GEMS

My thoughts on NFTs for the next few years in this tweet 🧙‍♂️, if you read one thing today, let it be this: Going over the fundamental use case of NFTs and also “trading them to make money”. Bullet points first for those who want a TL;DR-- • Best use case for NFTs remains the p2p decentralised aspect of digital item trading (collectibles, art, etc.) with transparent provenance without the physical world limitations. • NFTs are like pieces of paper. We will have many people explore what the token can represent, in collectibles, gaming, tickets and more. It is not one or the other. • Projects will try things, most will fail and some will succeed. People will lose money trying to speculate. And others will gain money accurately predicting what projects do well. You are rewarded more because you take on more risk. • Market euphoria and depression will come in cycles. Coming to terms with this helps separate your conviction on the tech vs. projects. Disliking X project does not mean you have to oppose “NFTs” the tech. NUMBER ONE Similarly, how the core use case of Crypto is decentralised p2p currency trading without middlemen, for NFTs it is the token being on the immutable blockchain that cannot be altered and is tradeable without physical world limitations such as it being damaged, lost, or stolen and requiring physical space. As the world becomes even more digital, we also have to come to terms with the fact that there are certain things only made possible digitally. Digital art is not new, but new art forms will be created in the future, and tokenization of them will be a perfect fit. "The internet has existed for ~35 years, and will exist for the rest of humanity's existence. The incredibly small period of time where you couldn't own digital items will be seen as the stone age of the internet, and considered incredibly weird by future generations."--@cobble NUMBER TWO Pieces of paper are an incredibly powerful and versatile technology. Trying to describe exactly why that is so is pretty difficult, though, just like with NFTs, because they have so many different usecases. (h/t @swombat for this analogy). NFTs are like programmable digital paper. They can hold and even create art, store messages, and encapsulate different forms of music. They're excellent for recording contracts, as they can predefine future actions. They're adaptable to store anything, from personal IDs to auth tokens, and can also represent monetary values. Not all applications are sensible, just like with regular paper, but the versatility of NFTs makes them all possible. You can think one idea is dumb (digital monkeys) while appreciating another (tradeable gaming items). The reason why the statement “NFTs are dead” will always be inaccurate is assuming that the digital programmable paper has no use case at all! NUMBER THREE In this free market, expect speculation on assets. This is how you will make money, and lose money. Keep in mind that the people behind these projects are not trying to make you money. Yes, you can invest in a project that you think will have more demand in the future, whether it’s a collectible or an artwork – and that is where you take on the additional risk for reward. Things will go up more than it may make sense, and can go down “more than it makes sense”. You will have outright scam projects, and failures. And on the other hand, you’ll have successful experiments where value accrual flows to the NFTs. Do you want to make money? The people that make the most money study and understand the market! It doesn’t matter if you have millions of dollars, trying to figure out what to buy without understanding and embracing responsibility for your trades is not the strategy I would recommend. When people care less about the markets, this is when you should pay attention to get ahead of others. NUMBER FOUR Just like all markets, no matter how important the industry may be, you will see euphoria in it. We are seeing it with AI now. I can not tell you if the projects today will make you money or exist in the next 5 years. But I can tell you, that this programmable digital paper and concept of ownership on a public blockchain is something I can bet my time and money on, and that is where my strong thesis comes long-term. Figure out what is important to you in this context, if it’s nothing, then don’t force a thesis. If it’s something, figure out how you want to spend your time related to that. But be open to changing that thesis when new information is presented to you. Most people would never think this deeply about NFTs because the whole concept of them is ridiculous at first glance, and worse when people look into what is happening in the industry. Don’t fret, amongst the scams, you have real builders. Either become one of them or bet on those who have the same thesis as you. That is all you can do if you care about the industry. And if you don’t, then it’s not for you. ---------------- Just like all things, if it seems obvious… it’s probably not that exciting. One thing I know is that I am doubling down. I will be releasing my educational platform soon (@tryPluid) and helping out those who care at all. Ignore noise and carry on building. If you took your time and read through all of this, I hope to see you in the “next bull market” –- for now, embrace the fact that everyone is calling the entire industry a scam. :). Good luck.