I’m going to open with this…  this article may generate some hate as it’s surely not representing a popular opinion.  But it’s my opinion, and I’m hoping and open to someone constructively sharing a counterpoint… So have at it.

Open almost any crypto-related site, social or news outlet, and you will be bombarded with content surrounding the NFTs and the Metaverse.  It is everywhere, and retail investors are contracting a severe case of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out).

For anyone who knows me personally, I’m a technology addict.  It’s a big reason I gravitated toward and am so excited about blockchain projects.  With that being said, it is way too early to invest… though it’s a great time to gamble, in NFTs and the ‘Metaverse’.

8-track or cassette?  Beta or VHS?  Zune or iPod?  Those are easy… you were picking 1 of 2.  For NFTs… are you buying Ethereum based?  Solana?  Polygon Matic?  Binance Smart Chain?  Heck… Ravencoin? 

What if I’m a content creator working for a company who uses an Ethereum network to create a NFT collection.  Then I split off on my own and create my next set of a work using a $ZEN sidechain (hint, NFTs are coming there later this year).  Then what?  Fans of my content need a marketplace or wallet that has full interoperability (cough, $ZEN again) for any platform I created a NFT on.

Or how about those who are investing in NFT land?  What if I bought a plot on one platform, and in 5 years that platform is outdated and a new project sells that same ‘plot’ as a NFT on their chain?  Im left with a worthless asset.

For anyone that thinks, “Well that won’t happen to me, I know my favorite platform will last”, I have one thing to share… 

The first NFT was minted in 2015.   

Solana, one of the present-day giants with over $1.2 billion in NFT trading volume, was founded in 2017.

If you think picking a coin to invest in is tricky… pickling a sustainable NFT chain is even more difficult.  There is literally nothing stopping a bad actor from creating a NFT of the same item on 10 different platforms.  If that happens, which one is the ‘real’ one?

Now, so it is said, not all NFTs are bad.  An honest creator can create a NFT on a platform and link an original painting, as an example, to a serial number and that NFT can represent that connection.  The NFT can help protect provenance, and in that case, it doesn’t really matter what platform it was built on.  Ravencoin was literally designed with such a use case in mind, which is why it’s criminally undervalued considering the NFT boom.  But let me ask you, if you own NFTs, how many connect directly to an actual asset that cannot be replicated by another platform? 

Sure, there are randomly generated NFTs that create images that wont ever be replicated as they contain rarity assets embedded within.  A copy on another network would be just that… a copy.  But even in those cases, collectibles don’t always stand the test of time.  How much is your Pog collection worth now?

NFTs are not bad in themselves.  It’s an amazing use of blockchain technology and will be around for a long time.  But it’s too early for me…