The past year in NFTs has been nothing short of incredible — incredibly lucky, incredibly crazy, and incredibly volatile.
When I tell people that I’m working on NFTs full-time, it either draws a scornful face or one of curiosity. Does that mean I’m a trader or flipper? Someone who sells NFTs for a living perhaps? Or someone who spends his day on Discord and Twitter flippantly?
The truth is, it’s a mix of all. While it was predominantly flipping NFTs during the bull market, it’s mostly “building” these days (because trading volume is so low)— which really means expanding my contacts and talking to others to kickstart and collaborate on an upcoming project.
In fact, most short-term traders and speculators have left the NFT space and the people that are still around are likely starting or contributing to various NFT projects. Unlike what the media says, NFTs are not going away.
Key Highlights And Takeaways For 2022
Q3 and Q4 2021: Trading And Flipping
I bought my first NFT in August 2021. During my “orientation” period, I was still figuring my way around, discovering new use cases, and being extremely hooked at the possibilities. It’s not just the random reveals that were addictive, there was so much enthusiasm to usher in this new creative cultural wave.
- From not understanding the rationale of paying $200 to $300 in gas fees, and being extremely perplexed at the MAYC dutch auction, I quickly got accustomed to those prices as long as it was profitable.
- I relied a lot on my past experiences of reselling concert tickets, and also take-profit strategies from my trading experience to minimise my exposure and roll the profits into the next trade.
- I naively believed that if founders were genuine and if they had certain qualities, they’ll definitely make it. Boy was I wrong because it takes so much more to survive in this brutal market.
- By Dec 2021, I consolidated all my positions into RTFKT’s Clone X, which paid off handsomely when news of Nike’s acquisition broke out. I was in a good financial position, albeit it also left me with a bag bias.
Q1 2022: Overwhelming Chatters
January must have been the most profitable trading month. People will do whatever it takes to grind on Discord for Whitelists, mint, and flip. Those good old days of anime-meta, women-project meta, Metaverse meta; those good old days we might not see again.
- During this period, my full-time work was trading, which really meant flipping NFTs and being active in many Discord channels so as to earn the coveted Whitelist spots.
- It was nice to explore novel uses of NFTs but the income came largely from being tuned in to the latest hypes, then getting in and out of the latest mints.
- People were all the rage with DeFi and 20% APY but NFT degens don’t give a damn. Pre-reveal flips were an easy 2X to 3X; breakeven if you got unlucky, and 5X to 10X if you got lucky.
- This was also the point where most people felt unbeatable, and when things sounded too good to be true.
Q2 and Q3 2022: A Slow Decline
Things started to go downhill but there was an unending sense of hope. The collapse of Luna left a sour note in a few people, but majority of those have gotten into blue chip projects early were hardly hampered and were still in the green.
- I made my first-ever trip to the US, for the RTFKT event and also NFT NYC, and they opened my eyes.
- NFTs empowered me with the finances to “see the world” but also to realise that beyond the numbers and pictures that exist virtually, there are real people building legitimate projects.
- Inspired by the active culture I saw in the US, I also started to organize community meetups and participated in many more. It was pretty nice to meet people IRL, after a whole year and a half of being locked down.
- The Otherside mint was probably the last of the hype mints. As the broader macro environment started to dim, people also cut back on their risky mints. Oh, the good old days of longing and shorting $APE.
- Luna, Voyager, and Celsius were definitely dampeners but no one could really expect what would come next.
Q4 2022: Winter Got Colder
When it seems as though things can’t get any worse, FTX gave it one last stab to make sure that the market stayed dead. I’ve been around crypto since 2017, and it’s been a long while since I felt such negativity around the space. Sentiments these days feel like the post-ICO bubble period, where there is a general lack of interest and many remaining participants feel a sense of learned helplessness.
- During the start of the bear market in Q3, I made one really bad trade and that was also what made me decide to just sit back and do nothing.
- “Full-time NFTs” also took on a new definition for me, as there wasn’t a point in trading anymore; I was looking for new ways to advance in this space, which I’ve also found and will be working on We’re Early, and NFJ.
- More than ever, I think that education about NFT and crypto security is one of the most important things I can contribute to, and it feels like I’ve been put in a position to do just that.
- I’m thankful to have met strangers whom have became close friends.
- I’ve also learnt to listen more to my heart and spirit.
2023 And Beyond
I would be lying to say that I’m not affected by the negative sentiments.
Having said that, my stance on NFT has not changed and believe it will be the next social medium with global adoption.
In 2021, I went from 10ETH to 100ETH. In 2022, my portfolio went well above 200ETH and now probably sits back at around 100ETH. ETH has also crashed from $4,000 to $1,200, so my portfolio is definitely not the best but beyond the prices, I think I’ve gained so much more.
NFT prices go up and down. Projects come and go. But there are things that have been set in motion that cannot be undone. People you have met and whom have played a part in influencing parts of your life that cannot be forgotten.
Things aren’t rosy. But there is much to be thankful for. It’s more important to look at what has gone well, what we could learn from, and what we can look forward to. So yes, bring it on 2023 and let’s see if my take on NFTs changes again in year’s time.
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