Do your research warn NFT experts as fraud daubs commercial metaverse

euronews.com:

NFT, the abbreviation of non-fungible token, was Collins Dictionary’s term of the year in 2021. Having entered the mainstream, its usage increased 11,000%. As the concept has gained traction globally, so too did the associated scams.

In one example last year, NFT marketplace OpenSea advertised a fighting game called Evolved Apes as “a collection of 10,000 unique NFTs trapped inside a lawless land, fighting for survival… only the strongest ape will prevail”. The game never materialised and the anonymous developer, ‘Evil Ape’, vanished – along with the official website and Twitter account – after siphoning 798 ether (€2.3 million) from duped investors.

Why are people buying NFTs?With NFTs, assets can be ‘tokenised’ to create a digital certificate of ownership, which can then be bought and sold. The practice is proving popular in fields ranging from computer gaming to digital art, but some buyers have fallen victim to fraud.

UAE-based NFT and cryptocurrency consultancy ColossalBit analysed the market and found multiple reasons why people are buying NFTs online, despite the risks.

“Some of them – we call them the ‘flippers’ – are buying NFTs to flip them for a profit,” says ColossalBit CTO, Christian Chalfoun. “Some are buying NFTs as collectors, and some just want to join a community.”

As the NFT metaverse expands, more companies are finding ways to use these digital tokens in business too. In December last year, The London Project was among the world’s first hospitality outlets to use NFTs. The Dubai-based restaurant created an NFT for an AED50,000 (€11,984) VIP New Year’s Eve party package for four. The restaurant partnered with blockchain technology company Cifris, selling the token through its website and accepting payment