Case Study – Should you join the hottest NFT universe right now?

NFT is one of the hottest buzzwords in 2021, and it has something to do with the cool elements that are popular today, such as blockchain, ether, DeFi decentralized finance, metaverse, and more.

The first time I heard the term NFT was from a podcast on Tech Island Read in March, in which Dr. Bimbo mentioned the NBA's Top Shot Moment NFT and other related merchandise. When the host Zhou Qinhua tried to give an example of what NFT is, I immediately thought, isn't it like those moving pictures in Harry Potter? At the time, I thought this concept was dazzling: because this new digital asset can exist in any form, whether it is photos, music, or videos, it can be turned into NFT.

Months have passed, while people are still stuck at home due to the outbreak, the NFT universe is growing at an astonishing rate. In order to catch this wave, I first made my first NFT on the OpenSea platform , and in this article I want to do a simple case study to discuss whether people who have not done so should step into NFT world.

What's the latest news in the NFT market?

The popular news in the Asian music market should be the report that Malaysian singer Huang Mingzhi earned NT$24 million with NFT of his songs on the OpenSea platform overnight .

Suddenly, I started hearing a lot of discussions about this invention in different groups; investors, writers, designers, lawyers, and even marketers, everyone seemed to have a thing or two to say about the NFT issue.

As mentioned earlier, there is no limit to the form of NFT; naturally, it has strong kinetic energy from the perspective of supply and demand.

Given this, you can probably already imagine that the NFT world is extremely competitive. Your competitors come from creators of all ages from all over the world, even boys as young as 12 . In such an environment, it is conceivable that it is not easy to create a hot-selling NFT product. So you have to find something that makes your work unique, and you need a great marketing strategy; we'll talk about that later.

What's so special about NFTs?

NFT is the abbreviation of non-fungible token (non-fungible token). In essence, each NFT is unique because of the underlying technical architecture on the blockchain network. Therefore, every time the NFT changes hands, the system adds a piece of code to the record, and no matter who the next owner is, he or she will automatically inherit all records over the years.

If you are a collector of antiques, you may want to buy a collection owned by a historical figure; on the one hand, it can show the value of the collection, and on the other hand, it can show your excellent taste. And this set of logic is of course also applicable to the NFT market. On the NFT platform, users can check when a certain NFT was minted, who has bid, and how much it paid; and this unique record is one of the reasons why NFT is particularly popular around the world.

Of course, sellers can also add some extra code. For example, there is an "Unlockable Content" project on the OpenSea platform, creators can think of some ideas to transform online activities into offline interactions. Another example is about the upcoming sci-fi movie "The Matrix: Resurrection ," where Warner Bros. has announced that it will release 100,000 two-stage transformable character portrait NFTs ahead of the movie's 12/22 premiere.

Another selling point of NFT is the most powerful metaverse application. However, my point of view is a bit different. Given that most NFTs still exist in the 2D world, and the 3D metaverse is still a semi-finished product, if you really want to see a large number of NFTs used in the metaverse, I am afraid it will cost a lot. for a long time.

So what about profitability? I know you might be envious of the artist Beeple who sold a set of "Everydays: the First 5000 Days" NFTs earlier this year for NT$1.9 billion ; but let's be realistic, don't Forget that you have to consider minting costs and miner fees for transferring NFTs. Remember to carefully choose your sales platform and the blockchain used to mint coins. Polygon chain does not require minting fees. I think it is a very good choice.

How to get famous?

Going back to our earlier discussion of marketing strategies, how do you stand out from the crowd with countless passionate creators entering the NFT market every day?

I'm no expert, but may be able to share some tips that others have used; but whether that's good or bad is up to you.

First, you need a good story; like Benyamin Ahmed, the 12-year-old who programmed his own pixel whale. You can also get well-known characters to help you, like the recent "The One Token That Rules Them All" (an NFT ruled the world) JRR Token . Or seek the help of AI artificial intelligence, such as graphics processor chip design company Nvidia just announced that it has developed GauGAN AI that can convert text instructions into beautiful pictures .

Then again, if you already have a group of fans behind you, you can also try going the celebrity route; Linkin Park Union Park member Mike Shinoda joined the NFT universe this year . I heard him share once this month at the 2021 Singapore FinTech Festival (Singapore FinTech Festival), he said that since he was exposed to this new technology, he no longer has to worry about how to monetize his creations, which sounds very sincere. You can still bid on his work on the ZORA platform.

What's more, it is possible to increase media exposure through partnerships. However, you have to know how to do it right and do it in a smart way. Speaking of which, you might want to read an article by independent blogger Amy Castor about the controversy behind Beeple's record-breaking auction .

write at the end

From the above paragraphs, we have discussed the potential of NFTs separately from the perspectives of industry dynamics, product features, and marketing strategies. Now, I think we should all agree that this market is too big to ignore, not to mention that JPMorgan just announced that it's worth a staggering $7 billion.

But there are some things you must know before entering the NFT universe, and that is its associated risks. Regardless of the buyer's or seller's point of view, the copyright property rights of NFT cannot be left idle. Even big director Quentin Tarantino is sued for wanting to sell his 1994 classic "Black Man" NFT .

At the same time, don't treat NFT as a purely speculative investment tool. If you really want to invest, find a target you are passionate about! In this way, even if the fire slowly goes out one day, you can still keep this collection with pride and affection. Think about your hard-earned collections as a kid, you bought them to make a fortune? Or out of genuine love for them?

You might be asking, what's next? You don't necessarily have to be a creator of some sort, but I suggest at least doing your own homework to understand the technology behind NFTs.

After all, the infrastructure that makes the NFT universe possible, Web 3.0, is a revolutionary new invention that has the potential to dramatically change our lives over the next decade. For more information, see my other article " How to Design Financial Services with Web 3.0 ? ".

Of course it will be many years before we reach the virtual world outlined in the movie "Ready Player One", but at this point in time, no matter what industry you are in, you should strive to accumulate more NFTs and their related applied knowledge. Prepare yourself and then one day use your virtual identity to make a splash in the much-anticipated metaverse.

Are you ready to join the NFT universe? Feel free to leave a comment below or share with me via email .

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