NFT Collectors: An Old Dream of Supporting Creators Live

Before NFT came into existence, the form of appreciating an artist's or collector's work was usually in the form of transactional or one-way. When buying art through a gallery, for example, collectors rarely have access to direct communication with artists. In fact, it is not uncommon for galleries to try to decide on possibilities like this for one reason or another.

This two-way connection is what offered by NFT. Everyone connected to the internet can access any collector's NFT collection on various platforms marketplace global. Take for example, in Super Rare, currently the ID named @colborn is the collector with the largest transaction. He purchased 204 NFT works produced by 17 creators for $166,264, his biggest purchase was buying works for $44,226.

In a joint interview DailySocial, NFT collectors agree that ownership and direct support to creators by purchasing their work are the hallmarks of NFT, which was previously absent in the physical world. So, not just a form of investment alone.

Even for creators, the presence of NFTs also benefits them because a fair royalty system applies when their works are sold on the secondary market. This offer previously failed to materialize.

“In NFT it's about ownership. In the physical world, every time you buy a work of art you get a certificate. If it's lost, it's hard to find it just to prove that we own it. But in NFT it can be tracked. In the future, what is envisioned for artists and creators in general is the creation of ideal conditions because so far there has been inequality in the traditional system, where galleries are above artists. "But NFT is on the same level, hopefully that can be the case," said Detty Wulandari, a local collector of art and NFT.

Detty himself was a fan of art, long before NFTs came along. Various works of art, paintings and sculptures by artists have decorated all the walls of his house. He started learning about NFTs since April this year on an autodidactic basis, considering that at that time there was not much Indonesian-friendly literacy. Rooms created by platform users social audio Clubhouse also helps make it easier to understand NFTs.

Thanks to his high curiosity, various platforms marketplace He tried out global NFT. He has used more than 10 platforms to buy NFTs. Names such as Nifty Gateway, Rarible, SuperRare, OpenSea, KnownOrigin, Mirror, Kalamint, and objkt have not escaped his attention.

“The appearance and UI are very influential, especially for new collectors. Because everyone has tried it, personally they like it and it is easy to use to buy and resell OpenSea. Because there, like an aggregator, can display all my NFT collections under Ethereum--even outside OpenSea. But otherwise it can't be done."

Not only Detty, Irzan Raditya, Co-founder and CEO of Kata.ai, has also taken an interest in NFTs since August 2021. Personally, he is a collector of real items such as superhero comics published by Marvel & DC Comics, to action figures. According to him, there is still a lot of knowledge he needs to learn about NFT, considering that the pace of innovation in the web3 world is so fast.

“Currently I am still learning and exploring several NFT collections of various kinds utility pada The roadmap "They range from pure PFP (Profile Picture), P2E Game (Play2Earn), DeFi (Decentralized Finance), to several collections that promise IRL (In Real Life) utility."

The same reason was expressed by Richard Fang, Co-founder and Commissioner of Moselo. As a form of his passion for a creator's work, buying his work is part of the support he provides. Moreover, in the future he believes that NFTs will be used as access membership and linked to physical goods as well. "So there is still a lot of potential," he said.

Education needs to be encouraged

Irzan continued, the presence of a local NFT platform actually brings fresh air tomainstream-kan NFT in Indonesia. One thing he emphasized was that the platform could help educate the wider public about NFTs, both paving the way for creators and IP owners to buy and sell their work. As well as, making it easier for collectors to purchase a collection using local payment methods, such as bank transfer and e-wallet.

"We hope that there will be more adoption. And maybe the price will also be cheaper so entry barriers "It's not too high," added Richard.

Aria Rajasa, Co-Founder and CTO of KaryaKarsa also gave her opinion as an NFT collector. According to him, the development of NFTs in Indonesia is still too early, even the conditions are the same in the global market.

Therefore, even though there is already a local platform, he encourages creators not to limit themselves to the scope of their target market because there are many local creators who have successfully worked on the international stage. “Maybe in the next 5-10 years it could be more mainstream, "He said.

Aria uses the OpenSea platform to purchase NFT works that are considered “speaks to me".

“Several creators that I like have their own style of work that I like and that is the reason I collect their works. The fun is being a part of it tribes the creator."

Meanwhile, Detty said about the importance of market education. Because, he still sees that there are still many people who are misunderstood by the jargon used by NFT players with the phrase "auto profit" and other similar words. "That's a misnomer, it doesn't mean that people who buy it will definitely be rich, or that creators will sell their work immediately. Education is important very. "

Detty also hopes that the current local platforms will always prioritize the spirit of decentralization as promoted by NFT. This means that everyone is at the same level, not the previous conditions which pressured artists/creators. In other words, the rules for distributing commissions and so on need to be made as fair as possible and not benefit just one party.

"If marketplace new but the orientation pure to business, it will ultimately suppress artists. That's not it very Karena in the long run it won't be okay."

Detty's statement is true about investing in NFTs. An interesting report revealed by Chainalysis shows that NFT investment is far from certain.

Transaction data from OpenSea shows only 28,5% of NFTs were purchased during minted and then sold on the platform making a profit. Then, buying NFTs on secondary markets from other users and reselling them, however, resulted in a profit 65,1% of the time.

The profits from selling these NFTs basically depend on the existence of the community and strategy Word of Mouth. Almost all successful NFT projects are fully supported by fans who make reviews on Discord and Twitter as a form of promotion. This condition occurs because it's been designed that way.

Creators typically start promoting a new project long before the first assets are released, amassing a dedicated following of fans who help promote the project from the start. Then, he will reward those dedicated followers by adding them to whitelist (whitelist) which allows them to purchase new NFTs at much lower prices than other users over time minted.

Whitelisting is not just a nominal reward — it is a guarantee of much better investment results. OpenSea data shows that users who whitelisted and then sold their newly minted NFTs saw a profit of 75,7%, compared to just 20,8% for users who did so without being whitelisted.

Not only that, the data shows that it is nearly impossible to achieve outsized returns to score purchases without being whitelisted. The chart below groups sales of newly minted NFTs into buckets based on the ROI the collector achieves, expressed in multiples of the initial investment, with whitelisted collectors who purchased during the mint compared to those who did so without being whitelisted.

Outlook NFT

Detty continued, as he explained at the beginning, in the physical world the relationship between collectors and creators is often not provided by galleries. Some have even cut off the relationship between collectors and creators so that there is no direct contact. All processes are carried out secretly, some are even anonymous.

However, the presence of NFTs creates new habits because collectors and creators can be open and have direct contact with each other, considering that collectors buy directly from wallet that connects with creators. “This is different very, NFT collectors love to announce the works they purchased. This is good for the artist too because there is communication. For example, when a collector wants to sell it again at secondary market, if there is only one work piece, usually there is a discussion about the selling price. We can ask their opinion to make things more equal.”

Irzan also added that the collector or community relationship of an NFT collection is more than just a buyer, but can be considered as a believer from the creator. For creators who have an eternal royalty system, NFTs allow them to own them passive income along with selling their collections on the secondary market.

“In a way, NFTs are “community-first business."Everything will be based on the community because they are the key to success for creators, not only looking at the community as customers, but also believer. How creators can work and create value for them. There's only one key: make the lives of your community better. Because when a creator can help improve the standard of living of his community, success will be easier to achieve."

Irzan also gave an example, a real example can be seen through Play-to-Earn (P2E) Axie Infinity game based on blockchain and NFT. They help residents in the Philippines earn income by playing games. The result is that their monthly income is higher than the minimum wage in their country.

The second example, in one of the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) blue chip NFT collections, initially the price of one NFT was only 0.08 ETH or around $300 when their 10.000 collection was launched in April 2021. Now the lowest asset price has skyrocketed to 45 ETH, or around $190,000, a 300-fold increase in seven months.

“Ultimately in my opinion, through the rise of the NFT trend we are arriving at something tectonic shift how blockchain technology and cryptocurrency can touch the wider community, and NFTs are not only present as collections, but also provide opportunities to equalize people's living standards in this era decentralized economy "both for creators and also collectors/community," he concluded.