Lessons From a Novice NFT Junkie
Gm to you my fellow NFT buds. I hope you’re all having a somewhat good year so far in 2023.
Today, I’d like to share with you some of my experiences and some lessons learned from dabbling in NFTs for just over a year now.
The Story
I began my web3 journey in January 2022 when I was invited by a friend to mint an NFT. As someone who had been in the crypto world since 2014, I’d heard about NFTs about a year prior, but never really delved into it. But after a series of awful decisions in the wake of the 2020/2021 crypto rise, I decided to cut my losses and transition into the NFT space with what I was able to salvage.
Now, as a poet and an art enthusiast, I fell head over heels for NFTs and was amazed at the creativity of artists around the world, the technology, and the potential it had to change the lives of independent artists. So I doubled down on buying, but this is where things began to get tricky.
“I would see several beautiful artistic pieces and would make emotional purchases on impulse…”
The thing is, with crypto, it was much easier to be pragmatic about what I was buying and there wasn’t an emotional attachment to my holdings, as they were basically just a bunch of numbers on a screen. But with NFTs, it was a whole different ballgame –and being someone who loved art, that didn’t help at all. I would see several beautiful artistic pieces and would make emotional purchases on impulse, convincing myself that they were investments that would appreciate in time.
The reality of the situation however, was that most of the projects I bought into would tank pretty much as soon as I bought them. I was then introduced to some web3 jargon and had to familiarise myself with words like “rug”, which means the founders of an NFT project have pulled the rug and simply vanished into thin air, leaving the project to free fall as there was no longer a driving force behind it.
Forever the optimist, I’d remain hopeful that things would change and the value of the NFTs I bought would bounce back after a while. They never did. Still, as I was now addicted to the never ending stream of gorgeous digital art, dope graphic designs and cartoony illustrations offered at a relentless pace, I would funnel any spare cash I had into my Metamask wallet, and just buy buy buy!
“I’d basically invested all my money into failing NFT projects and was left with nothing but a wallet full of worthless digital images.”
As you can imagine, it didn’t take long before I was facing serious financial difficulties, and as a self employed, self published author with a debilitating chronic illness that requires long periods of hospitalisation several times a year, the situation had become quite serious by December of 2022. I’d basically invested all my money into failing NFT projects and was left with nothing but a wallet full of worthless digital images. This is why I am writing this and sharing my web3 experience with you.
The Insight
The fact is that it isn’t all doom and gloom because the NFT space allows for great connections and friendships to be made, and out of such friendships came priceless advice and information that have slowly began to help turn things around. The thing is I learned rather late in the game that there are tools like the NFT Track app for example, that can help one make much better and more informed decisions before diving into projects at the deep end. This changed everything, as well as the fact that one must understand what I now call the 3 basic NFT identities and choose the appropriate ones, with a solid strategy.
The 3 basic identities are: a collector, a trader, and an investor. You can choose to be a single one of these or you could incorporate all 3, but you must understand which one you are taking on at the point of your purchase. This is crucial. But first, I’ll explain the differences between them.
The Collector
The collector is someone who, like me, simply loves the art and as the name suggests, wants to collect NFTs for the sake of collecting. Such a person is wholly convicted about their purchase and isn’t worried about the volatility of their value, as they aren’t planning to sell them anytime soon, if ever.
The Trader
The trader is someone who, unlike the collector, is in it for the money and the money only. Such a person simply buys and sells NFTs purely for financial gain and they are usually well adept at planning their entry and exit points. The artistic value of the pieces do not mean much to this type who simply has a strategy that they pretty much follow to the letter.
The Investor
The investor is almost a combination of the other two characters in the sense that they invest in art that they love, but also want to make some financial gain from their investments at some point. This character is one that usually has a longterm plan and as such, is patient enough to ride the waves of market volatility.
Conclusion
So now that we are here with a basic understanding of the NFT web3 game, I hope that my story will inspire you to take better care of your finances, make better decisions with your purchases, and do all you can to learn as much as you can about the game.
Read articles on the NFT market, make use of informative web3 tools, connect with serious likeminded people on Twitter… and remember to make authentic friends and/or acquaintances that’ll help to guide and support you on your web3 journey. Most importantly, be aware of what character you are taking on at your point of purchase, be thorough and diligent with your research, and above all, be patient.
Thank you for reading. Now get out there and have yourself an awesome week and month, and hopefully, a brilliantly prosperous year.
