Not surprisingly, buyers of digital art favor speculation over the artistic interest of the work.
According to a Hiscox study published on Tuesday, 82% of them hope for "
a return on investment
" while 67% show a real interest in art.
This “
crazy, volatile and alluring world of NFTs
” is “
first and foremost a question of placement
,” Hiscox notes in its report.
Robert Head, spokesperson at Hiscox, recalls that this investment is “
risky and that there will most certainly be a speculative bubble.
A few will make a lot of money and a majority will lose it
”.
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Yet, for buyers who spent at least $25,000 on NFT, 95% mentioned that “
return on investment was their main motivation
”.
However, there is a difference between men and women.
The speculative aspect thus motivates 96% of men, against 67% for women.
76% of them place art and its "
emotional benefits
" ahead of money, compared to 58% of men.
A $13 billion market in 2021
The speculative madness has already taken hold of this new market with record sales: 69 million dollars for a work by the artist Beeple, 11.8 million dollars for the CryptoPunk 7523 or 7.56 million dollars for the CryptoPunk 7804. Online artwork sales have skyrocketed during the pandemic, rising from 4.8% in 2019 to 64% in 2020 and up to 72% for the first half of 2021. Total trade value s would amount to 13.5 billion dollars for last year.
Today, some buyers lament that “
real talent is getting lost in the mass of NFTs
”.
From left to right, artist Beeple's collage followed by CryptoPunk 7523 and 7804. Screenshots
Regarding the amounts spent, it is not a market that is aimed at all budgets.
Of the 595 buyers surveyed, 89% responded that they spent less than $5,000 to get their NFT collection.
And 57% of them spent an average price of less than $1000.
For now, NFT buyers only have a few in their collection.
A third of holders have only one, while 39% of them have between two and five.
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Buoyed by this craze, major auction houses have started offering NFTs to their customers.
Sotheby's, Christie's and Phillips sold digital works for $185 million at public auctions in 2021, compared to no sales in 2020.