What I've Learned after one month in the NFT world
Tags: web3, nft, discuss
Published: 2022-04-14 03:39:00

It's been about a month now since I first started to explore and research web3 and NFTs.  After my [initial deep-dive on my first week](https://dev.to/theaccordance/what-ive-learned-after-one-week-in-the-nft-world-pfb), I wanted to understand more about the community aspect of the ecosystem, and begin curating NFTs to understand how their value is derived.  

## What I Learned After One Month 
- NFTs are many things to many people.  It's art, identities, games, virtual real estate, trading cards, and more.  
- So far, I have acquired 18 NFTs.  The majority of my collection can be viewed on [OpenSea](https://opensea.io/0x17b6983Bb2EB689b9aF25bD84D0BE2A005e20906).  
- The first NFT I added to my wallet was [0xLion #11589](https://opensea.io/assets/0x3ae3f7558f19690f75eb8a93938c99f1f1f379d5/1589).  I made this purchase because I liked the art, and wanted to experience the OpenSea transaction workflow.  
- I would later grow my [0xLion](https://mint0xlionsv1.xyz/) collection to include multiple lions.  My reasoning for this was strategic - if a collection were to become the next [Bored Ape Yacht Club](https://boredapeyachtclub.com/), then I could sell one or more NFTs while still retaining ownership benefits that come with the collection.  
- Some collections enable you to mint NFTs from their website, returning you a randomly generated NFT.  This is beneficial when acquiring multiple NFTs from a single collection as it saves on gas fees.  
- Some websites restrict minting to holders of other collections.  
- Airdrops are NFTs that are automatically deposited into your wallet.  I received this [Membership Card](https://opensea.io/assets/matic/0x2953399124f0cbb46d2cbacd8a89cf0599974963/80772252838093944971193427841800048443809432697679651847085030020111287719792) as an Airdrop for holding at least 1 lion.    
- I won an NFT by participating in a contest on Twitter - in fact it's what I used to create the banner for this post.  I did however have to pay $5 in gas fees to receive it.  
- My startup SuperPax released a NFT collection as an experiment called [Putin Pride Parade](https://opensea.io/collection/putinprideparade).  It was my business partner's way of giving Vlad the middle finger while experimenting with web3.  There's no grand vision behind this collection, it's pure satire.  We'll see how it performs over time. 
- I've had NFTs randomly drop into my wallet.  This was before I engaged in any NFT communication over twitter.  My best guess is the random drop was somehow related to OpenSea.  
- I've observed disturbing behaviors across the different communities.  There are definitely participants in this space who are not financially stable enough for how speculative and volatile the crypto markets are.  I've seen multiple messages begging to make sale so the seller could meet a real-world obligation like child support.  
- Twitter is a firehose of self-promotion.  I set up a second account specific for interacting with Web3 and NFTs as to avoid annoying the audience I've cultivated on my primary account. Users like to build audiences by running contests and promotions. I've seen it work with the NFT I won, but I assume a good majority of these promos are scams with no real winners.  
- Gas fees are interesting.  They're often high at the times I'm interested in acquiring a NFT, but they do eventually become very reasonable.  I also noticed that fees can vary between different web3 apps.  

## What I plan to do next
- Nothing on the corporate side of things.  This is still a niche market with significant barriers to practical, mainstream adoption.  Web3 will remain a side project for me.
- I will continue to build a portfolio of NFT holdings as a long-term speculative investment.  Much like I did in 2018 with crypto, I'll circle back after a few years and see how the different assets have matured.  
- I'm going to continue to research and experiment within the web3 communities.  There's more to uncover, and I'd also like a closer ear on upcoming releases of collections. 
- With my startup SuperPax, we'll monitor our efforts trying to get Putin Pride Parade to succeed, and make future decisions based off of the results.  That might mean another collection down the road, or it could mean that we shift focus elsewhere within web3.