Nifty Gateway was one of the most popular venues during the initial NFT boom this spring, with curated drops from up-and-coming digital artists (like Beeple and Pak) as well as well-known celebrities (like Grimes and The Weeknd).
The NFT market, however, has evolved since then. Profile photo collections and generative artwork have been popular recently, as have interactive video game NFTs—and peer-to-peer marketplace OpenSea has grabbed the lead, producing over $3 billion in trading volume from its more broad assortment of NFT collectibles in each of the last two months.
Nifty Gateway is adapting to the changing needs of today’s NFT buyers.
Today, the Gemini-owned marketplace announced that it would extend beyond its original focus on curated artwork drops to become a permissionless NFT aggregator, spanning a more extensive range of collectibles with its new universal search function. In other words, Nifty Gateway won’t only be a place where people can find pieces they’ve created on the platform.
Duncan Cock Foster, who co-founded Nifty Gateway with his twin brother Griffin, commented, “Nifty has certainly done a lot to get a lot of people onboard in the area, but it’s always been extremely limited and curated. Things are shifting. We’re going to open up a lot more.”
With the recent launch of “Verified Drops,” the site has begun to broaden its focus, bringing in the famous avatar collection Doodles and more. However, when it shifts its direction, it will allow users to buy and trade NFTs from various popular projects, including Bored Ape Yacht Club, Pudgy Penguins, Creature World, and others.
According to data gathered by Cryptoart.io, Nifty Gateway had its biggest month of trading volume in March, with almost $143 million traded. However, that figure has been below $30 million each month as the market has turned to other platforms since June. In addition, data from Dune Analytics indicates a dramatic drop-off in the number of NFTs produced on the platform in recent months.
The platform’s new strategy will keep selected artwork drops, but it will also focus on the latter half of its name, acting as a gateway to the broader world of NFTs. Griffin explained that starting with selected drops was purposeful but that the increased availability of high-quality collectibles on the market has forced a more comprehensive approach in the future.
“Working backward to what we want to achieve has always been a part of our strategy,” he explained. “Our purpose is to get one billion individuals collecting NFTs, and our ambition has always been to establish a tremendously large firm in the NFT market. So, therefore, we considered curating to be crucial.”
They indicated that starting with a curated approach was crucial in persuading established musicians and celebrities to join the platform. Before NFTs became mainstream, before CryptoPunks and Bored Apes became popular social media status symbols, before Beeple sold a $69 million NFT, and before NFTs moved $10.7 billion in a quarter.
“The NFT space is a million miles apart from where it was a year and a half ago. It’s hard to recall today, but the main challenge in the NFT sector was that no one could truly name a project that people enjoyed,” he went on to say. “OpenSea existed back then […], but it was full of ‘crypto garbage,’ as Duncan and I put it—low-effort NFTs that were mainly knockoffs.”
Nifty Gateway will continue to operate as a fully custodial marketplace, keeping assets for users who don’t want to deal with third-party wallets. However, for novices to NFT, this may be a more convenient option, as they can open a Nifty Gateway account and purchase artwork or collectibles with a credit card.
They may now, for example, do the same with popular profile image sets. Users can also withdraw NFTs into a third-party wallet and connect wallets to display their own NFTs. Nifty Gateway is also looking into ways to enable direct trade with lower Ethereum gas (transaction) expenses than OpenSea. “I believe we can make significant advances in the NFT domain,” he continued.
The change in Nifty comes when the NFT sector is experiencing significant growth and new participants. For example, FTX US has launched a Solana NFT marketplace (with Ethereum support on the way), and Coinbase already has millions of individuals on their Ethereum NFT platform waiting list.
When asked about increased competition, the Cock Fosters said it would help them achieve their goal of enrolling a billion people in NFTs. Nonetheless, they feel that Nifty Gateway’s extensive drop tools, planned capabilities, and potential future extension to platforms other than Ethereum will offer it an advantage over new and old competitors.
“I honestly believe the NFT market is substantial enough for everyone,” Griffin remarked. “More individuals are asking questions about NFTs, which is a good thing because the entire NFT market will grow as a result of those new platforms. With crypto, we’ve seen that again and time again.”