NFTs have the power to change lives, as we can see from the lucrative opportunities that present themselves on a weekly and even daily basis. This article will cover the questions you should ask yourself before you invest in any project so you can become an intelligent and winning investor in the world of NFTs.
Searching Twitter and Discord
One of the best ways to begin your NFT research process is to go through the information available on Twitter and Discord while asking yourself the important questions we’ve covered in this article. Twitter and Discord are where most NFT enthusiasts spend their time, and for good reasons.
Twitter will show you the number of followers the NFT project and the team involved with the project has. A large following is only a tiny piece of the puzzle, and community engagement is usually far more critical. If a project has 10,000 followers, but its posts are seeing less than 100 likes or comments, this is a red flag and a cause for concern because less than 1% of the community actively engages with the project.
A low engagement rate indicates that the community of followers will likely not invest in that project, so you should be aware and probably not invest in it. You should only look for and invest in winning NFT projects, and those with a low level of engagement are a tell-tale sign that the project is likely NGMI (not going to make it).
Doing Your Own Research
If you wish to make money from your NFT investment, the first and most important step is to perform diligent research. Here are some of the questions you should ask yourself before you decide to spend your hard-earned money on purchasing any NFT:
1. What is the story behind this particular NFT project? Are the creators just trying to make money at the community’s expense, or are they trying to build something that will benefit the community?
2. Is the team or project doing anything new in the NFT space, or is it just another copy of what already exists? Historical value and creative innovation are highly touted in the NFT space. For example, CryptoPunks is one of the most successful and well-known NFT collections ever. The collection has no utility; however, it’s considered extremely valuable because of its historical significance. The CryptoPunks collection is considered one of the first holy grail NFT projects on the Ethereum blockchain during the Proof of Stake era.
Looking at another example, after Ethereum’s recent major update (also known as the Ethereum 2.0 Merge), the Ethereum Network changed from a Proof of Work to a Proof of Stake network. PoSers is a relatively new NFT collection that boasts itself as the first NFT collection created after the Ethereum Merge. This fact alone has caused the collection to explode as investors speculate that it has the potential to become the next CryptoPunks due to its historical significance.
3. What is the main selling point of that NFT? Why would others purchase the NFT? Is the NFT just an art piece, or is there any utility with owning/holding the NFT? If a project promises too many different utilities, it may be worth diving deeper into the project.
Suppose an undoxxed NFT team promises the world with a play-to-earn game, a metaverse, a future television series, and a future clothing brand, for example. In that case, that team will most likely be unable to deliver on all those promises.
In another example, if an NFT project focuses on meme culture and aesthetically pleasing art without any added utility, you should consider whether that project can withstand the test of time with so many other competitors in the NFT space. Most of the time, free-to-mint degenerate meme projects should be considered a quick flipping opportunity rather than a long-term hold.
4. Does the NFT project have a strong community of investors and believers? A project’s Discord server will give you a good gauge regarding the strength of its community. If community members are happy to be there and actively engage in real conversations, that’s a great sign. On the other hand, if the community members are begging to get whitelisted and talking about the potential gains of the project and not much else, they will likely all sell out of the project any chance they get, which will likely result in a price dump shortly after the mint phase.
5. Is the purchase price reasonable? Is it a good investment? Often times people buy into an NFT project because it’s pumping, but they don’t consider when they will be taking profits. You should always try to decide in advance at what price you will be selling the NFT and whether that price is achievable.
Closing Thoughts
There you have it. This article covered what to look for when it comes to NFT projects and how to research them to reduce your exposure and the number of risks you end up taking.
You should always ask yourself the questions we’ve covered in this article before aimlessly investing your hard-earned money into any NFT project. Limiting yourself to investing in promising projects with a bright future ahead with plenty of engagement will only help you to win more and lose less.
Always remember to DYOR, and don’t just blindly invest in a project just because someone you know shilled the project. Oftentimes, there will be a conflict of interest, and the same people that shilled the project to you will be the ones that sold their NFTs to you in the first place.
