Excited today to share the launch of GM World (GMW), a gallery and growth accelerator for up-and-coming creators minting great art on-chain
See our live genesis gallery here with a range of amazing works on auction:
My collecting style in a nutshell:
1. Identify promising up-and-coming artists
2. Invest in them long-term via capital (buy their work), time and energy
3. Double down where I have conviction
4. Sell a small portion of works over time, using profit to invest in new up-and-comers
Collecting a genesis piece from an amazing artist that nobody’s heard of is more rewarding than buying all the celebrity NFTs in the world.
I’d rather buy call options on human creativity than tokenized autographs.
Since the last time ETH was at 4k (in May):
-EIP 1559 went live
-ETH issuance dropped 57%
-Over 2.3B dollars of ETH forever burnt
-Arbitrum and Optimism launched
-NFT volume quadrupled
-ETH staked in 2.0 nearly doubled
-DeFi TVL up ~20%
🚀🚀🚀
In early 2021, I bought my first
@omentejovem
1/1 for 1.5eth,
@GrantYun2
1/1s for 1 and 2.5eth, and a
@carav4ggio
1/1 for .77eth
It’s easy to look back on these as no-brainer buys, but at the time I was paying ATH or close for these artists that virtually nobody knew or cared
I’d like to share some thoughts on the current state of the on-chain art market, where I think we go from here, and the opportunities I see.
So where are we at right now?
Obviously, things are sloow, but just how slow are they?
Combined sales volume on SuperRare + Foundation
Now and the coming months I believe is the peak time to make moves as a collector
Not just cause there’s less competition to collect great works but cause artists you collect now are far likelier to still be here in a year or five than artists you collect during the bull
Just had a great conversation with an artist who pointed out a hard truth:
There's a lack of due diligence and rigor in this space among collectors and curators
I've been guilty of this myself at times
So what's the issue and how to deal with it?
My thoughts:
One of the most fun and rewarding parts of being a collector in the early days of tokenized art is connecting with new up-and-coming artists, helping them break through, and being infected with their energy and enthusiasm.
What if I told you a new NFT platform is coming this summer that is:
~Community-owned & creator-first: artists keep >95% on primary sales & can mint their own "creator tokens"
~3D immersive galleries & metaverse display
~Seamless DeFi integrations e.g. earn yield on sale profits
This
@GrantYun2
1/1 sat unsold for months in '21 available for 1eth
It's a reminder to artists struggling to sell but even more so a reminder to collectors
that emerging "nobody" artist you've been eyeing lately.. if you have the conviction jump on it before it may be too late
Many collectors just want to follow the herd and buy the big names rather than bet on up-and-coming artists
Not always a bad strategy and I do a bit of this myself, but just recognize there are artists with no less talent and way more upside than the biggest names
investing in artists early it's less about how good their work is today than how great it could be tomorrow. less about where they are, more about where they're going. cultivate an eye for potential. it's all around you
I just bought my first ever ordinals
Delighted to vault 12
@dmtnatcats
including these two rare fellows
This isn’t just any ordinals collection
It’s the first Autonomous Bitcoin Art
These cats are non-arbitrary artifacts of Bitcoin block data
I prefer to invest in artists that support other artists not just cause they're likelier to succeed but because they are more constructive to the space as a whole
When you invest in them, you're investing in not just an individual artist but in the broader space...
You can’t right click save an artist’s talent or grit
You can’t right click save their collector base
You can’t right click save their future potential
This is what you’re paying for when you buy a 1/1 NFT, not a fcking jpeg
now that I have six omentejovem 1/1s I’m considering selling one to free some liquidity
let me share a bit about this truly iconic work and the artist who created it
let's go...
How did one artist recently go from ten unsold works to sold out with new ATHs in a matter of days?
I feature this story and other NFT market insights in today's new edition of Nonfungible Alpha
prefer to collect from an artist with fewer followers, all else equal. means more collectors who haven't discovered them yet, more upside
an artist w 500 followers & 3 collectors is further along than an artist w 50k followers & 0 collectors
Follows are cheap, conviction is not
As a new experiment starting today, I’ll be sharing an additional 10% of profits on any secondary sales on SuperRare with the artists.
I think this is both good for the creators and the collector (me)...
1/
If you're an artist that doesn’t like "self-promotion", finding a high-conviction + reputable collector that can champion your work and serve as an ambassador to other collectors is a great asset
It's not a replacement for marketing your work etc, but it can help...
There is an implicit and I believe deeply flawed assumption in this space that it's always optimal to sell for the max possible price to any bidder
this is shortsighted as it risks work ending up in the hands of opportunist flippers or collectors with unaligned values (1/6)
Tip for NFT artists: don't use hashtags in your tweets.
Might work on Insta, but not on here. Twitter algo doesn't like hashtags, it lowers a tweet's exposure and comes across as overly promotional.
At least this is what I've found to be true. Try it for yourself!
If you get into a bidding war on an NFT from an artist you've already collected from, it's a win either way.
If you win the auction, you get the piece. And if you get outbid, it pushes up the avg price of their work which is also a win for you as a collector of their past work.
I will pay 100x more for an NFT created on & secured by Ethereum than any other chain.
I trust the security, immutability & decentralization of Ethereum above all and believe its network effects & financial renaissance will vacuum in profound value in the coming years & decades.
Some folks warned me against building GM World on FND rather than SR
Well, try telling that to the four artists who have already seen ATH sales on GMW just six days after launch, three of whom previously listed on SR
Marketplace is not what matters. The artist is the platform
this space is sometimes too preoccupied with which artists will be big in a few weeks or months
how about who will be big in a few years or decades
these will be artists who not only grow phenomenally themselves as artists and humans but who help others do so as well
Excited to share today that I’m joining the
@bottoproject
team, which I consider one of the most promising projects in this space
My role as Collector Relations will be to serve as an ambassador and evangelist for Botto, the artist
So what is Botto and what will I be doing?
If this Botto sells for at least 10eth, I will collect at least one photograph (by a human!) who shares their work in the comments. OR if you're not a photographer yourself you may share someone you think I'd love
The Botto auction starts in a couple hours (link below)
Always loved this one and it's bittersweet to let it go. Huge congrats to the new collector!
For anyone asking, my other Genesis Period Bottos are not for sale. But if you're interested in acquiring a Botto I may be able to point you in the right direction, please DM
4/
As a result, some artists with a high degree of skill, originality, and integrity don't get the attention they deserve while other artists that have less of these traits capture more attention and market interest
What if I told you that coming soon something like RarePass but where:
-artists get paid
-focus on up-and-coming artists with great potential
-quality > quantity approach with obsessive curation
stay tuned
Exercise for 1/1 collectors:
When you come across an artist with zero or few sales, try to imagine how you'd look at their work if they were killing it with sales
And when you come across an artist with mega sales, imagine how you'd look at their work if they had zero sales...
What was once called a "personal computer" is now just a computer
What was once a "smartphone" is now just a phone
And in the future, "CryptoArt" "tokenized art" or "digital art" will just be...art
honestly I think most collectors are better off buying 1/1s directly than something like RarePass
find works you love and artists you want to invest in. you'll have more conviction to hold LT and will more directly support artists
Why is Australia such a hotbed of innovation in DeFi?
Synthetix, REN, mStable, Thorchain, Nexus Mutual (aussie founder),
@sassal0x
etc
Any particular cultural/economic reason for this or is this just a fooled by randomness sort of thing?
a collector may evolve their style over time, just like an artist, and probably should
this includes taste, process, and sometimes thesis
Growth Mindset (GM)
I only collect from artists with open DMs. If I’m interested in an artist’s work and their DMs are closed, I’ll try to contact them via another avenue and encourage them to open their DMs…
1/2
Quick Twitter tips for NFT artists:
-leave DMs open!
-pinned tweet of either link to main piece for sale or collage of best work
-Short but descriptive bio with link to main NFT platform you're on
-Header photo w best work or collage + friendly profile pic (or more art)
I try to predict which artists will take off but what really matters is that I try to help them do so
"The best way to predict the future is to create it"
Overrated:
Number of followers
Past awards or prestigious clients
Stamp of approval from X marketplace
Underrated:
Grit, integrity, energy, ambition, resourcefulness
LT commitment to space + supporting other artists
Ability to create original art that people love
1) Last night CoinGecko listed yTrump.
yTrump = tokenized YES shares from Augur’s market on whether Trump will win the 2020 election.
Augur TVL has nearly doubled in the past 24 hours and this is not a coincidence...
Thank you everyone for the congrats on today's sale.
While I'm very grateful that this worked out, I honestly think that this will be looked back on as quite cheap for a Genesis Period Botto in the not-so-distant future.
So why did I sell this one?
First, liquidity. It's
Jim Carrey collecting on SuperRare is more exciting to me than Tom Brady buying a pfp
Probably more exciting for him too. Supporting an up-and-coming artist & collecting art he personally connects with rather than a generic pfp
Expect we will see more of this sort of thing
Collector friends, check out this _epic_ SuperRare that
@xalexhoward
just put on reserve. And make sure to include sound.
"Deer Person" captures a scene from Alex's dark cinematic universe. I'd bid myself if I didn't have another one of his works already.
I collected early 1/1s from
@ronnaldong
@GrantYun2
&
@carav4ggio
for between .75 and 1.5eth
These artists now sell in the 10 to 15eth range just 6-12 months later
I've been thinking about what these artists have in common, what has driven their success?
A few thoughts... 🧵