Thanks. I've been starting to blog a bit more about crypto and it's catching some eyes. Between traditional crypto, airdrops, staking, DeFi and NFTs, I'm newer in the NFT space only over the last year. Fortunately, the workings and workflows are fairly intuitive with rounded blockchain knowledge. The process is also fairly similar across chains.

I don't buy NFTs to flip just yet, but have accumulated some for in-game utility within blockchain games. Technically, Splinterlands cards and land are NFTs, so you're probably already involved and didn't realize it.

The allure of NFTs for art investing honestly isn't there for me just yet. It's a big market, but I just don't want to go down that path. Music perhaps down the line, but I don't have the bandwidth to research artists and invest in their digital work. Perhaps if it's appealing as something I'd want to own, maybe, but not as an asset I'd expect to appreciate over time.

I much prefer holding layer 1 tokens that the NFT marketplaces operate on. Additionally, many NFT projects are structured somewhat like Crypto Punks where there's a fixed issuance of the NFTs with various aspects of rarity that inherently/allegedly give them more value to collectors. It's often a mania at launch, fueled by Discord and Telegram pumping, but most projects die down in demand post launch, where the price floor goes pretty low. The result is that many buyers are stranded holding their bags, while a few with the rarest pulls get the returns. If a project is well run, marketed, and supported post-launch, there's more hope, but there are countless copycats and money grabs out there trying to cash in on the minting process, and keen flippers milking the flipping process. This is just my opinion. Plenty of people have made a killing by flipping NFTs, but it's mostly a hard and fast game in my eyes, with some luck involved. If by chance you got involved for fun and pulled a good NFT, then you win. If you love a project and want to invest after the launch, you can by all means, but you'll likely be paying a premium to someone seeking profit.

A lot of the NFT traffic happens on Ethereum, so if you don't have any, you wouldn't be able to mint or purchase on the marketplaces, as payments are most often in ETH, and the gas fees are certainly in ETH. If you're on an Ethereum Layer 2, you'd still need some ETH to get started.

There are all sorts of other NFT marketplaces, but for now, I'd suggest just browsing around on OpenSea.io, https://solanart.io/, or even Hive's own https://nftshowroom.com/ to get an idea what the space looks like. There's a lot of profit to be made in flipping NFTs when they're minted, or even post-mint, but the good projects often have intense interest/demand so they sell out quickly.

There are also utility-based NFTs that can be used as in-game assets or income generating assets within blockchain games. These are often issued by the game creator and bought at escalating prices once each release sells out. Early adopters benefit the most here, and these NFTs can rise quickly in price.

Just a few cents here. There's much more to learn. YouTube videos can also explain the ins and outs. I generally stay away because it doesn't appeal to me, but it's good to understand the systems for when it's time to dive in on a key project.