The NFT space is growing at a crazy fast rate.
You can collect PFPs… like CryptoPunks, Bored Apes, Gutter Cats, Cool Cats, and so on. There are a zillion profile pic avatar projects.
Or you can collect NFTs for use in online games. Or to immortalize moments from your favorite sport. Or to pick up accessories for use in the metaverse. Or to get special access to people or events.
Lots of use cases. Lots of choices.
So… as a buyer or collector of NFTs, what’s your plan?
Wait a minute, why the need for a plan?
You need a plan, because this is a very risky and volatile space to play in. You could spend $50,000 on an NFT today, and see its value fall to $500 next week.
If you want to have a good time, and maybe make some money instead of losing it all, it makes sense to have a plan. And step one with that plan is to focus on just one area… like art, or PFPs, or gaming etc.
It’s hard enough being an expert in one area of this space. Trying to be an expert in every area is a recipe for disaster.
How to choose you area of focus? Go where your interests take you.
My focus is on art, because it’s what I love.
My NFT collection is focused exclusively on art.
Not because I think art is the “best” use-case for NFTs. It’s simply because I love art and always have. And it’s something I know a bit about.
Now I can buy NFTs and feed a passion of mine at the same time. Feels good.
My focus on art also insulates me from that FOMO thing.
For example, I almost bought a Bored Ape when they were under one Eth. But I didn’t.
Do I regret it? Kind of… because today I could have sold that Ape for a ton of money and collected more art.
But it doesn’t gnaw away at me… that feeling of missing out. Because that’s not my thing anyway. I don’t collect avatar projects. I collect art.
The only time missing out on a project stings is when it’s an art project I had a chance to buy into, but didn’t. Hello Fidenzas!
And I focus on art because I have nothing to lose…
Well, not quite true… but…
The thing about buying apiece of art is that it has intrinsic value outside of its price or meme appeal.
If I fall for a piece or art… and I spend 2 Eth on it… that’s a lot of dollars spent.
A week later, perhaps the price of that piece falls to 0.2 Eth.
That’s a big hit on the price. I’ve “lost” some money.
But I still own the art, and I still love the art.
The price has gone down, but the value remains the same.
Drilling down a little more, I collect generative art from ArtBlocks.
Digital art is a subset of all NFTs. Generative art is a subset of digital art. And ArtBlocks is the leading platform for generative art NFTs.
ArtBlocks is where I play.
I didn’t get in super-early. But I was early enough for the experience to be forgiving.
In other words, in spite of making numerous mistakes along the way, I’ve built a collection I love. And the value of that collection has grown enough to make me start worrying about what the tax man might have to say.
Why ArtBlocks in particular?
Because it’s where you go if you are into generative art.
And for two other reasons too…
I hate clichés, but sometimes it’s hard to avoid them
I stick with ArtBlocks because of their integrity and community.
I tell my kids to always judge people and companies based on what they do, not on what they say. People can say all kinds of nonsense, and usually do.
The next part of my integrity test is to see what a person or company does when they make mistakes. It’s easy to behave well when everything is going swimmingly.
ArtBlocks is great, but as with any start-up in a crazy, fast-growing space, they have stumbled a couple of times along the way.
And when they do, co-founder Snowfro gets in front of the problem quickly, makes an announcement on their Discord, takes responsibility for what happened and tells us how they plan to fix it.
Sounds like the obvious way to deal with things, but it’s not.
Most companies delay, waffle and come out with half-truths and highly polished BS.
Like I said… integrity. As rare as hen’s teeth.
In a crazy space like this, it’s priceless.
Next… community.
Every NFT project boasts about its community, and I’ve joined a fair number of them.
But none are like the community at ArtBlocks. Click through from channel to channel and you’ll see artists and collectors deep in conversation, pretty much every hour of the day.
Best of all, the Curated Artists on the platform each have a channel of their own.
That’s insanely wonderful and amazing. World-class artists accessible and immersed in conversations with their fans and collectors, every day.
Again, if every piece of art on the platform dropped in price by 90%, the value of that community would remain the same.
Incredible.
That’s it for this post.
Next time I think I’ll talk about the scary transition from being a newbie collector to being a newbie curator of what you’ve collected.