Why Would I Buy An Nft

Earlier this year, I got extremely curious about NFTs. If you’re not familiar, NFT stands for non-fungible token, and these assets have been growing in popularity over the last few years. Every bit you lot’re reading this, the thought of NFTs have been hot topics in a variety of communities.

In fact, NFT market OpenSea just announced that they reached $10 billion in volume on the platform. And NFT NYC just wrapped up – adding more FOMO to those who oasis’t taken the leap notwithstanding.

With all this activity and chat, I needed to explore the NFT space myself and encounter what it was all most. And the best way to explore is to only do it – so I bought an NFT. In fact, I’ve bought quite a few NFTs at this betoken, and accept fifty-fifty sold a couple equally well.

Hither’s what I’ve learned, and what you should consider if you’re looking to buy an NFT.

Quick NFT Overview

Let’due south break down a quick NFT overview if you’re curious almost information technology. NFTs provide existent digital buying –  your ownership is secured on the blockchain with both your public and private keys. You hold the private keys in your wallet (ideally a hardware wallet like a Ledger).

Nigh people think of NFTs as digital art – such equally pictures of Apes or Cryptopunks. But they tin can exist much more than – such equally admission to events and communities (similar VeeFriends), proof of buying and royalty processing, and more.

You can buy an NFT on a marketplace like OpenSea or Rarible, connect your wallet, and buy! Y’all can also bid in auctions, and sell via these platforms likewise.

With that being said, there are a variety of reasons why y’all might want to buy an NFT – and I break down some of my thoughts and purchases below.

1. Join A Community

The biggest reason (at to the lowest degree today) in my opinion is to join a community. The best NFT projects are as well centered effectually a community in a space. Take, for example, VeeFriends – which is Gary Vaynerchuk’s community of enthusiasts. Ownership of an NFT gets y’all into his event for three years, too as potentially other rewards.

Many NFT communities are online – and nearly use Discord. If you lot’re like me, you may take never used Discord before. So, check it out – I view it as a combination of message boards and chat rooms, meets Twitter and social media.

When you buy certain NFTs, you can become access to communities that share your interests. Some of these communities may be in person (or host in person events), merely most volition exist virtual.

For instance, one NFT project that I’m bullish on is Regal Society of Players. This is a poker-based community, and purchasing card NFTs gives you access to poker tournaments and more. This project has built a strong community and is standing to add together value to members. You besides gain incentives to build the best hand – a purple affluent!

2. You Like The Fine art Or Artist

Just like with regular art, you lot tin buy an NFT becuase you like the art or creative person. Mayhap the art means something to you? Maybe y’all’ve followed the artist and they’re creating an NFT, and y’all want to own ane.

In my case, I have enjoyed Carl Richard’s sketches when information technology comes to money. If you lot’re not familiar with Carl’s piece of work, he runs Behavior Gap, draws sketches for the New York Times, and talks a lot near the intersection of money and psychology. I actually ain a physical impress he created and gave away at a conference I attended years ago. It hangs on my wall in my office.

So, when I saw he was launching an NFT drove, I had to jump in and purchase one. Here information technology is:

3. Bring together The Game

Have you heard of play-to-earn gaming? This is the latest miracle in gaming – in which all of your “inventory” is NFT-based. And you can earn cryptocurrency tokens for playing the game.

At that place is a burgeoning use-instance for leveraging NFTs in gaming, specifically because you lot can take ownership outside of proprietary systems. This also allows game developers to create games that may utilize the same inventory.

For case, imagine a game that’south created today, where you lot can get an NFT sword. Simply and then another creator leverages the same NFTs in their game (and vice-versa). There’s a lot of potential there.

Only in practise, some games, like Axie Infinity, are already assuasive ownership and earning within the game. In this game, you lot buy your Axies, y’all level them up, you can breed them, and yous tin sell them. There’s a full exosystem both within the game and outside the game to have transactions.

Here’southward what my Axie’s look like:

iv. Stake Your Claim In The Metaverse

By at present, y’all’ve heard of Marking Zuckerberg’southward renaming of Facebook to Meta – a play on the metaverse thought. So what is the metaverse? Basically a virtual earth that allows you lot to interact in both the virtual and existent world simultaneously.

Many people envision this as a “Second Earth” blazon setting – where there’s a virtual earth and y’all tin own land, property, transact, interact, and more than. And what happens in the virtual world can impact the real world – and vice versa.

One of the biggest projects in this infinite is Sandbox. This is an NFT-based metaverse that is backed by major players in the crypto and gaming infinite (and some notable celebrities similar Snoop Dogg). Big companies similar Atari are already buying up large lots and staking their claim – merely smaller players are as well doing the same.

Plus, there are companies like LandVault that are even building out the spaces in the metaverse.

Some of the “best” lots in Sandbox at selling for more that 13 ETH, which is about $60,000.

Here’s a small-scale picture of what the Sandbox map looks like today. All the little squares are plots of country.

5. Flip It

Finally, nosotros can’t talk about NFTs without talking about flipping them. Because, let’south be honest, that’south (sadly) what most people are buying NFTs for today. The goal of flipping is to either purchase an NFT for a depression price (or mint an NFT), hold it for a catamenia of time, then resell it for a higher value.

While there have been some astonishing stories of people minting NFTs for fractions of an ETH, then reselling them for hundreds, that’due south pretty rare.

It can really be hard to detect a good project that won’t pull the rug on you lot. That’due south NFT slang for scam – where the creators of an NFT projection hype up the community, roadmap, and features, but subsequently the initial minting, they disappear with all the money earned.

Sadly, most NFT projects will take little value – either because of scams, or merely because the developers can’t build the customs and roadmap out.

Just even with those risks, flipping NFTs can be fun (and profitable).

I’ve been able to profitably sell iv NFTs to date – with profits (gross sale minus fees like ETH gas costs) ranging from just $60 to $230.

However, I’ve as well minted some projects that were clearly carpeting pulls, so I do have some worthless NFTs…

Last Thoughts

There are a lot of use-cases for NFTs, and more will emerge in the hereafter. Simply as of now, these are what I think are the main reasons why y’all should consider buying an NFT (or why you would).

There’s a lot of potential. At that place’s a lot of peachy communities that are doing fun and rewarding things in the NFT and crypto space. But there is a learning curve on how to transact and connect in this infinite.

And so take your time, enquiry projects, become on Discord, and try information technology out!