Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs): A Systematic Review of the State of Art of Valuation, Regulation, and Perception

Abstract

While Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) emerged as the common application of blockchain technology, there is a lack of detailed literature around the concepts of NFTs. This study aims to 1) address the contributing factors for the valuation of NFTs and correlation, 2) survey existing legal framework relating to NFTs, 3) discuss the role of regulators and 4) examine perception. This review includes research articles published in Engineering Village, IEEE Xplore, Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, Business Source Complete, and ABI/INFORM Global databases. The keyword “Non-Fungible Token” generated over two thousand of research articles, but only English-language peer-reviewed journals being selected for an initial pool of 362 journals. Finally, 22 articles were selected by following the 2020 Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) protocols. The articles were categorized into three areas: valuation, regulation, and perception of NFTs. The results of a detailed analysis of the three areas consisted of 16 studies on valuation, 4 on regulation, and 2 on perception. These studies highlighted 1) the historical prices of NFTs as a key predicting factor for future pricing , 2) legal copyright and shared ownership issues, and 3) digital vs physical perception of objects. This initial analysis conducted one keyword due to the exploratory nature of this research is a limiting factor in the results obtained. Nonetheless, the results provide sufficient indicators that additional analysis of NFTs and its other contributing factors would be of value to the understanding and adoption of these emerging technologies for both researchers and practitioners.