The year was 2021. There was a craze going on in town. Everyone wanted to own an NFT, auction house Christie's sold their digital artist Beeple's collage NFT for $69.34 million, celebrities prided themselves in buying NFTs at ridiculous prices, the Bored Ape Yacht club realized $26.2million from the sale of NFTs. Some even went as far as finding random things to turn into an NFT to make quick money.

It seemed as though not owning an NFT was an aberration to your future. It was a reflection of people with no future ambitions (NFA). The ones who just wanted to swing by life with no intention of prospering.

Now, the year is 2024. And NFT has become a term that is beginning to fade slowly from the crypto industry. The trading volumes of NFT took a rapid tumble in Sept 2022. Celebrities that sold theirs this year questioned their choice of investment. Recently, there was news of Kevin Hart and Justin Bieber selling their NFT at a loss. And somehow, many who did not jump into the craze at that time are thanking their stars, rejoicing for a loss they were able to avoid.

But the question remains, Is NFT still a viable investment in 2024?

Let's get right into it

NFTs, also known as Non Fungible Tokens are digital certificates of ownership for real-world or digital assets. Does that sound a bit complex? Alright, let me break it down.

Let's say you take an amazing photo on your phone, maybe a stunning sunset or a hilarious pet moment. You can share this photo with anyone, just like anyone can see a random picture online.

An NFT is like signing a special certificate for that photo, proving you're the original creator and owner. This certificate is stored securely online, like a vault for digital things. And even though others can see the photo, you have the official proof of ownership.

So, these digitally signed certificates have an online marketplace where you can sell or buy them. These are online platforms like OpenSea where people can list their NFT-signed photos for sale.

Just like any online marketplace, potential buyers can browse through, see your photo's NFT, and decide if they want to buy it. They'd use cryptocurrency to purchase the NFT. Once bought the ownership of the NFT and the bragging rights to the original photo transfer to the buyer. And their information gets logged on the secure online certificate.

Now, how do people make money? There are two main ways:

1. Selling the NFT: If you take an amazing photo, you can create the NFT and sell it on the marketplace. If someone loves it and pays a high price for the NFT, you make a profit.
2. Reselling NFTs: Let's say you buy an NFT of a funny meme that goes viral. The value of that meme (and its NFT) might skyrocket. So, you could then resell the NFT on the marketplace for a much higher price than you bought it for.

And that was what almost everyone did. Everyone who owns an NFT bought it with the hope that its value will skyrocket, they'll sell it at a higher price and get their return on investment.

But we all know what went down, don't we?

Now back to our initial question. Should you still own an NFT in 2024?

Owning an NFT in itself is not wrong. After all, it's a digital asset and people like digital art so NFTs will continue to show some strength. Besides, there's nothing wrong with owning an asset.

However, where the problem may arise is your motive for owning it. You should not own an NFT because you're looking for a get-rich-quick scheme. Or you're looking for an investment that would turn you into a millionaire overnight.

Rather, if you want to own an NFT, look for digital art with meaningful, real-world applications rather than one with speculative hype. The true value of NFTs lies in their utility, and studies have shown that quality NFT collections have flourished and are likely to endure in the foreseeable future.

So, it's 2024. And there is nothing wrong in owning an NFT especially ones with meaningful applications rather than speculative hype.