With more than 10 PFP NFT projects releasing every day, and .07 ETH seeming like pennies to most people, here are some things to keep in mind when choosing to buy an NFT.
If you’re reading this, you probably already know what NFTs are. Assuming you have already figured out how to get some eth into your crypto wallet, most people in the NFT world are now struggling with the problem of how to figure out which NFT to buy.
Here’s a quick list of 5 things that you definitely want to consider before investing your hard-earned money into an NFT project...
NFTs first gained mass popularity with artists who recognized that this was a way for them to be remembered and rewarded for their work in perpetuity. So, while PFP projects have become the rage, do consider the art of any NFT you buy.
Another thing to remember is that nobody really knows where the NFT market is going. You may or may not make a huge profit on your investment. The one way to ensure that you don’t make a loss is to only pick up projects where you love the art, so even if the extrinsic monetary value of the NFT goes down to ZERO, you still have an emotionally valuable piece of art you can intrinsically enjoy forever.
As entrepreneur, marketer par excellence, and founder of Veefriends, Gary Vaynerchuk (AKA Gary Vee) says, “Bet on the jockey, not on the horse.”
The team that steers the project is critical not only to its success but also to the joy that you will receive from the project. A responsible, responsive, and knowledgeable team will ensure that you have the best experience within the space. Sometimes, engaging with the project's team and community can bring you more value than the actual NFT token that you hold because everyone share's similar values and interests.
Consider the example of what happened with the StonerCats NFT launch. Since the project is backed by Hollywood stars Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher, and has the founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin on board too, there was a rampage to mint it on launch (equivalent of a Macy’s sale the Sunday before Christmas). People ended up losing huge amounts of money on ‘gas’. Subsequently, the team took responsibility and refunded the lost money to many people – out of their own pockets. That’s a good team. And not to toot our own horn, but the WoWNFT team rocks too!
Big, big one, and one that most people did not expect or consider to benefit from. A lot of people who came into the NFT world expected to gain some tech knowledge. If they were lucky – to make some money too.
The one thing I think that most of us did not expect to find is communities that would become critical to our very metaverse existence. To find friends, mentors, guides, teachers. To get help and support from strangers living 2000 miles away from you. The most successful NFT projects are the ones that have the most active and positive community experiences. From personal experience, I can vouch for the WoWNFT community and the Avastars community – both of which I’m a part of.
Or the function behind the NFT token you intend to buy. The popular view was that NFTs are pieces of digital art. That’s true. They are.
But, they’re so much more. A lot of NFT projects have added value or a “Roadmap” about what they intend to do. So when you buy the NFT, you also buy the utility behind it. A superb example of this is the VeeFriends NFT token. It comes with access to the VeeCon which is a 3 year event. On the other hand, you have something like the Comics Punk NFT which is a fractionalized DAO and gives you part ownership of the project. There are also PFP projects which may still be working out their roadmap and adding utilities as they go along. Some have a presence on Decentraland and are building games, some are working on animated cartoon series and others are even giving holders ‘breeding’ opportunities. So before you pick up an NFT make sure you check the Roadmap of what the project is all about.
Last but not least, you have to consider the cost. Only spend what you can afford to lose because nobody knows where this market is going. I say this because while most people are priced out of something like the CryptoPunks (50ETH floor approximately at the moment) or even the BAYC apes (15ETH floor at the time of writing) there are plenty of NFT projects that mint at 0.04 - 0.07 ETH. And while that’s something a lot of people can afford, the question you need to be asking is – “Can you afford to lose it?” Only invest as much as you can afford to lose.