To honor the federation’s 50th National Day, the United Arab Emirates’ postal service is releasing nonfungible token (NFT) stamps, adding to indications that digital collectibles are gaining public appeal worldwide.

The Emirates Post Group, or EPG, revealed this week that it is the first postal body in the Middle East and North Africa to issue digital-collectible stamps. The new stamps are blockchain-based digital twins that will be marketed as digital collectibles linked to their physical counterparts and will be unveiled on December 2nd, National Holiday.

A total of four stamps will be printed, each with a unique design based on a national subject. After scanning a QR code printed on the card, buyers will see the digital design connected to the actual stamp they purchased. Next, users must scan a QR code hidden beneath the card to unlock the digital item on the blockchain.

Embracing NFTs, according to EPG CEO Abdulla Mohammed Alashram, is in line with the company’s objective of becoming more digitally focused. EPG is “exploring how the introduction of blockchain technology might streamline and enhance our processes and provide other competitive benefits” in the wake of the COVI-19 outbreak.

When questioned if the NFT stamps are a one-time dive into blockchain or part of a larger strategy to embrace the new technology, Alashram indicated EPG intends to release more digital stamps in the future:

“The use of the most up-to-date digital technologies in our operations also caters to the technology-savvy age that seeks digitally accessible services. We’re working on new NFT stamps as part of our attempts to bridge the gap between traditional postage stamps and the digital world.”

The United Arab Emirates has taken a progressive stance on blockchain technology and digital assets, with local regulators pushing for a plethora of crypto-friendly policies. In September, local officials in Dubai’s economic free zone adopted a new legislative framework that supports cryptocurrency trading and related activities, potentially paving the way for broader acceptance and innovation in the emirate.

In late October, the Dubai Financial Services Authority, or DFSA, addressed the rules surrounding so-called investment tokens. The framework is designed to give investors and market participants legal certainty.

Following various dips and dives and a strong comeback in many key NFT projects over the last eight months, the future seems bright.

Charles Edwards, the founder of Capriole Investments and a crypto executive, sees the end of the year as a probable NFT winter. So let’s take a look at what we’ve seen so far and what we might expect in the future.

An NFT Winter?

In a recent tweet, Edwards makes an excellent point, pointing out that the improvements in NFTs this year have been ludicrous. While many in the crypto community have “diamond hands,” it’s realistic to assume that many will look to protect taxable gains before the end of the year:

The conversation in Edwards’ responses, on the other hand, offers a fascinating discussion on the logic of purchasing and selling. There are primarily two points of feedback: some believe that much of the selling pressure has already occurred (to which Edwards responds, “You think it’s done?”), and others believe that much of the selling pressure has yet to happen. Others argue that individuals will sell losers rather than winners.

Are people selling their significant initiatives to make money? Or will the most vulnerable NFT projects be those in the middle to lower tiers? Many people believe that the world’s Bored Apes and CryptoPunks will be immune to such selling pressure. This is based on the fact that those have been extraordinary winners this year, with unrivaled returns (and also the formation of clearly lasting communities with high financial barriers to entry now). Why sell when the future is so bright when these attributes are present?

Overall, no one knows what the eventual result will be (and there’s reasoning in both camps), and it’ll most likely be a test of the long-term belief system that underpins NFTs.

What We’ve Noticed

DappRadar is a wonderful source of information about crypto and NFTs. When we look at 30-day marketplace data, we can see that most of the top names suffer volume drops. On the 30-day data, OpenSea, Solana’s Magic Eden, centralized Flow platform NBA Top Shot, SuperRare, and Rarible are all showing volume drops. Some of those who defy the odds? Decentraland has witnessed a recent uptick in popularity, Axie Infinity continues to lead the play-to-earn sector, and WAX platform and cross-market AtomicMarket have also fared successfully.

According to NonFungible.com, four Bored Apes and four CryptoPunks accounted for eight of the ten largest NFT sales in the last 30 days. A plot of land in Decentraland and a digital art piece developed by XCOPYART named “A Coin for the Ferryman” for 1,330 ETH ($6 million, the highest-selling) were the other two NFTs sold.

On November 22, the top Bored Ape (#544) sold for 675.01 ETH ($2.81 million), and on November 11, the highest CryptoPunks sold for 500 ETH ($2.38 million).

According to OpenSea, the Bored Ape Yacht Club was the most popular NFT collection in terms of monthly volume traded on their platform, with a total amount of 44.8 thousand ETH (about $193 million), as seen below.

CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club are two of the most popular NFT collections

Larva Labs created the CryptoPunks NFT collection in 2017 as 10,000 randomly generated pixelated characters on the Ethereum Blockchain. Anyone with an Ethereum wallet was able to mine for free. CryptoPunks is credited with being one of the first NFT projects. Musicians like Jay Z and Snoop Dog have owned Punks, and Larva Labs just announced a partnership with one of Hollywood’s leading talent agencies.

“CryptoPunks have become some of the most sought-after NFTs on the market,”

Sotheby’s contemporary art specialist Michael Bouhanna remarked.

Four years later, the Bored Ape Yacht Club was formed, with each member being a distinct Bored Ape. The collection was launched in late April 2021 by anonymous developers and each ape cost between 190 and 200 dollars (0.08 Ether). According to CNET, the collection was sold out within 12 hours of its debut. Many celebrities will eventually join this club.

Is the Bored Aped Yacht Club on its way to becoming the new celebrity hangout?

The Bored Ape Yacht Club has recently caught the attention of several celebrities, including American rapper Future, who shared his Bored Ape on his Twitter profile photo on November 28 with the phrase “gm.”

Late-night TV star Jimmy Fallon joined the club in November, and shortly after, American rapper Post Malone unveiled one of his Apes in his new music video with The Weekend, “One Right Now.”

NBA player Stephen Curry, ex-NBA player Shaquille O’Neal, international DJs/producers such as Steve Aoki, The Chainsmokers, and Marshmello, and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban are among the other famous members, according to NFTnow.

There is no shortage of celebrities entering the realm of NFT ventures, and this could provide valuable support to the projects.