Volatility remains the name of the game in the non-fungible token (NFT) sector amid rising and falling prices and rising volumes, but a new trend seems to be emerging in the ecosystem.

Aesthetic appeal aside, for many investors, buying an NFT is like casting a loaded baited hook into a dull body of water and waiting for a fish to bite. Sure when Bored Ape Yacht Club hit the market some buyers thought “They look great” and “The community is really strong and dedicated”, but these aren't really solid valuation metrics that can be proven and applied to most of them. NFT market assets.

Community activism and headline stats are important characteristics to consider when buying an NFT, but beyond that, the initial purchase and the hope that one will end up making a profit is not it is more than speculation.

In the last month or so, a handful of projects have realized that they need to offer "more" to incumbents or "agree" via roadmap or decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) in order to help retention, diversify the ranks of the incumbents (rather than just the whales owning the majority of the project) and incentivize future buyers. Thus, various projects have implemented airdrops, metaverse utilities, DAOs, and token issuance functions in order to meet these demands.

An example of a utility-equipped NFT is CyberKongz, a large ape-themed project in which NFTs issue BANANA tokens, which currently go for $63.70 on SushiSwap and OpenOcean. Each Genesis CyberKong issues 10 BANANAs per day for a period of 10 years, and at current valuation, this means early holders generate $637 per day.

In addition to selling the token on available markets, holders of two Genesis CyberKongz can also breed them to create a Baby CyberKongz NFT that can be minted by spending the BANANA token.

Other blue chip NFT projects that are embracing the "profit added" model include Cool Cats, which plans to issue a "MILK" token, and Winter Bears, which offers NFTX vault staking and has a partnership with PieDAO. The Bored Ape Yacht Club also offers real-life perks such as exclusive clothing from streetwear brand The Hundreds, airdrops to token holders, and a planned utility within the metaverse.

As shown in the chart above, data from BrokerChooser shows that six of the top 10 most lucrative NFT projects for investors currently offer a token, airdrops, or expected utility in the metaverse.

About a month ago, Cool Cats cost between 1.5 and 3 Ether (ETH), but after the project announced plans to airdrop, issue a token, and develop a metaverse utility, NFTs went on to establish a new average all-time high of 25.75 Ether. Currently, the minimum price for Cool Cats is 9.6 Ether, according to data from OpenSea.

Similar results are seen at the Bored Ape Yacht Club project, where Sotheby's auctions, project-related airdrops and the release of the roadmap have all aligned with NFT price rallies.

There are no tokens, but there are authorized DAOs, CCOs and airdrops

There are some concerns about projects issuing tokens that look a lot like an unregistered security issuance. And with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Senate, and White House constantly threatening to regulate the cryptocurrency sector, not all projects are rushing to add utility tokens to their NFTs.

In fact, in the last week, some projects have come to clarify their position that these tokens are to facilitate the "utility" of the project and are not assets intended to reflect value and be traded on the open market.

In addition to offering metaverse usage and token issuance, some of the more recent projects, such as CrypToadz, have set up their DAOs to give the community more interaction with project management or have submitted the project under the Creative Commons designation "CCO 1.0 Universal", which means that it exists in the public domain and the creator has "relinquished all copyright and rights related or associated" to the project.

In this way, CrypToadz holders and fans can create, mint and sell derivatives of the original project that can be sold on the open market or assigned for sale to holders of a CrypToadz NFT.

Last week, two CrypToadz sold for over $1 million, and the project quickly reached a rock bottom of 21 Ether, which will have left out many collectors hoping to pick up one of the NFTs. The CCO status of the project allows users to benefit from exclusive derivative offers, while bringing more publicity to the original project. Following the success of CrypToadz, other projects like CryptoZilla and Pixelglyphs have adopted the DAO/CCO model.

Like cryptocurrencies, NFT prices are incredibly volatile and are governed by various trends, sentiment, paid and unpaid influencers, and a host of other intangible factors. The highly experimental nature of the sector means that projects are constantly testing new methods to attract investors, build community and stay relevant.

Token-equipped NFTs could be a fad that loses its charm once all projects in the ecosystem adopt the model. The same could happen with the tactic of airdropping to holders, and there's also no way of knowing if the current "form a DAO and buy all the rares" approach will work.

The bottom line is that the space continues to innovate, and the most successful investors and collectors are the ones who keep up with new trends.

Disclaimer: Rogue "Pump and Dump" abounds in the NFT space. For the sake of transparency, please note that the author of this review has positions in CrypToadz, Winter Bears, and Mutant Ape Yacht Club, and previously held a position in Cool Cats.

The views and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should do your own research when making a decision.

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