NFTs have plummeted in value this year. Even the value of Justin Bieber's bored ape NFT has fallen 95% from its peak.

Was the entire NFT market just an illusion? If not, how can the average NFT creator or NFT project maximize the value of their NFTs?

My History with NFTs (or Lack Thereof)

FYI, I've never owned or minted an NFT. It's not in my personal interests to pump (and dump) the value of any specific NFT collection.

In fact, prior to this year, I've pretty much been an NFT skeptic. In the words of Dan Olson of the famed "Line Goes Up" video, most NFTs sold in 2021 and 2022 were derivative and downright fugly.

I understand that the fugliness might be the point of it all, like an inside "degen" joke of sorts. But it doesn't take away from the self-evident truth: fugly is fugly. Why would I (or any other mainstream Web2 user — want to own (let alone "invest") in something fugly?

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the (Fugly) Forum

Hikone Screen, Hikone Castle Museum, Hikone, Shiga, Japan — Public Domain

Earlier this year, my wife and I visited a friend who was renovating his house. He gave us a tour of the house, and, in the living room, he pointed to the a painting of a silk screen, like the one above, and said, "I'm going to put one of those in every room."

My wife and I looked at each other, a bit miffed. I'm sure both of us were thinking, "Hmm, that's nice, but why would you put a painting of a silk screen in every room?"

Our friend noticed the confusion. "Ah, you don't get it. It's a frame TV." He pulled out a remote control, pushed a button, and the image of the silk screen disappeared. He navigated to Netflix and started a movie.

We were both stunned. It looked like a real painting (or at least a print of a painting). We had no idea it was a TV.

Which made me realize: This is the future of digital art. High resolution digital frames of any dimension could be placed in any space, and digital art can be be displayed in those frames. Digital art could also be rotated based on season, time of day, day of week, or the whim of the art/space owner.
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