The Beginner's Guide to NFTs, Part 4 - Must-Know Markets and Makers
An Overview of the Top Platforms and Communities for Every NFT Niche
Where Do We Go from Here?
Now that you have your wallet set up, along with hopefully a better general understanding of both NFTs and crypto, you are now free to explore the vast, overwhelming sea of possibilities before you. Good luck, and have fun!
…😶🙁😧😵
Heh. Of course, we’re in this journey together, and we still have much ground to cover. In the final article of this series, we’ll look at some of the must-know marketplaces, communities, services, and options out there specific to NFTs.
24/7 Worldwide Open Markets: Unlocked 🔓
In order to connect to Web3 website dApps (i.e. marketplaces) and make transactions, you’ll need to be connected via your wallet instead of/ in addition to logging in with your username and password. If you’re using MetaMask, you’ll likely be prompted by the extension as soon as a webpage loads. If not, there is probably a handy button somewhere on the page to connect manually.
If you’re wondering about how much information is shared with a dApp when you connect with your wallet, it is limited to your wallet’s public address, connector method (i.e. via MetaMask), and information that is publicly available on the blockchain network for your account (i.e. token balance(s), transaction history, etc.). Your credentials (private keys) are kept completely confidential, and your authorization is required anytime the dApp attempts to take an action that affects your account. In many ways, less information about you is revealed than using a traditional username and password, and your account and connection are much more secure (a website has access and control over its user accounts but no control over your wallet). On top of that, no payment intermediaries are needed, so once you pay for your product or service (plus a gas fee to cover the network transaction), you should receive your digital purchase nearly instantaneously!
👉 Never share your private keys. Do not comply if any dApp your wallet is connected to prompts you to reveal your private keys.NFT Niches
All of us here are probably interested in some aspect of NFTs that align with our own unique personalities and goals (hopefully more than just speculation). In this section, we will cover the main niches in the NFT space. Even if you think you know exactly what you want to do, you’ll still want to know more about the other areas, as there is likely a lot of crossover and collaborative potential. Then again, there will also be people like me who are obsessive, possibly compulsive, and here for every reason we’re about to cover. 😖
Collectibles
Until recent developments in crypto-art, Cryptopunks held the title as the top sale price for a single NFT. The Cryptopunks project (by Larva Labs, an duo of experimental technical artists), made up of 10,000 unique punks created in 2017, was the first non-fungible token project on record. It set the groundwork for what would later become the standard for the majority of NFT projects that followed (called the ERC-721 Non-Fungible Token standard). For these reasons, punk NFTs are now highly sought after by collectors for their perceived scarcity and historical significance.
“But what does it do?” you might ask. Well, like most collectibles in the physical world, absolutely nothing - it has no utility beyond being seen as a treasured store of value by collectors. Many collectibles, such as sports cards, memorabilia, action figures, and event swag are rapidly being implemented as limited-edition, natively-digital NFT assets. Branded sports collectibles like NBA Top Shot. licensed movie memorabilia, and even Twitter tweets (still skeptical about the value of that last one 🤨) are just a few of examples of trending collectible NFT projects that exist today.
Collectability is actually inherent to NFTs in the other niches too. As we will cover below, adding a quality such as utility and/or a narrative to an NFT can change the entire audience and purpose of a collectible.
Crypto-Art
Though art and collectibles share many of the same characteristics, I believe that the subjective meaning behind the work, the history of art, and the size of the community establishes crypto-art to be its own category. Regardless of what medium an artist uses, true art evokes emotion, and good art leads us to examine our perception of the world - crypto-art is just the next platform of scale that artists have available to share their message and connect with their audience.
Games
NFTs and video gaming are such a perfect match, and I predict that the gaming industry will be one of the top (if not the top) areas where NFTs gain mass adoption by a mainstream audience. From crude, experimental beginnings starting with CryptoKitties, a digital pet collectible launched back in 2017, the use-cases for NFTs in gaming have exploded. Today, NFTs are used in a multitude of genres, including fantasy league sports games like Sorare (Gary V.’s fav), virtual real estate in metaverse world games like Decentraland, characters and accessories in roleplaying games like Chain Guardians, battlin’ Pokémon-esque critters likes Axies, and digital trading card games like Gods Unchained, just to name a few. All of these types of games have existing fan bases that already know the value of digital assets, only this time around, the players are truly be in control of their cherished game items.
Miscellaneous
There are numerous other niches and use-cases for NFTs, some of which I hope to revisit in future articles. Here are a few of the top emerging trends:
Web3 Domain Names
Used to create human-readable wallet addresses (ENS) and decentralized domain names (Unstoppable Domains)Financial Instruments
Insurance policies, investment products, loans (mortgages and NFTs as collateral), and credit scores are just a few of the ideas being considered. For something really interesting, check out Aavegotchi, a virtual pet ghost NFT backed by interest-bearing DeFi tokens. 👻Community Memberships, Event Tickets, Personal Identities, ???
NFTs have potential we haven’t even considered this early on, and it will be exciting to see what new ideas emerge in upcoming years.
NFT Marketplaces
As NFTs continue to gain more mainstream attention and adoption, teams of developers are working feverishly to build and improve the user experience of their platforms in order to gain early market share. Almost all the action for NFTs is happening on Ethereum, so unless noted, assume that you need to connect your Ethereum wallet to participate (see Part 3 of this series if you need a refresher 🦊).
Many of these platforms empower users to not only choose what they buy and sell, but also where (remember, proper NFTs are supported cross-platform), and how (using programmable terms such as royalties on secondary sales). The legacy power dynamics between market makers and creators is being democratized before our eyes!
The Amazons and the eBays of NFTs
Also known as "aggregate” platforms, these are the NFT marketplaces that attempt to consolidate a broad spectrum of NFTs from various niches and smaller platforms into a single, convenient place for users to buy and sell.
Open Sea, the largest NFT marketplace on the web, allows anyone connected via their Web3 wallet to browse, buy, and sell NFTs. Literally every type of NFT imaginable can probably be found on Open Sea, from crypto-art to game items to Web3 domain names. Open Sea is so massive that many other services with their own platforms (i.e. SuperRare, Decentraland, and even Binance) have set up shops on Open Sea to expand their reach.
Open Sea also indexes every NFT that it lists, so users can search and view the entire history of every asset ever listed on the platform! Users are even able to create their own NFTs on the Open Sea platform, either by choosing from a selection of templates, or by plugging in their own compliant custom code.
Other sites that offer diverse marketplaces and tools for NFTs similar to Open Sea include (in alphabetical order):
Cargo
Supports one-click batch minting of NFTs, and offers proprietary JavaScript libraries for developers.Mintable
Operates via a community voting mechanism where user voting rights are also minted as NFTs! 🤯Mintbase
Supports NFTs on both Ethereum and NEAR protocol blockchains.Rarible
Governed by the community via the platform’s utility token ($RARI).
If you’d be interested in more in-depth reviews of what each of these platforms offers, what each has planned for the future, but you are not yet subscribed, be sure to join the NFT Droplets mailing list so you don’t miss any upcoming articles. 👇
Branded and Curated Content
Whereas the above marketplaces give all users permission-less access to create and sell any NFT they own, these next platforms partner with reputable brands and creators to offer a curated selection of NFTs for a specific niche or fanbase.
Async Art
Enables artists to create programmable on-chain art without having to code themselves; awesome creative and collaborative potential.Ethernity
Digital trading cards featuring select iconic artists and celebrities; very early stage but already promoting releases from iconic names like Tony Hawk and The Muhammad Ali Estate.Foundation
Features curated artists selected by the community in a voting process; requires voters to link their Twitter account to participate in voting.KnownOrigin
Connects buyers with verified, curated artists; links accounts to user wallet addresses (any additional profile information is completely voluntary); allows users to place bids via both auctions and offers.MakersPlace
Curated art marketplace that requires artists to apply for invitation codes in order to mint and sell their creations on the platform.Minty
Connects collectors, curated artists, and patrons together on a single platform; built heavily on the patron funding model for creators; issues a platform token to reward users ($MINTY).Nifty Gateway
Works with artists and brands to release high-end limited-edition works in one-time events (called “Drops”); supports transactions in US dollars without a crypto-wallet; led by the Winklevoss twins.SuperRare
Reputable crypto-art marketplace that curates and features artists on their platform; adds new artists monthly.Terra Virtua
Partners with well-known entertainment brands to sell licensed digital collectibles (often animated in 3d); offers sophisticated ways of displaying and sharing collections; denominates prices in US dollars (paid in ETH).Veve
App-based marketplace with similar platform features as Terra Virtua; licenses well-known brands, including DC, Ultraman, and Tokidoki; built on GoChain (not Ethereum), and transacted using Ecomi’s token ($OMI).
Game Assets
One of the key benefits of having game assets as NFTs is that players are able to buy and sell their swag off-platform in NFT marketplaces. This is a welcome departure from traditional models in which a player’s digital assets are locked to a game company’s platform. A few marketplaces for crypto-game NFTs include:
Axie Infinity
Axie Infinity platform marketplace for Axies and virtual land.Decentraland
Virtual wearables and virtual land marketplace for Decentraland.EnjinX
A marketplace for game assets built on Enjin ($ENJ), an Ethereum-based token focused on the gaming industry. The parent company, Enjin, is also developing an NFT-focused blockchain called Efinity.ImmutibleX
Developed by StarkWare Industries and Immutable (makers of Gods Unchained), ImmutableX is a high-performance, zero-fee NFT exchange. Without getting too technical, it is built on Layer 2 ZK-Rollups on Ethereum, which basically means that transactions are bundled cheaply but still secured by the Ethereum network (more on money-saving Layer 2 scaling solutions in future articles).NBA Top Shot
Not a game per-se, but this is the official marketplace for NBA Top Shot collectibles; Note that these digital assets are built and transacted on the Flow blockchain, not Ethereum.VIV3
The marketplace for digital assets on the Flow blockchain, including game items, Cryptokitties, NBA Top Shot, crypto-art, and music NFTs. All transactions are made in $FLOW and/or $USDC stablecoin.
If you don’t see a dedicated marketplace for your favorite project listed (i.e. Sorare), chances are you can find a good selection on Open Sea or on any of the other NFT aggregate marketplaces listed earlier in this article.
Miscellaneous
ENS Domains
Ethereum Name Service (.eth) marketplace and search portal.Nifty's (pre-launch phase)
A social network platform for NFT enthusiasts, backed by big names including Mark Cuban.Showtime
An NFT social network/gallery platform for discovering artists and sharing crpyto-art.SuperFarm
A very hyped but very early-stage NFT platform that is aiming to build out a cross-chain (multiple blockchain) ecosystem for brands, video games, crypto-art, decentralized finance, and pretty much anything that can work with NFTs; rewards participants with a utility token ($SUPER).Unstoppable Domains
Decentralized Web3 domain (.crypto, .zil) marketplace and search portal.
Honorable Mention
Zora
A permission-less marketplace platform that enables creators to mint and sell their own work. Unlike many other platforms, Zora doesn’t take a cut of sales for services they provide, and their Collector Rewards and Creator Rewards are very supportive of a vibrant secondary market. They also support transactions in both ETH and $USDC stablecoin.
NFT News and Resources
With so many voices in the crypto/NFT space, things tend to get a bit noisy. Here are a few of the commentators and outlets I personally find insightful:
CryptoArt.io
A handy crypto-art search platform for tracking artist and transaction data across multiple exchanges.DAPP Radar (NFT)
A portfolio-style real-time overview of NFT markets.Metapurser
A collective of NFT enthusiasts led by MetaKovan, the founder of the MetaPurse fund and winner of the $69.3 million crypto-art auction.Metaversal
A catch-all NFT-focused sister publication of BanklessHQ, one of the top crypto newsletter programs in the space.Minty (yes, the same Minty as the patronage platform from earlier)
A newsletter that summarizes the biggest deals and major project updates in the crypto-art space for the week.NonFungible.com
Probably the best commentary and news outlet for all things NFT-related. Their annual NFT report also comes highly recommended.Zima Red
An NFT commentary newsletter by Andrew Steinwold, one of the leading proponents of the NFT community. Also available as a podcast.
The End of the Beginning
“Your effort to remain what you are is what limits you.”
-Ghost in the Shell
This concludes our introductory series on NFTs, but as you probably realized, should you choose to continue, this is just the beginning. At some point in the near future, I can see unique assets not tokenized as NFTs as being uncommon, and even frowned-upon. When that time comes, you’ll already be way ahead of the crowd and probably feeling pretty comfortable in the NFT space.
What can you expect from NFT Droplets moving forward? Well, now that we’ve built a solid understanding of the NFT space together, we can really go deeper into some interesting topics, experiment, and explore the potential of NFTs in sectors you might already be a part of. To start things off, here are a few sectors my readers have expressed interest in that I’m planning to create content for:
NFTs for Artists 👩🎨
For creators of all types, including traditional 🎨 & digital 📱artists, musicians 🎹, photographers 📷, & writers 📝NFTs for Developers 👩💻
For functional approaches, tools, and opportunities in emerging Web3 and blockchain technology 💻NFTs for Gamers 🧙♂️
The video game industry will be disrupted by NFTs, so whether you’re a game developer or player; casual or competitive, it’s time to level up 🎮NFTs for Collectors, Traders, and Investors 👨🌾
For market enthusiasts of all backgrounds: from conventional stocks to cryptocurrency traders, we’ll explore options beyond stock options, and diversification beyond DeFi 📈
If you have an ideas that are not listed, please do let me know in the comments section! 💬Like NFTs, everyone is unique: each of us has limitless potential in this space when we find something we can get passionate about. Though my background is in film and animation, I see so much creative cross-over potential with the things I love (art and technology) in NFTs.
So, what brought you here? What do you hope to create and/or achieve in the NFT space? Do you think you’ll stick around even when the hype calms down? What is something you know now about NFTs that you didn’t know before? I’m very interested in your answer(s), so please do leave a comment or connect with me on Twitter or Instagram. 😁
As always, thank you so much for taking time to share this journey together with me into the world of NFTs. I hope you found the content helpful, and maybe even fun to read! 😁
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⚠ Disclaimer ⚠
Cryptocurrencies and NFTs are a speculative asset class. Be aware of the risks involved and know that you could lose money. Everything I share references an opinion and is for information and entertainment purposes only. It is not intended to be investment advice. Please consult a licensed professional before making any investment decision.