With the onset of the semantic web, you might be wondering how to invest in web3. In the first year of web3 gaining mass attention, numerous investors seemed to have become millionaires overnight. That said, the opportunity to make money in web3 is real. In fact, I’ve made a few dollars myself.
Web3 offers an array of investment opportunities. You just need to know where to look. But, before making any rash decisions always do your own research and never spend more money than you can afford to lose.
Below are 6 ways you can invest in web3.
How to Invest in Web3
1. Invest in Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)
One of the greatest opportunities to invest in web3 right now is through NFTs. These digital assets have skyrocketed in popularity since their initial rise in early 2021.
And although 2021 was the year that a majority of collectors and investors were flipping NFTs for easy cash, you can still make some great investments today.
It might not be as easy to quickly flip an NFT for profit, however, you can invest in the companies that are leveraging NFTs to build their brand.
Your best bet is to invest in blue chip NFTs. These are digital assets that are the most valued right now and that investors are bullish on as we head into the future.
The most sought-after blue chip NFTs include:
- CryptoPunks
- Bored Ape Yacht Club
- VeeFriends
- Cool Cats
- Doodles
If you can find a good deal on any of these NFT brands, then you might just be able to make a nice profit in the future. With that, what’s considered to be a “good deal” is still up for debate.
Action to take: Browse popular NFT marketplaces such as Opensea to search for trending NFT projects.
If you’ve never bought an NFT before, you’re going to want to learn how to buy an NFT on Opensea if you plan on making any moves.
2. Invest in Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency has been the talk of web3 for a while now. Undoubtedly, Bitcoin (BTC) has been the preferred choice for many investors.
In 2014, one BTC was equal to approximately $850. Less than 10 years later in November of 2021, the price of one BTC was to the moon at $66,971.
Of course, Bitcoin isn’t the only option for investors. There are over 12,000 active cryptocurrencies to choose from, and that number only continues to rise.
Another promising crypto that has caught the eye of many is Ethereum (ETH).
Similar to BTC, ETH has seen its fair share of highs and lows.
The most promising aspect of ETH is that a majority of companies choose the Ethereum blockchain to build their NFT projects, decentralized platforms, and decentralized apps, on.
Plus, with Ethereum’s previously successful and upcoming upgrades to its infrastructure, it’s speculated that ETH could be worth well over $40,000 by 2031.
Ultimately, investing in cryptocurrency is still a viable option to invest in the overall development of web3. That said, you should always do your own research.
Action to take: Search for the top-performing cryptocurrencies using a trusted platform like CoinMarketCap to find a token worth investing in.
Make sure to view the price charts including the token’s past performance to make the best buying decision. You also need to create an account on a trusted exchange like Coinbase to purchase your crypto.
3. Invest in Virtual Real Estate
Virtual real estate also lands in the NFT realm. However, it’s a largely unexplored space in web3 in comparison to other popular NFT projects.
That said, the potential to invest and make a substantial return on your investment is decent.
There are several ways to approach investing in virtual land.
- Buying and selling land (flipping): Considering not many people are buying digital land yet, you can pick up virtual lots for fairly cheap and re-sell them in the future for a profit.
There are several different metaverse worlds where you can purchase a plot of land. The most popular metaverses are Decentraland, The Sandbox, Otherdeed for Otherside, Cryptovoxels, and Somnium Space.
- Build a virtual business: Virtual real estate isn’t just cool to look at, you can actually build a real business in these virtual worlds using your land. That’s why big-name brands like Nike, Adidas, and even Snoop Dogg have bought their own land in the metaverse.
- Lease your land: If you don’t want to purchase land in the metaverse, you can just as easily lease a plot of land.
Of course, if you decide to lease land you’ll want to make sure that you have a plan to use the land. Although this option isn’t aimed at directly investing in virtual land, rather, you can invest in building something meaningful with your leased lot.
Action to take: Spend time researching the best metaverse platforms. Look into other platforms where other investors are building and buying land. You can find virtual real estate for sale for many of these metaverse worlds on Opensea.
4. Invest In Play-to-Earn Gaming
Play-to-earn (P2E) gaming is possibly one of the most exciting and profitable web3 investments you can make. The current gaming industry is estimated to be worth over $300 billion.
And a small chunk of that comes from P2E blockchain-based games like Axie Infinity and Gods Unchained.
Hence, the gaming industry is set to continue to grow and players have already been earning a substantial amount of money by investing their time playing these games and earning cryptocurrency as a reward.
The most popular web3-based P2E games played today are:
- Axie Infinity
- Gods Unchained
- SoRare
- The Sandbox
Also, in games such as The Sandbox (also known as one of the most popular metaverses), you can create your own games and digital assets, and then monetize them.
However, if you want to go this route, you’re going to need to purchase or lease land in the game.
Action to take: Start gaming. No, seriously. If you want to earn money playing games, you have to invest time and a little money to get started.
Games like Gods Unchained and SoRare can be played with very little money ($10 to $100), and in some cases, you can learn how to play the game for free before choosing to go all in. Such is the case with the free version of SoRare.
5. Invest in Web3 Companies and Stocks
Just because web3 is a newer technology doesn’t mean you should overlook more traditional means of investing.
There are a number of web3 companies that have established multi-million dollar businesses and are publicly traded on the stock exchange.
Some of the most prominent publicly-traded web3 companies include:
- Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN)
- Crypto.com (NASDAQ: CRO)
- IBM (NYSE: IBM)
- Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ: META)
- Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA)
- Nike (NYSE: NKE)
- Sony Group Corp (NYSE: SONY)
It’s important to note that many of the companies that are building something great in the web3 industry are yet to go public, and many of them likely never will. That’s where alternative means of investing can come into play.
Purchasing both physical and digital assets might be your only shot at investing in some of the best companies, so it’s always good to keep an open mind.
6. Invest in Yourself
If you have ambitions of being your own boss, running your own businesses, and building a brand, then now is the time to invest in yourself.
Times like this (during a massive technological shift) are the perfect time to try something new.
This isn’t the first time an opportunity like web3 has come around. When the internet first began to gain attention in early 2000, a lot of successful brands were built that still exist today. Amazon and eBay are both examples of this.
Or, how about the rise of social media in the mid-2000s? Facebook (now Meta) has been one of the most successful platforms to exist on the internet and still exists today as it continues to evolve with the times.
That’s not to say that you need to build the next Amazon or Facebook. My point is that with new technology comes new opportunities. And if you have an idea, you should invest time and money trying to bring it to life.
Investing in yourself could pay off more than any of these other options on the list.
Action to take: Find something that you want to try doing. Whether you are a writer, an artist, or already own a business, ask yourself how you can use web3 to help grow your personal brand or business.
Once you have an idea, don’t waste any time not investing both money and time into your idea. Now is the time to do it.
Is Web3 A Good Investment?
Web3 could be a good investment opportunity. According to a report from Market Research Future, the web3 sector will be worth more than $6 trillion in the coming years (between 2023 and 2030) with a compound annual growth rate of 44.6%. If you can invest early, then you could make a nice ROI.
To determine how much the global web3 market could be worth, it’s been broken down into various segments.
Blockchain Type
There are various types of blockchain networks. Contrary to popular belief, not all blockchains are decentralized platforms. The blockchains taken into account for the $6 trillion estimate includes:
- Public (transparent and permissionless)
- Private (non-transparent, closed database)
- Consortium (semi-decentralized)
- Hybrid (a combination of public and private entities)
Applications
With web3 technology comes several types of applications and various use cases. The applications are as follows.
- Cryptocurrency
- Conversational AI
- Data and Transaction Storage
- Payments
- Smart Contracts
Verticals
Web3 won’t affect only one vertical. Rather, it is set to change the way most industries do business and provide services. Verticals that you should consider when thinking about investing in web3 include:
- Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI)
- E-Commerce and Retail
- Media and Entertainment
- Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals
- IT and Telecom
Regions
Web3 doesn’t just span one country. There are several regions where the web3 market is strong and will only continue to grow stronger. These regions include:
- North America
- Europe
- Asia Pacific
- Latin America
- Middle East
- Africa
Taking all that into consideration, there is no doubt that there are some excellent investment opportunities in web3. Even if you don’t find something you want to invest in today, it could appear overnight.
Web3 is still in its infancy. With that, it’s likely that some of the greatest brands and businesses are being built as I write this.
Staying active on popular social media platforms like Twitter can help you keep a pulse on what’s going on in the industry.
How to Earn Money in Web3
The aim of web3 is to provide creators with the money they deserve, and consumers with the value they desire, all in a transparent manner.
So, whether you have huge ambitions to build the next Amazon or you just want to make a living doing what you love, web3 can help achieve your monetary and other personal goals. Here are some ways that you can earn money in web3.
Make Money Creating Your Own NFT
NFTs are a creator’s dream come true. Regardless of what product or service you’re creating or selling at this very moment, you can turn it into an NFT.
Not only do NFTs provide you with additional opportunities to provide more value to your consumers through the use of smart contract technology, but it’s also a completely separate market from the one you may be selling to right now.
So, whether you’re an artist, personal trainer, producer, or anything else, you can utilize NFTs and the entire web3 market to earn extra income and grow your consumer base.
Monetize Your Creations
The idea of a creator economy (where creators are paid directly by their fans rather than through third parties) is more realistic now than ever.
The decentralized nature of web3 cuts out the need for a middleman and instead uses smart contract technology to automatically execute contracts and other types of agreements.
That means if you’re a creator, there are plenty of opportunities to monetize your creations and content to earn a full-time living.
NFTs have helped a number of artists turn their passion for creating into a full-time income.
In some cases, struggling artists have even become millionaires, as is the case with the artist FEWOCIOS.
Having said that, I’m positive that a platform will be created in the near future that will offer creators an easy way to monetize their work and sell directly to their consumers.
And I’m not talking about NFT marketplaces per se, I’m talking about a platform like YouTube that supports the creation, distribution, and monetization of content on a mass scale. Except this platform won’t take a huge chunk of creators’ hard-earned profits.
Create Your Own Cryptocurrency Token
Using web3 technology, you can easily create your own cryptocurrency and tokens.
You can then distribute these tokens to your fans or consumers which they can then use to pay you for the product or service you provide.
Then, if you can manage to increase the perceived value of whatever product or service you’re providing, the value of your token could increase along with its demand. As a result, you can earn more money.
This is assuming you have the desire and know-how to build a community and create demand.
Investing in Semantic Web Takeaways
Although web3 is in its infancy, the best time to invest might be right now. With new platforms and uses cases for the technology appearing daily, you have the chance to get in while it’s still affordable and before these companies reach their height.
Here are some key takeaways to invest in Web3:
- Buy and sell NFTs
- Invest in cryptocurrency
- Buy virtual real estate
- Invest time to learn about play-to-earn gaming
- Invest in web3 companies and stocks
- Invest in your own ideas
- Always do your own research
- Never invest more than you can afford to lose