First of all, if you're wondering whether or not NFT artwork and collectibles are a good investment or not it's hard to say.

On the one hand, the valuation of traditional artwork is largely independent of what's happening in the stock market. A Van Gogh will still be a Van Gogh regardless of what gas prices are and what stocks are up or down. This can make artwork an excellent asset to diversify your portfolio and hedge your bets against an increase in inflation costs.

But the art world has proven to be pretty subjective and, at some points, absolutely ridiculous when deciding what pieces will see the most increase in demand over time.

Additionally, the underbelly of asset hiding, money laundering and manufactured scarcity in the art world are so infamous films like Velvet Buzzsaw have had a field day satirizing this reality. And it's these qualities that can bleed into the NFT market in unusual ways.

What to Know Before Investing in NFTs

When investing in a painting, you're usually betting that it will increase in value over time due to increased demand and a certain level of exclusivity. But there are a few factors to consider when talking about NFT collectibles.

❌ Artificial Scarcity isn't worth worrying about - In an attempt to create the illusion of scarcity, NFTs are minted in limited 'collections.' 

I've already addressed why the ability to produce dupes of an official digital file limitlessly isn't necessarily a flaw in the system. But beyond that, there is another reason NFTs don't quite mesh with traditional art investment best practices.

Exclusivity can make a collection less marketable.

One of the most popular production teams, the Bored Ape Yacht Club and their various spin-off collections have been so successful because the pieces they mint are easily scalable. Plenty of other small teams of artists follow this business model by procedurally generating artwork using multi-layered art techniques that can produce thousands of images with slight variations between them in a relatively short time.

Why? Because when a piece gets sold, it acts as an advertisement for the entire collection and keeps those items trending in much the same way cryptocurrency supply and demand tracking keeps certain coins at the top of the charts day-to-day.

While you can go for those exclusive, one-of-a-kind pieces, in some ways, it can be better to find those artists pumping out and selling pieces regularly. Because exclusivity when it comes to NFTs is almost entirely superficial.

✅ It can be easier to sell an NFT than cash in on a physical painting or sculpture.

When the valuation for a physical art piece increases, you may have to wait a while to actually sell. And in the meantime, you will incur broker and auction house fees before liquidating your assets.

But much like buying and selling stocks, trading NFTs on an exchange is quick and painless. There's no maintenance required for a digital file. No transportation or appraisal fees. The only factors that degrade an NFTs value are the current interest in a collection and the pool of investors with money to spend.

❌ Don't expect to outpace the stock market when buying and selling NFTs.

Logan Paul made headlines regarding an 0N1Force NFT he purchased for 626,824.72 dollars that DappRadar evaluated to be worth around $7,272 in 2021. A far cry from its original value.

But here's the thing.

NFT evaluations are kind of controversial. A DappRadar spokesperson described their algorithm to someone from CoinDesk like this;

"Our algorithm calculates what is the price of an NFT, which is consistent with the historical sales data. It is not precisely predicting, but finding a price that makes sense for the current market conditions. This methodology allows the investor to evaluate how good the trade price is, while also assessing the importance of the sale within the collection’s market," 

Essentially, NFT evaluations are based on current market data. But the actual value of an NFT comes down to how much someone is willing to purchase a piece for.

And the evaluation drop tells us the evaluation of NFTs, unlike traditional artwork, is tied to how well the crypto market is doing. So I wouldn't be surprised if Logan Paul's 'Bumblebee' NFT increases in value after the current crypto winter ends.

For example, according to its purchase history, K4M-1 #03 is worth about $225,111.20.

✅NFTs can include the ownership of 'off-chain' assets.

One of the nice extras about purchasing an NFT over a traditional painting is the possibility of 'off-chain' extras.

Not only do you get the certificate of authenticity and a digital file. Some smart creators have been selling NFTs that function as utility tokens and can give the owner access to exclusive clubs, in-game items and real-world physical versions of a minted artwork.

However, this is an excellent reason you should like and be excited about a specific community or project before purchasing an NFT. Otherwise, you won't get the full value of your purchase.

Who Should and Shouldn't Invest in NFTs

One of the great things about investing in Blockchain assets is that depending on the time of year, anybody can get into investing, which is not always possible in the traditional art world—however, there are a few things to consider before making your first purchase.

Investing in NFTs might be for you if

• You have a passion for crypto projects and are willing to do your research.
• You want to be able to sell your assets quickly and easily at any time.
• You have an established portfolio of other investments and are looking to diversify your assets.
• You have a high-risk tolerance.
• You're willing to own an asset indefinitely.
• You can afford the price tag.

NFTs might not be for you if

• You're expecting to make millions overnight on the next big collection.
• You have no interest in the artwork you're purchasing.
• You're looking for assets that will provide passive income year after year. (Staking might be in your future🔮).

Bottom line, investing in NFT collectibles isn't for everyone. It carries a lot of risks, and even if you do your very best to diversify your collection, you may never see huge returns.

So, it's essential to buy artwork that you enjoy. That way, even if you never become a multimillionaire from your drugged-out lama profile pic, you'll own a piece you love from an artist you genuinely admire.

And, if your artwork does substantially increases in value, you can sell it for a profit!

Now for the fun stuff.✌️

Interesting Projects to Check Out on OpenSea

I'm not even going to lie. This entire post is an excuse to window shop for interesting NFT pieces on OpenSea.

I've been intrigued by the world of NFT collectibles and their possible utility for a while now. But while I enjoy keeping an eye on new items that pop up in the market, the pricing tends to be prohibitively expensive. 

But if you're not in it for the hype and have money to burn, here are a few projects I think you'll enjoy.

Tableland Rigs by Tableland_Deployer

Tableland Rigs is described as follows;

"A generative collection built from 1,074 handcrafted works of art for the builders and creatives of cyberspace. Rigs are built on the Tableland protocol, a decentralized read, write, and own database for relational, composable data—powered by smart contracts and SQL on EVM chains like Ethereum. Rigs are your ticket to rewards for builders, creatives, ambassadors, and believers in Tableland."

And there is just something about this collection I love. 

Although it's procedurally generated like so many less-than-impressive NFT collections, each vehicle somehow manages to be truly unique. The aesthetic is consistent, attractive and a gorgeous example of sci-fi at its finest. 😍

As an additional bonus, these pieces seem pretty popular now. They are backed by a permissionless relational database for Web3 natives making them a utility token, and many have already been sold for higher-than-I-can-afford prices.

Azuki by TeamAzuki

Azuki describes itself as;

"A collection of 10,000 avatars that give you membership access to The Garden: a corner of the internet where artists, builders, and web3 enthusiasts meet to create a decentralized future. Azuki holders receive access to exclusive drops, experiences, and more. Visit azuki.com for more details.

We rise together. We build together. We grow together."

What I find most intriguing about this collection is the highly aesthetic art style and the unique way Azuki has married actual merchandise purchases with blockchain technology using NFTs on their website. It's an innovative, unique way to buy and wear streetwear while supporting artists who care about quality.

Eggz By Soakverse

I can't quite articulate what intrigues me about this project. It's a bunch of interesting-looking eggs that will eventually evolve into...something?

The project describes itself as follows;

"Eggz by Soakverse is a collection of 5,000 utility-enabled Eggz. Each Eggz is your key to accessing the broad Soakverse Ecosystem. Despite being tasty alone, we prefer Stake & Eggz... we think you will too! Some even say Eggz will guide the wisest of holders to the legendary OGs, the Soaklist, $SKMT, and even more."

From what I can gather, this is part of a larger project by Soakverse revolving around aliens that have formed symbiotic relationships with mustaches. Weird, I know.

The relative secrecy seems to be a big part of the gimmick making it both a risk and something akin to a mystery box. Nevertheless, it's a fun idea, and I'm curious to see where it goes.

Bonus some of the cheapest NFTs in this collection start around $14 to $20 making them a lot more accessible to curious but broke Crypto enthusiasts.

Rosko Sees the Future: A Tarot Card Project

This tarot trading card collection might be a little niche, but the artwork is incredible. According to the website, Rosko Sees the Future is a fully illustrated Tarot Card Deck from Rosko & Friends. 

If you're an avid tarot card collector, you'll know that hand-drawn decks often have 'variants,' and this set of drops is no different. Each daily drop consists of the following:

• 1 Hand Drawn Tarot Card (Original Coloring)
• 20 Color Variants
• 5 Lucky Cat and Rosko & Friends HODL Variants
• 1 Giveaway mint
• Holographic Variants (for Major Arcana)

However, what I like most is that at the end of the project, two different physical tarot card decks will be printed and will only be available to people who have obtained at least one Rosko sees the Future tarot card NFT throughout the course of the project.

It's an intelligent Kickstarter Esque project model that creates true exclusivity. And hand-drawn tarot deck designs can go for way more than $50, which is where the cheapest card in the collection begins (so it's a steal of a deal if you want a custom deck).

Final Thoughts

Obviously, none of this is financial advice. There are plenty of NFT projects out there to choose from on all kinds of exchanges that vary in quality, price and application potential. But please, if you're planning on investing in a few NFTs this year for yourself or a family member, try to pick items and projects you genuinely like!

Even if you don't luck into being the next crypto multimillionaire at least you'll have something you can enjoy.