What happened
Shares of several Chinese companies are surging once again due to speculation that they might jump into the non-fungible token (NFT) space.
The Chinese fintech firm Jiayin Group (JFIN -1.86%) saw its stock price rise more than 77% today. Shares are up roughly 226% in just five days. Shares of the online art platform Takung Art Co. (TKAT) climbed more than 65% today and have surged roughly 590% over the last five days.
Shares of the Chinese classical music platform Kuke Music Holding (KUKE -5.11%) climbed more than 11% today, while shares of the artwork e-commerce company Oriental Culture Holding (OCG 16.67%) rose more than 24%.
So what
Shares of all of these companies once again appear to be rising on news or speculation regarding NFTs. NFTs are digital files such as art, video, and audio stored on blockchain, which is the digital ledger technology that powers cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC 0.08%). Some NFTs have already sold for millions of dollars.
None of these companies are involved in the NFT space, but investors are betting that their current business models could allow them to easily make the transition.
Image source: Getty Images.
For instance, Takung runs an online platform that allows artists, art dealers, and investors to exchange and invest in artwork, so you can see how that might be a company that could easily make the jump if it wanted to. Recently, a digital piece of art sold for $69 million.
"Buying the companies offering NFT would be like buying companies that have some sort of dealings with bitcoin in the early days," Kim Forrest, chief investment officer at Bokeh Capital Partners, recently told Reuters.
Forrest added that she thinks the surge is being led by people who feel they missed a huge opportunity by not buying cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin a few years ago.
Now what
Again, there is no confirmed news that any of these companies are actually jumping into the NFT space. Right now, the run-up in all of these stocks is being fueled by speculation on social media.
NFTs are also quite new and will likely be very volatile going forward. I would agree that the NFT climate feels similar to that of cryptocurrencies a few years ago. But cryptocurrencies have traded with lots of volatility over the last few years and continue to do so. There's also no guarantee that NFTs will run the same course as cryptocurrencies.
Remember, some NFTs are intended to mimic tangible assets like sports trading cards, a market that has soared up and down wildly for years. I would continue to advise extreme caution when investing in NFTs right now.
