NFT Has Not Disappeared but Is Moving in an Entirely Different Direction.
What We Witnessed Is Not NFT's 'Collapse' but a 'Transition in Character.'

 In Korea, NFTs already look like a trend that has passed. The fever for digital art and profile image (PFP) that burned hot in 2021 and 2022 cooled rapidly, and many investors experienced significant losses. Now when NFTs are mentioned in Korea, the reaction is typically "failed investment asset." However, can this perception be applied equally in global markets?

To say the conclusion first, it cannot. NFTs have not disappeared but are moving in an entirely different direction. What we witnessed is not NFT's 'collapse' but a 'transition in character.'

Early NFTs were assets based on scarcity and speculative expectations. The phenomenon of digital images being priced and traded at hundreds of millions of won was a market created more by psychology than technology. But this structure was not sustainable. Eventually the market underwent sharp corrections, and a considerable portion of NFTs lost most of their value. At this point, many people judged that NFTs themselves had failed.

However, something entirely different is happening in global markets. NFTs are no longer being redefined as "image files" but as infrastructure proving digital ownership. In games, they have begun expressing ownership of items; in music and sports, fandom and membership; and in finance, rights to real assets — through NFTs. In particular, recently the trend of digitally tokenizing real assets such as real estate, bonds, and copyrights is spreading rapidly. NFTs are now positioning themselves as technology that records "the fact of owning something."

These changes go beyond simple expansion of applications to herald changes in internet structure itself. In the Web2 environment until now, ownership of data and assets belonged to platforms. However, NFTs fundamentally reverse this structure. Because they enable the "internet of ownership" — technology attributing ownership of digital assets to individuals.

Particularly noteworthy is the domain where NFTs combine with artificial intelligence. In an AI-Human Co-Creation (AHCC) environment where AI-created content and humans and AI create together, the question of "who created what" becomes core. At this point, NFTs become not simply a transaction means but an essential device recording the origin and rights of creation. Moreover, in an era when even individuals' data, behavior, and relationships are being assetized, NFTs have a high probability of becoming a foundation simultaneously managing digital identity and ownership.

Then why does NFT look like a "technology that disappeared" more quickly in Korea? This stems from structural differences rather than the essence of the market. Korea was a trading market centered on individual investors, and industrial expansion was limited due to regulatory uncertainty. In contrast, in global markets, NFTs are gradually positioning themselves as infrastructure combining with various industries including games, finance, and entertainment. In other words, Korea experienced NFTs centered on "price," while global markets are reconstructing centered on "function."

Going forward, NFTs will not attract attention in the same way as the past. Rather, there is a high likelihood of naturally dissolving into various services and systems in forms that are not highly visible. We may no longer say "I'm buying an NFT." Instead, NFTs will be operating behind all processes of owning and trading digital assets.

Ultimately, the future of NFTs comes down to one question. Will we remain as "users" in the digital world, or will we become "owners"? NFT is the technology making that choice possible. And now, that transition has already begun.