The first edition of the annual NFT (non-fungible token) Awards, Co-hosted by Enjin and DEA is set to have a stellar cast of judges high-ranking members of Ubisoft and Microsoft joining the panel. The award ceremony is yet another pointer to the growing popularity of NFTs especially within the emerging collaborations between the gaming industry and the blockchain space.
With digital real estate also beginning to gain greater traction, the NFT marketplace is seeing a significant expansion. From virtual land to art, and other collectibles, blockchain is providing an agile base later to support the development of NFTs.
2020 NFT Awards
According to a press release shared with Blockonomi, nominations are now open for the maiden edition of the NFT Awards. As part of the program, winners will be chosen from 10 different categories including “NFT of the Year,” “Most Innovative,” and “Most Traded.” Other award categories include “Most Valuable,” “People’s Choice,” and “Adoption Potential.”
The awards ceremony proper will reportedly take place on Dec. 9, 2020. According to the press statement, the event will be livestreamed via Twitch.
The 2020 NFT Awards program is already drawing a high-caliber selection of judges, among whom include Etsuji Nakai, Solutions Architect at Google Cloud: Nicolas Pouard, Blockchain Initiative Director at video game company Ubisoft, and Sherry List, the head of the Azure Heroes NFT rewards program at Microsoft. Other judges confirmed for the awards are Pokemon game designer Shigeki Morimoto and former Sony CEO Noboyuki Idei.
Before these notable individuals decide on the final winners in each category, industry leaders on the Blockchain Council will conduct a preliminary selection from the nominee pool.
Commenting on the need for judges with insight into the emerging NFT space, Enjin CEO Maxim Blagov remarked:
The NFT Awards will be hosted annually, inviting builders from the Ethereum community and beyond to nominate and showcase their latest innovations. We are currently reaching out to judges interested in learning more about what blockchain has to offer, who can look at these use cases with fresh eyes, and evaluate their potential significance for mainstream markets.
For Naohito Yoshida, CEO of DEA, the goal of the NFT Awards is to promote the potential of NFTs to a more mainstream audience. According to Yoshida, NFTs have the potential to move from a purely entertainment use case to providing utility for any industry that utilizes data.
Moving Towards a fully-realized Virtual Landscape
At the start of the year, Blockonomi reported that the NFT market size could reach $315 million before the end of the year. Indeed, the emerging prominence of decentralized finance (DeFi) has also led to a surge in activity in the NFT arena.
Emerging market segments like virtual real estate are also serving to increase the hype surrounding NFTs. Virtual land developers are creating NFT marketplaces that allow completely virtual interaction similar to everyday life. Owners of virtual acreage that even create assets like malls and boutiques that sell rare crypto collectibles.
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