When the word NFT is brought up, a few things may come to mind. Some minds might bring up images of drooling monkeys or digital kittens, others may see SCAM in their head blinking in red light, and yet most probably would ask—what exactly is an NFT?

An NFT (or non-fungible token) is a virtual identifier of authentic ownership. In simple terms, it’s a stamp that says you own something digitally.

NFTs rose to popularity in 2017, and even more so in 2021, when the technology was paired with digital pieces of art. Highly collectible and limited in quantity. This led to sky high prices (and serious returns on investment) for many NFTs. In short, this offered a new way to invest in both art and technology that hadn’t been seen before.

And yet, why the strong backlash against them? If you’ve heard of NFTs you’ve probably heard from the naysayers who boo them asking, “are NFTs dead?”

Many saw NFTs as nothing more than a fad without substantial artistic depth, or worse yet a rug pull scam, with many of the most popular collections blowing up based on rarity and collectibility rather than the art itself or any real utility. Some saw the art as crude and unsophisticated. And yet, the same artistic criticisms were said about pop artists like Andy Warhol over 50 years ago. Still other investors are less concerned with artistic merit and more concerned with capturing a piece of technological history, or just making a buck.

In the last year since the bull run of 2021, we’ve seen the decline of the larger cryptocurrency market and NFT market along with it, all while an even larger economic call for impending recession looms. This has left many sitting with the question—are NFTs dead?

But are we looking at it wrong? Is collecting digital art all that NFTs are good for? Or is there a more substantial utility to the technology that has yet to be seen in mainstream adoption?

A Case for the Hard-Working NFT

I’d like to paint a new picture of what NFTs could be in the coming future of Web3. Picture if you will the hard working everyman, a laborer who lacks all pretension but provides extreme practical value to their community. They make their living off the sweat of their brow, they probably look something like John Wayne and aren’t too fond of fanciful talk either. Okay, I’m getting carried away but my point is there is a new emerging identity for the NFT that strays quite far from their impractical roots.

The reality is, NFTs can be highly practical and utilitarian when used in the right way, and that’s not just a fantasy of mine. Rolling Loud, a company that hosts some of the largest music festivals on the planet, just recently announced a new NFT collection that will grant users free access to all of their festivals for LIFE… so long as you continue to own the NFT in question.

NFT technology can be used to provide digital tickets and access to events, own items in the gaming or digital world, stream exclusive music, television and movies, get discounts on products and more. Even beyond the world of entertainment and retail NFTs are the most sophisticated technology we have for authenticating priceless documents like birth certificates and social security numbers.

But, do we have to surrender the artistic side of things? Let’s face it, part of the reason NFTs boomed in the first place is because they’re creative and fun! Is there not some inherent value in that alone, some utility in beauty?

“Are NFTs Dead?”—Where Art and Utility Meet

For this next section, I’m going to do some shameless self-marketing and use our company as a use case for an NFT that does both. Our company HelloVacay is nearing release of an NFT collection that pairs both art and utility.

Our Utility: Thanks to partners like Priceline and Booking.com, those who hold our NFT can get up to 70% off the usual online prices at hotels and resorts internationally. In short, our utility is providing genuinely discounted rates on travel.

Our Art: For this reason we have named the NFTs in our collection ‘Passports’, because they allow our community to travel through our network of deals. These Passports aren’t boring government documents though. All of our passports are pieces of art, with most depicting a specific city or world monument. These specific cities do not limit your discounts (if you own the Paris Passport, you still can get discounts at London or Tokyo or anywhere internationally), but we do have specific perks in the works for certain cities and collections. Check out a few examples below.

Now, as much as I’d like to keep tooting our horn, we're not alone. There are a few NFT projects that are innovating now and combining Art and Utility.

All this NFT talk leaves you feeling some FOMO, asking yourself “why don’t I have one of these”? Or do NFTs bore you but you love the idea of having VIP rates at resorts and hotels all over the world?

Either way join our Whitelist for free today and earn a FREE Pilot Passport as soon as our NFT collection releases! Check out the link in our bio to join.

Congrats on being in the right place at the right time. 🥳🙌

Click here to enter our whitelist and get a free Pilot Passport upon our launch.