{"id":4569,"date":"2022-07-01T15:58:47","date_gmt":"2022-07-01T15:58:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyberscrilla.com\/staging\/4768\/?p=4569"},"modified":"2022-07-01T17:09:15","modified_gmt":"2022-07-01T17:09:15","slug":"is-it-too-late-to-get-into-nfts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cyberscrilla.com\/staging\/4768\/is-it-too-late-to-get-into-nfts\/","title":{"rendered":"Is It Too Late to Get Involved in NFTs?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NFTs seemingly appeared out of nowhere as expensive digital pieces of art. Now the technology is finally being seen for its true potential. But is it too late to get into NFTs?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not too late to get into NFTs, the technology is still in its infancy. It will likely take at least another 10 years for the world to fully adopt the technology, and 15 years before it is optimized entirely. If you want to get into NFTs, now is the perfect time to get started.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have recently discovered NFTs or your curiosity has just now been sparked, you\u2019re probably wondering what all you\u2019ve missed and if it\u2019s too late to get started? In this article, I\u2019m going to prove to you just how early it still is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why It\u2019s Still Early for NFTs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Considering NFTs began to gain traction in 2021, it is still very early in the evolution and adoption of the technology. In comparison, mass adoption of social media took about 23 years (1997 to 2020). In fact, influencer marketing wasn\u2019t a thing until 13 years after social media’s initial introduction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Woman
Woman holding alarm clock stating it’s early<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The opportunity in Web 2.0 (the social media era) from 2005 to 2020 was extraordinary. Facebook (2004), Spotify (2006), Uber (2009), Instagram (2010), and TikTok (2016) are prime examples of how long it actually took for society to adopt and develop platforms based on the technology. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To better understand just how early you are to the NFT space, let’s take a stroll down memory lane. Below is a brief timeline of NFT adoption up to now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2014 to 2020<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

At this stage, NFTs were only known by an extremely small niche group of individuals. Most of the people involved in NFTs this early on were developers and some investors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first known NFT was created in May 2014. From 2014 to 2020, there were a lot of significant developments which ultimately led up to the 2021 boom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rare Pepes are among some of the first-ever NFTs sold. These meme-inspired NFTs were first sold on a peer-to-peer marketplace called Counterparty, built on top of the Bitcoin blockchain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This ended up being the first-ever crypto art marketplace<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It wasn\u2019t until 2020 that the Ethereum Emblem Vault created a way to allow traders to wrap their Pepe NFTs inside an ERC-721 token to transfer and sell it using Ethereum-compatible wallets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For that reason, I believe Rare Pepes have not been as popular as the famous CryptoPunks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CryptoPunks was launched in 2017. However, shortly after the launch, a bug was discovered in the smart contract that allowed buyers to have their ETH refunded. As a result, Larva Labs created an amended contract that was later airdropped to holders. These V2 Punks are now considered the \u201cofficial\u201d CryptoPunks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Surprisingly, 9,000 CryptoPunks were actually given away for free to anyone who has an Ethereum wallet at the time of the project\u2019s release. Now they sell for hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep in mind that all of this occurred in the background between 2014 to 2020 before anyone knew about NFTs. That just goes to show how early the technology really is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2021 to Current<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It wasn\u2019t until 2021 that NFT technology really started to gain some mainstream recognition. Early on in 2021, NFTs were known by most as digital pieces of art. This is largely due to Beeple\u2019s $69 million sale<\/a> of his NFT art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
2014 to Current timeline of NFTs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Of course, this made headlines all around the world, and Beeple (Mike Winklemann) instantly became the third most valuable living artist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From then on, thousands of creators began to flow into the NFT space. Mainly artists and people looking to make a quick buck on this newfound digital gold rush.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, there were hundreds of new projects being released on a daily basis, and many of them would sell out. Nowadays, this isn’t the case. And that\u2019s probably one of the reasons why you\u2019re here reading this article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It didn\u2019t take long for people to start questioning what value NFTs actually provided beyond an image on the screen. After every type of animal known to man had been used to create the next-best 10,000-piece profile picture project (PFP), sales started to decline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, that\u2019s why it has been said<\/a> over and over again that 98% of NFTs created during the hype phase will fall to $0. Still, NFT sales volume totaled nearly $25 billion in 2021 alone. That being said, Jefferies (an investment banking company) estimates<\/a> that the NFT market cap could exceed $80 billion by 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2021 will forever be known as the rise of collectible NFTs with little-to-no utility. As we continue to progress, we are just now beginning to see NFTs with much more utility, and little-to-no collectibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s because before something can really be considered a collectible, people have to value it first\u2014and value is determined by demand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s how early the NFT industry is. We\u2019re just now figuring out how to apply something that we\u2019ve known for years. Hence why it\u2019s going to take time for NFTs to penetrate mass scale. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are NFTs Still Worth Getting Into?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

NFTs are worth getting into if you are interested in the technology and what it offers. They can provide you with instant value via utility and act as a source of income or an investment; among many other things. Ultimately, if you find any value if NFT technology, it’s worth learning more about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Sign
Guy holding cardboard sign meme<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Below are reasons why you should consider getting into NFTs<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are living in a digital landscape<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Now more than ever, we are living in a digital landscape. As society becomes more digital, the things we value change. What did followers and blue checkmarks mean to us 20 years ago? Not a whole lot. Now, people will do almost anything to gain followers and only dream of having a blue checkmark. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, why? Social currency, that\u2019s why. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s human nature to express ourselves and communicate with each other through the things we have. Posting an image of yourself wearing a Rolex or posing next to your fancy car is no different than flexing a hundred thousand dollar NFT as your profile picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Humans will continue to evolve. There\u2019s no avoiding it. We value NFTs and have already shown it\u2019s part of our evolution, just like we\u2019ve evolved to value certain brands, and our follower counts on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this point, there\u2019s no denying that NFTs are simply another way to communicate who we are as individuals. This will continue to reign true for years to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brand is relevant now more than ever<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For centuries, it\u2019s been about brand. Brand is the reason you buy what you buy. Whether it be your pair of Nikes or your Starbucks coffee, brand plays a huge role in what we buy and why we value it over something similar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"NFTs
Brand is even more relevant in the NFT era<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

NFTs are also brand, and brand isn\u2019t going anywhere anytime soon. In fact, brand is only going to matter more in the future. So when Nike and Starbucks decide to launch their own NFT (they already have), what do you think their loyal customers are going to do? Support them, that\u2019s what.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once all the big-name brands implement NFTs (many already have), everyone will own an NFT.  It might be as simple as something like a receipt, or something exciting like a concert ticket. That being said, we aren\u2019t quite there yet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why? Because we\u2019re still early.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NFTs provide society with unseen levels of transparency<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

NFTs also bring something new to the table. Something that we\u2019ve never quite had before. That is\u2014complete transparency. Thanks to NFTs being built on top of blockchain technology<\/a> (a digital, public ledger), we now have the ability to view anyone\u2019s transactions and authenticate every asset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before, you could take a picture of a rental car and claim it was yours. Now, there\u2019s no hiding it. Eventually, everything will be stored on the blockchain for everyone\u2019s convenience and safety. And when you need to verify something is true, you will simply check the blockchain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Considering the technology is available, I\u2019m a firm believer that this transparency will be utilized by every industry, in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Underlying smart contract technology will impact every industry<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The underlying smart contract technology<\/a> is still so underrated and unexplored. The moment that society understands how to utilize this technology to its full potential will be the moment NFTs have their greatest impact. Until then, we continue to innovate and push the limits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
NFT smart contract technology<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 5 to 10 years, there will be no reason for a concert house or airline to provide you with a physical ticket stub. Instead, it will be an NFT. We\u2019ve already transitioned from paper slips to QR codes, it only makes sense that NFTs are the next step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smart contracts have already been used to access conferences such as Veecon<\/a>, and to contractually receive physical products upon the purchase of NFTs (VeeFriends Compete and Collect Cards<\/a>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, NFTs will take the place of home deeds and other physical contracts. Once we can figure out the legalities behind smart contract technology, things will get very interesting very fast. But again, these things take time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Creator royalties have yet to be fully implemented<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Royalty fees<\/a> can be written into a smart contract to deploy a payment to the creator of the NFT every time it is sold on the secondary market. Before NFTs, this was not impossible, but it was hardly ever executed well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Creators deserve to be paid for their work especially if others are still wanting to buy it, even if it\u2019s years later. Furthermore, royalty fees are distributed automatically by the smart contract built-in to the NFT. This means there\u2019s no need for intermediaries, it\u2019s all done automatically for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve just barely begun to scratch the surface of royalties. This is something many brands will eventually utilize more often.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Derivative asset creation has yet to be seen<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

NFTs provide brands the opportunity to create derivative assets. For example, say your local coffee shop partners with a local artist to design a limited edition NFT membership card that\u2019s valid for 1 year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"NFTs
My NFT Veecon ticket that’s also a piece of art created by SnowFro and Gary Vee<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Not only does this membership card provide holders with exclusive offers and discounts, but it\u2019s also a collectible piece of art. Now, say that artist happens to become extremely well known over the next 5 years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though the membership has expired and holders lost their coffee shop perks, they still own the NFT. This means they own an original piece of art from this now-famous artist. Holders could then sell this asset for a nice profit<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And since the coffee shop decided to implement royalty fees (5% to the shop and 5% to the artist), they both make a decent profit as well. This is the beauty of NFTs that is still largely unexplored even today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The point that I\u2019m trying to make is that there are still a ton of opportunities yet to be explored in the NFT space. The earlier you get involved with NFTs, the better prepared you\u2019ll be when the technology reaches mass adoption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is It Too Late to Make Money With NFTs?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There is still a multitude of opportunities to make money with NFTs<\/a>. Short and long-term investing, creating your own NFTs, consulting, content creation, marketing, and developer gigs are all ways to make money in the space. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"There
A framed NFT surrounded by cash<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As NFTs continue to evolve, we will see more opportunities to make money. For now, here are some of the best ways you can earn money with NFTs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Short and long-term investing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Both short and long-term investment opportunities are still possible in the NFT space. That being said, it\u2019s not as easy to make a quick flip as it was in 2021. Investing in NFTs<\/a> requires you to commit to many hours of research before investing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are some simple steps I recommend taking if you want to invest in NFTs:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Decide what type of NFTs you want to invest in<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Art, real estate, and other startup brands can all be potentially good investments. The most important thing is to invest in something you either know about, want to know about, or are extremely passionate about. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. Do your research<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      Once you find a brand or human you believe is worth investing in, be sure to research everything you can about them. Here are some examples of what to research:<\/p>\n\n\n\n