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A Closer Look At The Growth Of The Digital Assets Market

The 21st century has been all about digital technology and the development of digital assets. In one way or another, some of the biggest developments in this century have been tied to technology and digital solutions. Today, digital assets are easily worth just as much as physical assets, and in many cases, are worth far more than things in the tangible world. In the past, “digital assets” was a term that was restricted to only a few commodities and it was only people that were connected to those assets that could benefit from them.

Posted: 1st August 2022 by
Finance Monthly
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Today, the term relates to a much broader category of goods and no matter what you do or where you are in the world, digital assets are something you can get involved with and benefit from. As the internet continues to grow, technology gets cheaper and our dependence on the digital world increases, there’s no doubt that the future is all about digital assets. Here are some of the main digital assets used today and a few ways in which you can benefit from them.   

Design Files

One of the most valuable forms of digital assets is design files. These are the raw files that are used to create logos, texts, fonts, graphics, engineering models, and designs of all kinds. The popular platforms these days include Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, and a few other common platforms. The design files for these platforms can be worth millions depending on what they’re meant for and how valuable the design is. As the need for good designs is increasing day by day, the value of designs is also rising. For a client, the most important part of any design is the design file itself as that is the actual code that can be copyrighted, patented, and modified for further use.

Documents

The digital space is exploding with new mediums. Whether you look at text, graphics, audio, or any other category of content found on the internet, there’s a huge demand for quality material. Moreover, as businesses and corporations move towards using digital solutions for their own operations they want better quality documents to work with.

There are a number of online platforms you can use to create different kinds of documents. These are more efficient alternatives to platforms that we used in the past to make things like spreadsheets and slideshows. Both the documents that are made through these mediums and the mediums themselves that are used for making these documents are extremely valuable.

Photos

Text is very important in the digital space but so are photos. In fact, large photo libraries pay people to upload quality content onto their websites. Whether you’re making a home video or are putting together a presentation for work, it always helps to have some good photos in your material. Moreover, there’s also a huge demand for animated images and 2D and 3D photos. On the other hand, stock photography is also high in demand. Since individuals and businesses need good quality content to use for their own digital assets, good photos are getting great prices.

Text is important for digital mediums but photos have their own place. Today, users don’t just want an image that looks good, they want something that is relevant to their content and that can be hard to find. Those who are able to cater to these niche clients are able to charge a high price for these assets.

Digital Currency

Recently Bitcoin has been the subject of a lot of criticism after it dropped in value. However, it’s important to note that this currency alone was able to achieve over 60,000% growth in less than a decade. More significantly, it was also the catalyst for a completely digital currency revolution.

Today there are thousands of currencies in circulation and just as many exchanges have all been possible due to the unprecedented success of Bitcoin. In the future, there will be a need for currencies that offer users the freedom, privacy, and convenience that Bitcoin and other existing digital currencies deliver to some extent. Even if you aren’t invested in digital currencies directly and are trading through Bitcoin ETF, it’s still a valuable proposition. Digital currencies also offer multiple ways of making money so they are a very valuable asset for everyone involved in different areas of the ecosystem.

Videos

Just a few years ago YouTube was a small website that only a few people knew about and used. Video content in general was scarce on the internet and the quality of videos available was not that great either. Just a decade later, video is the most consumed type of content on the internet and has been the catalyst for a lot of growth in the digital space.

Whether it’s in the form of script writing for videos, videography, sound editing, or even SEO for a video platform, video content is easily one of the most valuable forms of digital assets you can have or invest in today largely due to the massive audience that videos attract. Not only can you earn through publishing videos but every part of the video production process is valuable. In the time to come video content will only get more valuable as people want to get the most information possible, in the least amount of time.

Website Domains

As the internet continues to be the market for everything from entertainment to education, the actual property on which these digital assets are made is also getting expensive. Buying and selling domains have always been a business but never before has there been as much traffic on the internet as there is today.

This footfall is pushing the prices of domains up and, for domains that have a great name, the price can be extremely high. Domain trading is commonly known as domaining and it offers some incredible profit margins. What’s more important is that just like in physical property, each website domain is unique and as long as it is occupied by one person or business, no other can have that space on the internet.

Games

Another very big and very profitable category of digital assets is games. The great thing about games is that there is more than one thing that makes the game valuable. Everything from the map to the characters and the unique elements of the game makes it a valuable asset. Each aspect of the game can be patented and used to make money.

Moreover, if a game is particularly popular, it can be converted into a movie, a book, a cartoon, or any other kind of media. Since the storyline is so flexible, developing games is a very profitable niche. The only problem is that it can be fairly complex, especially if you’re designing big, complex games.

Apps

Similar to games are general applications. Ever since smartphones became commonplace, coding has shifted from developing PC software to developing mobile applications. These applications are just as powerful and feature-packed as traditional PC software; the difference is that they run on mobile applications. Again, there are a few different ways you can design apps and there are multiple ways to make them a revenue stream for yourself. How well you design apps and how big of a market your app serves will determine how profitable of an asset an app will be.

Virtual Property

Ever since games like Minecraft came out, property in games and other virtual settings have been of interest to people. However, when Meta went ahead and announced its virtual world, the virtual property bubble grew even bigger. Today, people are investing in all kinds of virtual landscapes acquiring everything from commercial stores and business locations to mansions and vacation homes. The virtual property will definitely be a valuable asset in the future but right now the returns are low. As soon as virtual property becomes more functional and the sale and purchase of this asset becomes easier, the value will definitely rise.

Websites

Other than the domain name of a website, the entire website can also be an asset. There are a number of platforms where you can buy and sell premade and functional websites. Whether you’re looking for an e-commerce store or just a nicely designed blog, you can sell it online very easily. A well-made website with decent traffic and good SEO can easily sell for more than $1 million. You can either make your own website and sell that, or you could buy a premade website and trade that to someone else for a margin.

Graphics

Graphics are an integral part of everything from a YouTube video to a blog post and a website's homepage. Other than photos, animated graphics are also high in demand. These are especially useful to marketers who want to give their audience a better understanding of what they’re trying to say and there are countless other ways that graphics are used these days. Depending on what the graphic is designed for it can be sold for a few dollars or a few thousand dollars, or even more.

How You Can Benefit

Given the way all these digital assets are growing and becoming entire markets within themselves, there are a few different ways you can make money from them. Other than just creating and selling these assets, here are a few things you can do.

Invest

If you’re looking to invest money, consider investing in something that is tied to digital assets. For instance, recently when the prices of cryptocurrencies were rising rapidly, people started investing in the companies that manufactured the hardware necessary for mining digital currencies. As the hardware was in high demand, stock prices of the manufacturing companies were also soaring and investors made a lot of money.

Similarly, you can invest in other people that are part of the supply chain for a digital asset and benefit from the growth that the entire industry is experiencing. Alternatively, you can invest in the assets themselves such as buying fractional shares of an NFT or a game.

Custody

Nearly all digital assets need to be stored in some way. You can invest in solutions that store these assets or you can develop a new platform that creators of these assets can use to store their valuables. As digital currencies become more valuable people want a more secure way of storing them. Manufacturers came up with external digital wallets that were basically very secure external storage devices designed specifically to store digital currency.

Trading Platforms

Many digital assets are tradable and if you can set up a good trading platform for these assets, you can earn through commissions. Considering how expensive these assets are and how much demand there is for them, this is an extremely profitable approach. It will take some money and some skill to develop a good platform but it will be a worthy investment that will only be more useful and valuable in the future.

Brokerage

Many people who invest in digital assets need someone who can help them broker deals and find the best opportunities for them. Much like a stockbroker, you can earn a commission from the sales you generate and earn a good amount. In this case, you will just need time and some brokering skills and you can set up a very good business for yourself. Moreover, this can easily be scaled into a much larger operation much like traditional brokerage firms.

As the world moves to a digital economy there are countless ways you can make money from it. At the centre of all this action are digital assets and if you can get into any part of the ecosystem, it will be a great place to start. Once you understand the asset and the market better, you can pivot to more profitable areas or areas you’re more skilled in. Right now there still isn't too much competition and people are looking for quality service providers for all kinds of things. Making a move now will give you an early-mover advantage and cement your position as a reliable business in the future.

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