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NFTs and Their Popularity with Celebrities
Following the announcement from Snoop Dogg that he is an NFT whale holding over $17 million worth of collectibles, it seems likely that another huge surge of interest is about to enter the space. Snoop Dogg is just the latest in a long line of celebrities that include NBA athlete Stephen Curry, YouTube personality Jake Paul, and even TV host Steve Harvey, who have all been involved in collecting NFTs. Any sector that includes both Snoop Dogg and Steve Harvey clearly has mass appeal.
Where are NFTs Stored?
NFTs are different from typical cryptocurrencies because they are almost always stored in the holder's personal crypto wallet. There are very few facilities for an investor to hold an NFT on centralized exchanges, so getting involved in NFT markets requires users to familiarise themselves with crypto wallets. In fact, the NFT market is the sector that is currently seeing the most genuine mass adoption of crypto functions.
This makes the NFT market ripe for innovation. There is already a huge market of people with the technical know-how to avail of new NFT features, allowing them to unlock even more value from their holdings. This is something that has become somewhat of a feature during NFTs’ last boom. Instead of NFTs simply representing a JPEG or GIF, NFT collections are now being developed that can bear additional sources of income for their holders or minters. NFT collections that raise money for projects, or include prize draws, or even bear passive income for their holders.
The Benefits of NFTs
The benefits of this are clear. Firstly and most obviously, it allows investors to extract value from their holdings in a way they haven't before. A passive income, for example, is a great way to earn without having to liquidate an investment. This in turn creates a community around the NFT collection. Whether the NFTs fund a project or give holders access to prizes, there is an activity or a media that allows people to connect with each other. Ultimately, and most importantly for any investor, all this will add value to the NFTs they hold.
To understand how NFTs can extract more returns for their investors, let's look at a few different NFT collections and the methods they have developed to yield value.
Lucky Maneki NFTs
The Lucky Maneki collection is a set of 14,159 NFTs. Manekis are programmatically generated based on a combination of hundreds of treats and are modeled after Japanese lucky cats. Stored on the Ethereum Network, each Maneki has a certain rareness level which will, of course, determine its value in the eyes of investors.
In that respect, Lucky Manekis are like many NFT collections. However, what sets this collection apart is once you own any Lucky Maneki NFT you become a part-owner of the project. This project is entirely owned and operated by the community of holders! Another perk of owning a Lucky Maneki or the new Maneki Gang collection is you own the artwork IP and can instantly utilize this in the upcoming Lucky Maneki Merchandise Store.
The Lucky Maneki collection also contains hidden messages that can be discovered in the artwork. The artwork is used in ongoing Challenges where collectors can win Rare or Legendary Lucky Maneki NFT’s. These Challenges reward collectors and bring the community together in an engaging way. The next line of NFT’s the Lucky Maneki Community plans to launch is a voxel collection designed to be used in the Metaverse. This will open the door to another benefit for community members to participate in a Lucky Maneki Metaverse game in the rapidly expanding Sandbox.
TokenSociety NFTs
Meanwhile, TokenSociety is an NFT minting platform and marketplace that fosters a culture of creativity. TokenSociety allows independent filmmakers to finance their entertainment projects. Creators can release NFTs called “Snippetz” based on the project that they are seeking to finance. Each Snippetz is a short clip of the episode and gives the holder behind-the-scenes access to the production through private chat groups and a voice in the outcome of the show. They can also grant real-world experiences or physical items.
As an example, they financed the first episode entirely through sales of Snippetz, a TV production called “Men of the House,” inspired by a father’s struggle to raise his three sons. The funds were used to create the show’s pilot which will soon be pitched to streaming services, cable, and network TV. Future Snippetz from “Men of the House” come with the chance to meet the cast, become a guest star on the show, and even travel to Belize on an all-expenses-paid trip to watch the finale being filmed.
Token Society is a unique way for creators to generate revenue for their entertainment projects using NFTs. This has additional benefits for the creators because they can connect directly with fans giving them valuable experiences in exchange for the financing needed to grow their project.
Synesis One NFT Project
One of the more ambitious ways to extract value from NFTs comes from Synesis One. This project harnesses the power of crowdsourcing to help develop AI. Open to anyone, the platform hosts word games that are used to train datasets and reward users.
Each of the 10,000 most popular words is minted as a unique generative art and keyword NFT. Anyone who holds the NFT of a particular word that is accessed by its AI will be rewarded. In addition to that, users will also get rewarded when they stake their NFT and play their AI-training game. Value is crowdsourced through their play-to-earn platform. Companies can pay for the data and use it to develop AI. Every time the project pays to use these AI solutions the NFT holders are rewarded.
Synesis One turns crowdsourced datasets into financial assets and unlocks the hidden value for everyone. It presents an alternative model to Google and Facebook who benefit massively from collecting other people's private information. Instead, Synesis One can spread this value amongst a community.
HLTH.Network Uses NFTs to Democratize Data
But Synesis One is not the only project leveraging the power of NFTs to democratize data collection. HLTH.network provides a suite of tools that are set to revolutionize the global healthcare industry. One of these tools is an NFT marketplace where users can mint NFTs that contain their own genetic information.
By selling these NFTs on the marketplace, users are taking control of their own genetic data and ensuring that they themselves are the ones profiting from it. More importantly, the sharing of genetic information allows research institutions to use this information in an anonymized way to develop medicines. It supports the scientific exploration of the genome thus helping the medical community detect, understand, better treat, and even prevent disease. Proceeds from the sale can also be allocated to help raise money for charities and other research programs.
The NFT marketplace is just one part of a much bigger ecosystem aimed at revolutionizing the healthcare industry and all NFTs developed on the marketplace will be compatible with the rest of the network. Proceeds from the sale will also be used to develop the network providing the opportunity for everyone to benefit from a borderless healthcare economy.
More Investors are Entering the Crypto Space
These are just some of the ways that NFT collections are finding new ways to bring investors into the space. The potential of NFTs is still a long way from being fulfilled but we are starting to see more and more ways for investors to extract value from their NFT holdings. Each time a new project brings a new utility to the table, they add another layer of new users from different industries. Learning about new projects is the best way to figure out how to evaluate NFT value or even think about making your own.
Disclaimer: The author holds tokens in the above-mentioned companies. The opinions in this article belong to the author alone and should not be considered investment advice.
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