Certain non-fungible token (NFT) investments have vastly outperformed most cryptocurrencies, gold, oil, and the stock market in the past months. Celebrities among the likes of Snoop Dogg, Gary Vaynerchuk, Future, OBJ, Logan Paul, Takeoff, Dave Chappelle, Eminem, Kevin O’Leary, and DJ Khaled have bought NFTs and shown them off on their Twitter profiles, increasing the popularity and demand of the digital art. Learn more about the NFT craze and how you can take advantage of it in this article.
What are NFTs?
NFT stands for a non-fungible token. To understand fully what a non-fungible token is, you need to learn the difference between fungible and non-fungible assets. Fungible assets are items that can be directly interchanged for each other - for example, fiat money, an ounce of gold, or cryptocurrencies. Non-fungible assets are assets that aren’t interchangeable with each other. Some non-fungible assets are plots of land, diamond rings, art, and baseball cards. The tokenization of non-fungible assets on the blockchain enables users to verify the authenticity and take ownership of the asset they’re buying. NFTs are blockchain-based cryptographic assets with unique codes and metadata. This differs from fungible tokens like cryptocurrencies and fiat money, which are identical, and therefore, can be used for commercial transactions. We must say that a non-fungible token by itself has no value. The value accrued from NFTs is from the art and scarcity attached to them. The future applications for NFTs are yet to be discovered.
How are these NFTs created?
Minting is the process of creating NFTs. NFTs can be created and minted by artists, gamers, different brands, musicians, and others. If they want to sell it after minting, they can do so on a marketplace of their choice. Once the NFTs are listed on the market, they can be viewed by anyone and purchased the same way that stocks and cryptocurrencies can. They are collectibles as well as valuable investments.
How can I buy NFTs?
You can purchase NFTs via any of the online NFT marketplaces. There are many, and the choice depends on your personal taste. We will list some of the most popular out there: OpenSea, Rarible, SuperRare, NBA Top Shot Marketplace, Foundation, Mintable.
Are non-fungible tokens safe?
NFTs are using blockchain technology just like cryptocurrencies, and they are generally very secure. The distributed nature of blockchain technology makes them near impossible to hack. NFTs face one security risk if the platform that hosts the non-fungible token is hacked or out of business.
How to store NFTs safely?
If you're going to invest a lot of money in NFTs, you should think about a secure storage solution for your tokens. While MetaMask is generally secure, people's accounts have been hacked because the wallet is linked to the internet.
A hardware wallet is an answer to this problem. Thousands of cryptocurrencies, including non-fungible tokens, are stored in hardware wallets such as Ledger Nano S or Trezor. These devices keep your cryptocurrency offline, making it impossible for it to be stolen over the internet.
Some interesting NFT projects to look for in 2022
Before investing in a non-fungible token, you should conduct your research. These projects can be difficult to appraise, and many NFTs are illiquid, which means you may have difficulty selling your collectibles in the future. Many NFT projects will fail without a doubt, leaving investors with a valueless JPEG. We'll share our thoughts on what's worth checking out.
CryptoPunks
CryptoPunks launched in 2017 as one of Ethereum's first non-fungible token projects. Each Punk was generated by an algorithm, and the collectibles were limited to 10,000 Punks. Human Punks are the most common, but other Punk species exist. There are nine Alien Punks, twenty-four Ape Punks, and eighty-eight Zombie Punks. Alien Punks have fetched more than $8 million at auction.
Bored Ape Yacht Club
Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks are both NFTs that are commonly used as online avatars. The project features cartoon apes with varying attributes and rarities, with the cheapest Apes costing approximately 70 ETH ($225,000). А few months ago, you could buy an Ape for around 1 ETH, making this project one of the viral NFT collectibles in the industry. Since its inception, BAYC has airdropped token holders Bored Ape Kennel Club (BAKC) and Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) NFTs, which have accrued floor prices of 7 ETH and 16 ETH, respectively. Bored Ape Yacht Club also hosts events only for token holders, such as a private concert in New York City with the rapper Lil Baby.
Mutant Ape Yacht Club
The Mutant Ape Yacht Club is the sequel to Yuga Labs' smash hit, Bored Ape Yacht Club. While celebrities and venture capitalists are hoarding the Bored Apes, the mutant apes offer a more affordable way to access the same network.
There are 20,000 Mutants in total, including a few "Mega Mutants" with prices as low as 3,000 ETH ($9 million). The Mutant Apes were distributed via airdrop to Bored Ape Yacht Club members. All 30,000 apes (bored and mutant) were also given early access to Adidas' "Into the Metaverse" NFT project, which sells for more than three times the retail price. It pays to be a member of this club, and investors recognize the value of membership.
VeeFriends
VeeFriends is from the social media guru Gary Vaynerchuk. Gary is the Chairman of VaynerX, the CEO of VaynerMedia, and the creator/owner of VeeFriends. Simply put, VeeFriends is a ticket to Gary V's multi-day super conference, to which only holders of VeeFriends tokens have access. VeeCon is the world's first NFT ticketed conference. VeeCon is a gathering of VeeFriends token holders to form a community and form long-lasting friendships, share ideas, and learn together.
Axie Infinity
Axie Infinity is the greatest NFT project ever. As of January 14, 2022, it had sold $3.8 billion in goods. Instead of other non-fungible tokens that can only be admired, Axie Infinity provides 'Axies': creatures that can be fought and used to gain cryptocurrency in an immersive game. The format is similar to the well-known Pokémon game and is available on PCs, Android, and iPhone devices.
'Play-to-earn' games have recently gained popularity. The use of NFTs in these games enables skill-based incentives and ensures that in-game assets belong to the players.
They can also be traded between games and resold on secondary markets for a profit.
We end this article with a touch of play-to-earn games and the role of NFTs in them. In the next blog post, we will dive deep into this topic and explain the meaning and the role of the Metaverse.