

The absence of interoperability within blockchain networks and applications is a glaring problem, one that is holding back the realization of the market's full value. This problem has become especially prevalent over the last six to twelve months as more users flock to Ethereum at record rates, filling up the blocks faster than ever and causing transaction fees to skyrocket in the process. Besides Ethereum, there are various popular networks that offer NFT capabilities, such as Flow, WAX, Binance Smart Chain, Avalanche, and many more. With the current market infrastructure, one that is very rigid, liquidity pools are not as deep as possible, and NFT accessibility across multiple chains is almost non-existent.

Lack of Swapability

Whether it be gaming items, artwork, or baskets of goods within NFTs, users need to be able to transact with their NFTs beyond just buying and selling. For many, they want to directly exchange NFTs, not sell and exit the market, and this can only be accomplished through the implementation of a trading platform. For the millions of gamers out there, they will need an easy-to-access platform that allows them to trade characters, items, lands, and more without getting cash involved.

High Fees

If a user is purchasing or creating an NFT worth hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars, they will probably not mind spending $20-$100+ in transaction fees. However, for everyday users, this is simply unsustainable. The NFT market is expanding its user base, but cannot properly serve it in many cases, scaring potential adopters away with fees that are worth more than the NFT they are purchasing. For someone who wants to buy a $5 NFT, spending even $5-10 to transact is unreasonable and needs to be fixed to maintain the possibilities of short and long-term adoption.

Lack of Community Meeting Points

Most NFT platforms focus on the buying and selling side, but this market is much more than a bland exchange to monetize NFTs through exchange. In many cases, NFTs are creative and artistic expressions, and they should have a place where like-minded individuals can gather, share, discuss, and show off their assets. A social platform based around NFTs can create a nurturing environment that naturally spreads and grows.

Opportunities

The problems mentioned above are just the beginning of what can be improved upon with the NFT marketplace, leaving massive opportunities for platforms and applications that can offer solutions to mitigate these problems and bring additional value to NFT owners, traders, and creators.