NFT Library

Welcome to the BVS NFT Resource Library!

Our team is heads-down in research, planning, and some NFT creation of our own. This is our public hub for helpful resources we’ve found throughout our journey.

BVS is doing research on the NFT market because it fascinates us. There are many problems with NFTs today, including environmental mis-use, poor ease-of-use, NFT thefts, and others. These problems will be solved! We’re studying NFT startups to see who is working on which problems, and we might throw our hat into the ring to help one or more of these problems ourselves. (If you want to keep up to date with BVS, signup here.)

Types of NFTs

Art

Art NFTs are as simple as that: they are pieces of creative expression and artistic imagination that patrons can view and purchase for the sake of collecting. Many digital artists have converted their work to NFTs as a means of monetizing themselves, too, since generous royalties on NFT transactions (5-15% average) allow them to continue to monetize their work post-purchase as well as route new potential customers their way.

Profile Picture (PFP)

PFP, or Profile Picture, has become a popular reason why folks will purchase NFTs. Community-centric platforms such as Twitter and Discord will allow users to upload their NFT as a profile picture as a way to show off their NFTs. This is essentially emulating a digital display case, and for high-priced collectible NFTs is the equivalent of walking around with a giant diamond or piece of gold on display for the entire world to see… in a way that’s socially acceptable, of course.

Investment

NFTs that are purchased with the intent to resell or retain once their value increases post-purchase. Investment NFTs are often hard to track down for common NFT purchasers who don’t have access to Alpha groups, which are exclusive communities often the first to know when collectibles will hit the market. Some investment DAOs have been created for the sole purpose of collectively investing in NFT commodities, including PleasrDAO which hosts a gallery of digital museum pieces including the all-too-famous original Doge picture that sparked the meme movement.

Brand Marketing

Branding agencies have been riding the NFT wave as businesses have been implementing them into customer engagement and retention strategies, such as exclusive patron NFT collectibles, loyalty and perk programs, and community building (owning an NFT = access to a secret club, program, etc.).

Proof of Ownership

Created for the sole purpose of preserving the ownership of something on the blockchain. This is the original “smart contract,” which many believe will replace much of our common document-packed contracts today (including birth certificates, vehicle registration paperwork, voting and elections, etc.).

Motivation for Purchasing NFTs

The motivation for purchasing various types of NFTs varies greatly as you can see from the NFT types above. In general, though, people will purchase NFTs today to (1) support the artists (2) pride of ownership and (3) investment. All motivators now are intrinsic vs. extrinsic (i.e. no one is requiring the purchase of NFTs yet), although their usage will likely change over the coming quarters and years, as more and more NFT platforms and applications are released.

Resources

Podcasts

Youtube

Discord

Discord is the most popular platform for building NFT communities with the intention of building hype around a big NFT drop for the purpose of monetizing, selling out quickly, and hopefully driving up the price of NFTs due to the aura that their associated community views around them. Many Discord groups are open, and are the perfect way to submerge yourself in NFT culture. The following are some of the most popular NFT Discord channels:

For general public:

For artists:

Twitter

Twitter is the home social media base of all NFT chitter chatter. It’s the common ground that unites leaders of many Discord communities, and more recently has also become a quick-media resource as NFT leaders are producing helpful Twitter threads to keep their followers educated with recent changes in the space. Below are links to popular Twitter threads. Be sure to read through the full list of replies, too, for links to even more resources, ideas, and accounts to follow:

Some NFT project Twitter accounts:

NFT artists:

NFT collectors & influencers:

Articles

NFT Art Startups

  • OpenSea — The most popular NFT marketplace

  • MakersPlace — Marketplace from the world’s leading creators

  • House of First — First-of-a-kind curated NFT marketplace

  • Art Blocks — Generative NFT art on the blockchain

  • Superrare — One-of-a-kind NFT artwork

  • Foundation — Auction-only and payable by credit/debit

  • Quantum — Photography NFTs

  • Rarible — Marketplace

  • Pinsl — Collect gallery art as virtual NFTs

  • NFT Showroom — Digital art marketplace built on Hive

  • Sloika — Selling photo NFTs

  • Institut — Partnering with artists for exclusive NFT drops

  • Artory — Creates smart contracts for physical art

  • Nifty Gateway — Making NFTs more accessible for the general public

  • Bright Moments — a DAO for NFT experiences around the world

  • Lazy — NFT gallery site by Mark Cuban

  • Artiva — A build-your-own custom NFT marketplace

  • Holaplex — Solana ecosystem with creator-made NFTs

  • DoinGud — NFT marketplace with a give-back

If you know of other VC-backed or notable NFT art startups, please let us know and we’ll add them to our list. Thanks!