Investors are investing a lot of money in the infrastructure behind NFTs

The “non-fungible token” hype sweeping the country has rekindled appetite for the backbone of the phenomenon.

Driving the news: Investors are investing a lot of money in the phenomenon’s infrastructure – betting it’s here to stay.

Catch up quickly: The mind-boggling amounts spent owning a digital version of art – or newspaper covers, trading cards, memes, and more. – verified via the blockchain, were qualified as a side effect of the frenzy of the market in the broad sense.

What they say: The infrastructure behind NFTs “has improved dramatically in recent years. … Protocols, applications, and creators can evolve rapidly to meet demand,” says Matt Beck, chief investment officer for the capital firm. Digital Currency Group risk.

• “Interest in NFTs is expected to persist, even if prices calm down amid a broader financial downturn. “

The company behind the NBA Top Shot virtual collectible card site said on Tuesday it had raised $ 305 million – the biggest round of funding ever for an NFT-focused company. (Assessment: $ 2.6 billion).

• The NFT SuperRare market today said it has raised $ 9 million.
• OpenSea, another NFT buy and sell platform, said last week it had raised $ 23 million.

In numbers: NFT-related startups raised $ 35 million last year, according to Pitchbook.

• The funding cycles listed above (by no means exhaustive) are already over 9 times that amount – and it’s only March.

The bottom line: As long as NFTs are hot, so will its ecosystem.