Sorare founder predicts 2022: 50% of Dapps will run on ZK-Rollups, and NFTs will become the cornerstone of the metaverse

Original Title: "Sorare Founder: 50% of Dapps Will Run on ZK-Rollups… NFT/Game/Sports Predictions for 2022"
Written by: Nicolas Julia

Compiled by: TechFlow Friends

2021 was a milestone year for NFTs and Sorare.

If you had asked me this time last year, I would have to admit that I couldn't have predicted such breakthroughs for NFTs this year. NFT sales skyrocketed to over $10 billion in the third quarter, and we expect NFT sales to approach $25 billion by the end of 2021. Behind these numbers, two powerful narratives shaped the year:

1) Art: The art world discovered NFTs through Beeple's $69 million NFT auction at Christie's, breaking the misconception that digital art cannot be owned or valued like traditional art. Meanwhile, the entertainment industry found NFTs with PFPs (profile pictures primarily on Twitter) through Cryptopunks, Bored Apes (BAYC), and countless other interesting projects available on OpenSea, proving that even ordinary consumers recognize the value of owning digital artworks, opening a new channel for creators and artists to earn online.

2) Gaming: The astonishing success of Axie Infinity (with over 1 million daily active users) and the rise of "play-to-earn" shook the entire industry. NFTs are not about paying for in-game items with no real value, but rather empowering gamers, as they will be able to freely trade and use their in-game items across the internet.

At Sorare, our argument has always been that NFTs can bring the masses of culture to Web3, particularly through the passion for sports. We aim to build the next sports entertainment giant by helping billions of sports fans own their games and become stakeholders rather than mere spectators.
As we enter 2022, I find it useful to reflect on our goals. It helps us define our roadmap and think about how to build a better sports gaming ecosystem for everyone. Here are my top predictions for the three industries Sorare is involved in: NFTs, gaming, and sports.

1. NFTs Unlock Experiences

Non-fungible tokens can represent anything: artwork, in-game items, game tickets, social experiences. Next year, we will see more NFTs in everyday life, helping their owners unlock physical experiences.

Now, if you own a Bored Ape, you are part of a club that can attend certain events. On Sorare, if you own a LaLiga Ticket Edition NFT, you can attend LaLiga matches in person. If you own a Gerard Piqué LaLiga ticket version, you can attend Clasico as a VIP, tour the stadium, and learn behind-the-scenes insights. In fact, I predict that next year we will see a major sporting event, whether it's the Super Bowl, UEFA Champions League final, or FIFA World Cup final, using NFTs as tickets.

The opportunities are endless, and I hope NFTs will help bridge the digital and physical worlds, from sports with Sorare to music and concerts and many different industries. We intend to invest in this area and build NFTs that can unlock sports experiences.

2. By the End of the Year, 50% of Decentralized Applications Will Run on ZK-Rollups

Rollups are expected to become the scalability solution for all blockchains. As the number of users increases, scalability is one of the biggest barriers to mainstream blockchain adoption. Rollups are hybrid solutions that move transactions off the main "Layer 1" blockchain while still retaining some data for each transaction. They were first implemented on Ethereum, but I expect all blockchains to start adopting Rollup solutions, including Solana, Flow, Cosmos, etc., to achieve greater privacy and scalability, which are prerequisites for any application aimed at billions of users.

More and more decentralized application communities or "dapps" are now on Rollups, but I believe 2022 will be a breakthrough year for ZK technology. This is a long-term infrastructure trend that will help bring blockchain applications to hundreds of millions of users.

3. Traditional Game Studios Will Get Involved in NFTs

With the rise of crypto gaming, I look forward to seeing more action from traditional game studios in the NFT space. This could be top game studios launching NFTs in games played by tens of millions of users, or an increase in mergers between game studios and Web3 gaming. It is also likely that more Web3 studios like Sorare will invest in traditional studios to help further establish interoperability between games or recruit some talent. I believe crypto-native game studios will be able to grow faster than others.

Next, I think we will see traditional game studios become more interested in experimenting with interoperable games, bringing external IP into their worlds, and whether there is a path to interconnected games that place gamers at the center of the experience. This may take years, but interoperability is worth pursuing for gamers and developers. The ability to transfer game assets won or purchased from one game to another provides more value for players, and for game studios, each new game use case adds value to the underlying assets, increasing their appeal and liquidity across the internet.

4. NFTs Will Be the Cornerstone of the Metaverse

If much of our future lives will be spent in a global, virtual, interconnected world (the metaverse), then NFTs will be the primary building blocks of everything in that world.
As centralized metaverses develop alongside decentralized ones, users will further realize the value of truly owning their assets. In a centralized metaverse, people will create content and games owned by centralized entities behind the metaverse. In a decentralized metaverse, any content and games built by people will belong to those people. The distinction will be clear. I hope more social platforms adopt NFTs as they transition to the metaverse, which requires a normal economy that operates across platforms.

5. The Rise of NFTs Will Help Boost the Fanbase of Women's Sports

Historically, women's sports have been undervalued, underestimated, and overlooked. We believe that NFTs can significantly accelerate the growth of women's sports by providing fans with a direct way to support the teams and players they care about, while also attracting a broader sports and NFT community that understands the value of these collectibles.

At Sorare, we are fortunate to see how leagues around the world have expanded their fanbases due to our high community engagement—while typical sports fans mostly cheer for their home teams, Sorare players invest in their favorite players worldwide as they build their fantasy teams. We hope to see the same level of engagement expand here, with athletes participating in women's sports that they may have previously overlooked. At Sorare, we are committed to changing the tide by investing in women's sports and working to involve women in the three industries we are engaged in: NFTs, gaming, and crypto.

6. The Top 10 Sports Organizations Will Develop Complex NFT Strategies

2021 saw a lot of excitement about cryptocurrency in the sports world, which has been the fastest-growing sponsorship category in sports. However, cryptocurrency and NFTs are different. And NFTs are not a market; they are a technology.

2022 will witness the excitement of this year as sports organizations gain a deeper understanding of the power of NFTs to connect with fans, add value, and unlock experiences. With this understanding, experts will be hired (think of heads of digital assets), but there will also be a deeper understanding of the differences between various sports crypto business models, as well as which are legitimate participants and which are unproven.

7. Most NFTs Will Go to Zero

Yes, 2021 was a crazy year.

Yes, most people still think NFTs are a fad.

Yes, like any groundbreaking technology such as the internet, there is an irrational exuberance.

As we enter the possibilities offered by Web3—a decentralized, ownable, and programmable web—we see hundreds of new projects emerging every day. But it is important to remember that Web3 is not about specific NFTs, but about what you can do with them, whether it’s providing access, social capital, or utility.

I expect most NFTs to go to zero, just as most .com companies did—hype does not negate underlying trends, and if you choose projects built for the long term, you will find the Amazon of the .com bubble. NFTs help you own a piece of the internet, as our good friend Alexis Ohanian explained, ultimately, the internet is a cultural machine and a community connector. NFTs have now become part of culture, and while not every NFT will survive, we will certainly see projects that maintain value for centuries to come.

While some of these predictions may seem bold, I believe it is not a question of "if" but "when." If 2021 taught us anything, it is that the power of NFTs is being accepted faster than even industry insiders expected, and I can't wait to see what happens in 2022.