The NFT Handbook

CHAPTER 8Buying NFTs

There are millions of non‐fungible tokens (NFTs) in the various NFT marketplaces. Say that one or two catch your eye. If the price is right, why not put in a bid or buy it outright?

In this chapter, we’ll go through, step‐by‐step, how to buy NFTs. We’ll also offer strategies for building a collection. But first, we’ll discuss various reasons to buy NFTs.

Why Buy NFTs?

A common question we hear goes something like this: “Why buy NFTs when you can access and display an NFT’s image or video without having to buy it?” At the heart of this question is a common sense argument: “Why pay for something that you can get for free?” But this is really a question concerning the technology that makes NFTs unique and scarce, which we covered in Chapter 1, “What Are NFTs?”

This section does not address the technological reasons for buying an NFT, but rather the underlying personal reasons. There can be quite a few reasons, some of which also pertain to why people buy physical art. Some of these reasons are as follows:

• Meaning
• Utility
• Investment
• Prestige
• Collecting

These reasons are not separate and distinct, and a few may apply to any particular NFT purchase.

Meaning

Like a painting or any other work of art, an NFT can move you emotionally, acting as a lens and uncovering deeper meaning or greater understanding, just like Beeple’s Cyberpunk‐inspired NFTs resonated with how people view and feel about the current state of the world and where we may be headed.

Perhaps ...