WAGMI
WAGMI is a word from the NFT (Non Fungible Tokens) & crypto space that means WE ARE GONNA MAKE IT. But who are WE?
It's funny, many criticize crypto because they say things like they are ponzi or pyramid schemes, and they say that NFTs were created to provide exit liquidity for whales (large investors) that bought very early into crypto. But is that true? Then they also criticize the NFT space because they of having a culture that uses phrases like this, or 'to the moon' (Price going up for collectibles/crypto), GM/GN (Good morning, Good Night), or terms like 'HODL' (holding on to tokens or crypto no matter how prices turn). This is not because of the phrases themselves, but because of cult-like usage of them engineered by the people who again, first bought into them - which may or may not be the case. Anyways, here's a little rundown of my points of view.
A Sea of Opportunities
I started dipping my toes into crypto when I first started my HIVE blog. Back then it was called STEEMIT. I really didn't know what I was getting myself into. All I knew is that I could now make money (crypto - which to me seemed unreal) for what I had been doing for YEARS without earning anything but a few likes in Facebook or Instagram, from friends:
This was the first art I created for my first post on Steemit
From what I've learned, those two companies (FB & IG) are part of what is now being called Web 2.0, which was the centralized internet where these companies were earning money from the content people where creating, like me. Also, where you'd make profiles and your info is harvested to make profit from. Web 3.0 makes this different because it's pseudonymous, which means it's kind of anonymous, and you use your crypto-wallet to log on to Apps, instead of making accounts. Creating wallets it's so easy that you can and should use new ones often to stay safe and anonymous. People are also trying to make web 3.0 decentralized, but as you will learn if you watch the video below, you will learn that's not always the reality of things, but it is what it's being envisioned by many.
Crypto and NFTs have grown SO MUCH that they have become a culture of their own. There's so much to talk about, that I'd have to write a book to tell you so much. Those phrases and terms I was mentioning, they are part of that culture.
When I saw the video below, I was already knee-deep into the waters of NFTs and Crypto. I had now seen and experienced a lot of it: from the rises and falls in price of coins when Elon Musk would mention that TESLA was accepting or not accepting Bitcoin payments any longer, to every news outlet in the USA and many other people talking about how NFTs were useless JPGs. Many people still hate on them and would never buy them. Looking back to when I got into STEEMIT in 2018 to the present days, I had already experienced the ups and downs in price, without really paying any attention to what was really going on. I had experienced nearly doubling of my staked crypto (probably twice) without understanding much about what was happening.
It's a long watch, but there's a lot to what this guy is saying. I wonder if he ever bought an NFT before? The reason I ask this, is because it's definitely not the same to just talk about something from the outside, than being part of it AND THEN TALKING ABOUT IT. I can attest to that myself, because I used to do exactly that, an my opinion changed after I really started to "play the game", to buy my own.
About a month and some weeks ago (when I saw this video), I got pretty disappointed because I could see that NFTs that I had bought, lost a lot of their value (around 80% - only "in paper" though) due to the bear market that's been going on since November 2021. For those who aren't into crypto, a Bear Market is a season or time period when the tendency of price is FALLING instead of RISING. As time has gone by and feelings subsided, I can't say that it hasn't been worth it to participate in NFTs, and anyways, it's not ONLY about the money. Not for everyone. Not for me.
Anyways, the point to where I really wanted to get to here, is that both HIVE (and cryptos in general) and NFTs have given me fresh new opportunities as an artist; accessibility to a wider audience, and visibility in a fresh new space where artists are getting recognition and exploring and experimenting these new technologies. I believe boring finance and economics are subjects very worth being looked at and studied when entering these spaces (both crypto & NFTs), to get a bigger better picture of what this is all about. It took me quite some time to figure it out, and I'm still a newbie.
Authentic Tokens to Support Projects
Crypto and NFTs have rekindled my faith and also given me hope, specially because now that I can sell AUTHENTIC copies (NFTs) of my artwork, which anyone with a crypto wallet can buy to support my art dreams. To be more clear about what I'm selling, yes, the NFT is just like the RECEIPT of having buying the art that I have "signed" through "minting" (creating signed metadata) them on a blockchain - like HIVE. The art IS NOT in the NFT itself, it is stored in a public place (most of the time), and so yes, people can actually RIGHT CLICK AND SAVE AS (which actually became a meme!). Buying an authentic digital artwork wasn't possible like this before - not the way it is now. Not as simple as buying/selling these "authenticity" receipts with using crypto in NFT marketplaces - PSEUDONYMOUSLY.
Blockchains, crypto and NFT technology have made it EASILY provable and traceable that you are buying or selling a piece, whether it is a one-of-a-kind digital art piece, or a token from a limited 10,000 piece collection, which are usually part of bigger projects or even something else - this allows individuals and teams to offer something similar to stocks to allow participants in a sort of crowdfund, but with the added fun of owning and being able to trade limited edition collectibles. Also, being part of a community of holders of those tokens, and maybe an added form of use, exclusive to the holders.
Desolates Metaverse - is a project I am very proud to be an owner of. Even though the token of the blockchain on which they are minted has gone down a lot in value (like most crypto), the project keeps moving and they have a great building team AND community. They provide holders (myself included) of great value (utility): their own space (metaverse "real estate") to showcase 3D art or collectibles in the form of other NFTs which are held in the same crypto-wallet. This has allowed me to make galleries of my art, in a 3D space. Visit my planet here
To one of the points to the guy from Folding Ideas, the creator of the video above, my opinion is that it's ok that the whales (larger investors) that have invested into this technology, have found a way to get exit liquidity from the crypto they originally bought. From where I now see it now, NFTs ARE providing value to the people buying them. It's ok that this new and engaging technology is finding adoption, and it's not "next bigger fools" that buy into NFTs (like in Ponzi schemes) - at least not all of them.
One one hand, though, there has been (and of course there will be), a lot of opportunists who are using it all to lure people who just want to make easy quick money (and are not interested in the tech - or even know what it is about). Sometimes you will also get bad projects like Pixelmon, which deceived believers when they put out the art of the project. And of course, there's a ton of SCAMS out there, to which everyone should watch out.
Technology usually goes through phases of rejection, disbelief and criticizing before they are widely adopted. The internet, now used massively, is an example of this. I might be wrong, but I think that blockchains, crypto, the metaverse and NFTs will be part of our future, just like the internet - actually, NOW is already a future that many envisioned some years back. Even though there hasn't been massive adoption, these technologies are growing more and more.
I myself will not try to convince anyone, that's not what I'm here to do. I'm just sharing my experience as an artist exploring these spaces and pathways that, again, have given me motivation, hope and opportunities to live from my art. I also share so that others can learn from my experiences, and of course, so that we can have open conversations about these topics. Please comment below or follow me on Twitter so we can talk about these things.
And so my friendly advice is what's next:
DYOR
A phrase in the NFT/Crypto communities that is not included in the video above, is DYOR. It's probably the BEST advice ANYONE could get when trying to enter these spaces, and it is very often mentioned by the participants!
I have a disorganized way of being (I think I've wrote about it a few times before), and underestimated and took these words lightly even after hearing them SO MANY TIMES from savvy people in the space. They were SO right. I probably wouldn't have gone out there and spend money on some of the worthless junk that I unfortunately didn't have the experience and eye to identify as, but I did. I did buy and lost money in rugpulls - projects that are abandoned with broken promises to people who buy in, or that are intentionally created to steal the funds.
source . Foxxies was my FIRST RUGPULL . The owner of the project ran away with the funds, never making the ART DAO, Art Marketplace and Metaverse that was advertised in their roadmap.
I really didn't take enough time to research the projects. It takes knowledge to identify potentially good projects. The projects I'm talking here, are one of the reason why people buy NFTs. No, they're not JUST JPGs like some bozos out there make people believe. There's some nice interesting projects that creative people are making out there, and they are worth taking a look at, possibly even participating in. From metaverses and videogames, liquor stock from breweries, cleaning the ocean, planting trees, financial products, to creation of comics and animated shows, there's sure a lot out there that NFTs are being used for, giving rise to a new digital era that IMO is amazing to be alive and part of.
Technology is a tool, and bad and good things can be done with it, and they are both being done as we speak with it. I have personally witnessed some great things that are being built. While there ARE projects out there that provide LITTLE to NO utility, doing thorough and diligent research will minimize losses, and potentially make people gains instead. And by gains I don't mean only money, but valuable uses, not only a vehicle for speculation (which CAN also make gains, but for speculative (demand making price go up) - not FUNDAMENTAL (real use cases) - reasons).
Foxtopia is a game which is in the making, and will be released and playable in 2023. At the moment I own the NFT for this fox, which I will be able to use in-game when it launches.
Last But Not Least
The truth is, I've learned a ton through this experience, even after losing money. I don't regret it. I've met awesome people, and I've pushed my limits as an artist by A LOT in these last years, specially since I started making NFTs in 2020. I haven't made my own project yet, but I have explored many ideas, and I probably will make one in the near future.
The NFTs I currently have for sale though, they don't really need utility behind them. They themselves, are art and the utility is far more than words can describe.
It makes imagination run wild and wander.
It makes the world more colorful, interesting and fun.
I create it for reasons way further than making money.
People buy them for reasons other than making money too.
Buying NFTs is like buying an In Real Life painting, except, naturally, when people acquire one, they are paying for digital paintings or digital art, something which wasn't possible until recently. I know, it's weird, to be able to own an intangible asset, but after having owned, bought, sold and resold quite a few, I can understand why it is the future. I would make the art and I couldn't sell an authentic and unique (signed) copy as easily. Mostly just prints or objects with the printed art.
Some people ACTUALLY prefer the digital asset because it doesn't take up space. And in theory, it will exist forever, unless someone burns (digitally destroys) the NFT. I know there were ways to sort of do it before, but it was never as engaging, fun, and simple as it is with NFTs. Also not as integral (you can program utility into them for ANYONE holding the token, easily buy/sell in marketplaces, hold them safely in a wallet using safety guidelines, trace all past owners and trade activity, and more). Did I also mention that they can actually be used for 'In real life objects' and actions? People have sold houses using them, and also used them as marriage certificates. The rabbit hole goes deep, and I myself don't know as much about these use cases, but we will probably learn more about them in the future.
- Odd Eyelien Encounter - Is the first NFT I ever created in 2020. I minted it in NFTShowroom on HIVE blockchain and can be bought using Swap.Hive which is a token that is easily swapped for using HIVE. It is a video with audio, and I created 3 editions of it, 2 of which are still available at the moment of writing this HIVE post. You can watch it here
Buyers of NFTs, even if not tangible, actually own the digital assets if they hold them in their wallet. They can sell them, give them away, burn them, or do whatever they want with them. They can only use the artwork for them if the token minter has granted a user license to the holder - which is actually also possible to do.
Who knows if cryptos and NFTs will stand the test of time and get mass adoption. By now, I have sold a handful of NFTs. In the meantime, I will explore more of this world and keep trying to create awesome digital art so people can own & enjoy in their collections.
For now I will keep trying to push myself to make the best I can as an artist through using NFTs, blockchains, crypto and metaverses. Whether it is putting my heart and love into my art so people can be proud and happy to collect and own - and thus support me, or who knows, maybe some day my art and/or NFTs will be worth a lot and my supporters and collectors will be able to keep enjoying their pieces of the pie.
Whether that is through the art they already own, or perhaps through some other form of value that I can provide in the future, or maybe by getting rewarded with more money than they once paid for if they decide to resell the art to someone that's willing (and has the resources) to pay more for it.
Either ways, it's very good times to experience being part of the crypto and NFT Art scene. It's great to be able to connect with people who I otherwise would've hardly ever been able to connect with and be part of their lives, whether through the art itself, or just even the opportunity to make contact with and even build relationships through these technologies. This includes everyone of you that read this.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT 💜 I appreciate you all. 🙏
The sketch on my sketchbook for WAGMIX
_WAGMIX is one of those art pieces that the NFT world made me push my boundaries to complete. It's also the latest NFT I sold up to date. It was an experiment where I randomly colored every part of the art, by hiding the other layers around it. Even though it's not the most complex I've made, it was one of the most complex ANIMATIONS I had ever made. Every part "popped up" into the piece. However, unfortunately, the file got corrupted and it was lost. 😔 After sobbing for quite some time, I finally made this animated GIF, and minted as an NFT. I soon sold it, and the buyer asked for permission to print it on a skateboard and even paid me to make the adaption of the design for it. He said he was going to hang it on his wall. I'm so happy and thankful for this. I'm sure he loves it, as I can tell from his support to my art dreams. This is the kind of feelings for which I make art both in me, and the people who appreciate my art and/or also support me. Thank you so much buddy 🤙
WAGMI
If you like my art, please support my Art-Life Dream:
- Make a HIVE donation to my account
- Collect my NFTs in NFTShowroom / Rarible / Opensea / Foundation
- Reblog / Vote / Comment / Share my work
- Hire Me. Graphic / 3D / Motion / Video-Editing skills:
Rey C. on FB / behance
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Crafting art dreams through shapes, doodles, colors, good vibes, infinite creative energy, and fun.