2) How NFTs are shifting the crypto market & how to start investing
NFTs have been called the next big thing in the crypto world and are revolutionising several industries. Read on to know more about how they are changing crypto investment and how you can start investing in NFTs.
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) have started disrupting many industries. NFTs allow the tokenisation of assets like artwork, video game assets, meme templates, and much more. Such tokenization means that the ownership and authenticity of digital items can be verified in a decentralised way. NFTs have spawned an entire industry of collectables and investments and have already delivered massive returns for many. However, as an investor, before starting with NFTs, you must understand the market, potential rewards, risks, and investment methods to profit from them.
What is an NFT?
Asset tokenisation essentially creates digital tokens representing any real-life or online items, such as an original baseball game trading card, the first tweet by someone, etc. Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are unique units of information stored on the blockchain network. Now, what does fungible mean? Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are “fungible,” which means each Bitcoin is indistinguishable from the other. NFTs, on the other hand, are non-interchangeable and represent the uniqueness of the items, such as a land ownership deed, digital art, or even real-life items.
NFT Market: Quick Facts
NFTs have been called the next big thing in crypto, and the sentiment is entirely understandable when you look at the following data.
Massive Boom in Sales: The NFT industry surged to $2.5 billion in sales in the first half of 2021, up from just $13.7 million in the first half of 2020.
Room For Growth: The market for collectibles like cards and toys is $370 Billion. NFTs can command a similarly significant share of digital collectibles like art, gaming assets, and more.
Strong Recent Growth: NFT investments have hit $10.7 billion in the last quarter alone. A 704% increase from the quarter before that.
How NFTs Are Changing Crypto Investment
Why are people interested in investing thousands or more in NFTs? There are two main reasons:
Revolutionary Technology: Investors in NFTs are very bullish on the technology, and its case uses. The versatile tech allows rapid innovations and lets ownership and validity of digital assets be tracked. Although NFTs started with artwork, the technology has disrupted several other areas like music, airlines, passports, houses, cars, and even (virtual) real estate! Investors are of the sentiment that the technology can do very well in different domains in the forthcoming future.
Social Capital: Having an NFT provides a feeling of exclusiveness and displays social status. Like owning a Mercedes or Gucci bag in the offline world, NFTs can let people flaunt the digital assets they own with a simple picture or video. Such social capital holds value in today’s social media era.
Celebrity Endorsements: For many investors, the decision to invest in an NFT or not comes solely from whether there is a strong community for the NFT. Snoop Dogg, Shaq O’Neal, and several other celebrities have joined NFT communities, strengthening the ecosystem.
Major Real-World Adoption: Several organizations have issued NFT collectibles and contributed to the growing NFT ecosystem. Some of these include Marvel with exclusive collectibles, NFL with exclusive highlights, UFC with panini for trading cards, and much more.
How to Start Investing in NFTs
Investing in NFTs may seem difficult to newer users. Given below is a step-by-step guide for investing in NFTs.
Make an Account on an NFT Marketplace: There are several marketplaces where various NFTs and collections are sold. These have their separate sign-up requirements, but most will need users to have a crypto wallet of some kind. Some marketplaces include OpenSea, Rarible, SuperRare, and Bluemoon, which will be the world’s first collaborative NFT marketplace.
Make a Digital Wallet: Crypto wallets are necessary for holding crypto. Once the wallets are funded, these can be used for purchasing NFTs at the marketplaces of the user’s choice. Wallets can be hot wallets connected to the internet or cold storage hardware wallets. Some marketplaces require specialised tokens like Binance Coin, so investors should ensure that the wallet supports the coins that work in the chosen marketplace.
Fund The Wallet and Marketplace Account: The next step is buying cryptocurrency to purchase things in the marketplace. These can be purchased at exchanges like Coinbase or Binance or Decentralised exchanges like UniSwap and PancakeSwap. Currency can be loaded onto the platforms after that if such a feature is supported.
Purchase NFT of Your Choice: With the marketplaces and wallets set up and funded, you can now buy the NFTs of your choice. NFTs are mostly purchased using an auction format where investors submit a bid for the token of their choice. The user with the highest bid gets the NFT.
Legion’s All Round NFT Platform — Bluemoon
Legion Network is the world’s first blockchain ecosystem that combines all the best services in the industry in one decentralised super app. The platform combines services like crypto wallets, SaaS, gaming, and more into the super-app. Bluemoon is part of this platform and is an NFT marketplace that offers the following benefits.
Influencers and Community: Bluemoon allows brands to connect with creators. Influencers can hold NFT contests, for example. Engagement unlocks creativity and improves popularity.
Game Developers and Community: Developers can crowdsource with fans to create NFT skins and designs.
VR & AR: Creators and brands can make customised rooms within the digital world, showcasing their NFT’s or their business. This new technology creates endless possibilities for connecting with audiences.
Protecting IP and Royalty: Bluemoon allows creators to protect their IP rights and lets them earn royalties on other transactions.
More Creativity and Collaboration: Collaboration can let communities create packaging, products, ads, music, visual assets, and more. Users can buy, compare, rent, swap, or sell NFTs on the platform. NFTs can be showcased in augmented reality devices and galleries.
Keep up with the launch of Legion’s App & Bluemoon by joining the telegram community: https://t.me/legionnetworkcommunity
Legion Twitter
Bluemoon Twitter
Final Words
NFTs have revolutionised the crypto industry and earned several people their fortunes. Investing in NFTs requires knowledge of the market and trend analysis. Keeping in touch with what goes on in the crypto community also helps. New NFT marketplaces and supported blockchain solutions are rapidly joining the ecosystem, and the future looks bright for NFTs.
References
AWS_TEAM. (2021). Creating and Selling Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). aws.amazon.com.
https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/startups/how-to-create-and-sell-non-fungible-tokens-nfts/
Can NFTs outlive hype as the new gold of the crypto economy? — ResearchAndMarkets.Com. (2021, September 13). Businesswire.Com.
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210913005479/en/Can-NFTs-Outlive-Hype-as-the-New-Gold-of-Crypto-Economy---ResearchAndMarkets.com
Explained: After bitcoin and other cryptos, now comes NFT. (n.d.). Moneycontrol.Com. Retrieved September 28, 2021, from
https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/business/personal-finance/are-non-fungible-tokens-as-investment-worthy-as-cryptocurrencies-7012481.html
Jones, E. T., & Bowden, J. (2021, April 26). Here’s how NFTs are more than an art fad — and can change the world. The Conversation.
http://theconversation.com/nfts-are-much-bigger-than-an-art-fad-heres-how-they-could-change-the-world-159563
Non-fungible tokens (NFT). (n.d.). Ethereum.Org. Retrieved September 28, 2021, from
https://ethereum.org/en/nft/
