02/24/2022

An NFT Bubble Is Overtaking the Gig Economy

Two-thirds of U.S. freelancers told Fiverr they’re servicing the NFT industry

Argentinian Musician Frank Tavis had the life he always dreamed of. The 26-year-old was traveling the world and performing on the streets and in bars in more than 20 countries—each coin dropped in his guitar case helping pay his way to the next country for five years. Then the pandemic hit, bars shut down and Tavis’ income dried up. A friend recommended he join Fiverr, a freelance gig economy website where people are paid for a variety of digital services usually offered by contractors. Tavis began writing songs for small sums of cash in mid-2020.

The earnings helped him live, but he saw a bigger opportunity. “I watch a lot of YouTube, and I started to see a lot of different stuff about NFTs,” he said. Tavis knew artists who he could pay to design artwork that others would use to make NFT collections. So, he pivoted his Fiverr business to design the artwork used for NFTs.

He worried about competition at first, because Fiverr filters gig workers based on the number of jobs completed and reviews on their work, and he had no experience designing NFTs. It wasn’t an issue. “I have [music] gigs on Fiverr with more than 100 five-star reviews, but with this [NFT] gig with no reviews I was getting more attention,” he said. In January 2022, when he first sold NFT services on Fiverr, he made more than $10,000. As a middleman selling artists’ work to NFT enthusiasts, he’s expecting to make $40,000 from NFT design sales in February 2022. He has done 40 NFT collections—and doesn’t see them slowing down.

Please select this link to read the complete article from WIRED.