Powered By Tidal

The Tidal Financial Group (Tidal) expanded rapidly over the last decade and encompassed multiple ETF related brands including Toroso Investments, Tidal ETF Services, and the ETF Think Tank. Going forward all activity will be unified under the Tidal brand as we become one company, dream, family, and platform focused on holistic ETF customer solutions.

Get Think Tanked Distilled with Sergio Silva

When many people think of NFTs, they think of silly digital images that sell for millions of dollars. Sergio Silva, who heads up digital asset custodian Fireblocks, believes that there is far more potential than that. The current NFT market is only a small piece of what it will become, and he joins the ETF Think Tank to discuss where the space is headed.

Silva says that NFTs are meant to capture the intangible value of things and monetize them. The Bored Apes, for example, is one of the largest and most well-known NFT collections out there. If you want to be part of that community, you can purchase a coin to verify your participation in it. The intangible value of the NFT is the “membership” in the community, much in the same way that someone might be a member of a country club. People want to demonstrate they’re a part of it. The hype cycles and bubbles in the value of these NFTs will come and go, but it’s all about how the market values it.

What are some things to look for in an NFT and where may the value be? Silva says that 99% of NFTs are probably going to be worthless. Digital art is interesting as some of these NFTs can potentially have value similar to the original art piece. Again, part of the appeal is joining an exclusive club of art owners or investors. One artist scribbles his investors’ names into future art. Some require ownership of a previous NFT to buy another. The more valuable ones seem to need more creativity and uniqueness. Owners will want to treat them as collector’s items like any other collector’s item.

Silva says that the illusion of value, however, is a red flag. There is this idea out there that anyone with a computer can create an NFT and become an instant millionaire. This kind of thinking is mind boggling. In reality, the NFT industry is evolving very quickly and most of us will need to catch up, but the technology is still fairly new. It’s like the internet. Early on, it was expensive, slow and you needed a dial-up connection. Today, it is incredibly efficient, and you can generally access it from anywhere. Adoption and understanding will be the keys to growth. People need to take time to understand the paradigm shift, but once it starts to click, you start to understand how to make things more efficient, know the infrastructure you need, etc.

What drives the value of NFTs? Silva says that there are bubbles out there now, but once they become better understood, it will be like any other consumer product. It will be based on supply and demand. It’s like people who are willing to pay more for Tylenol than a generic brand. You are paying the premium for the name. It’s the same product, but there’s a belief that Tylenol is somehow “better”. You have to create some intangible value and have people willing to pay for it.

Silva reiterates that it’s the essence of a community that can make NFTs attractive to a wider audience. It’s difficult to share the ethos of a community. With an NFT, you can mint your position within a community. The NFT empowers a community to build on top of that with the social aspect. These can also have rarity traits like a baseball card would. The market will determine what they’re worth.

Disclosure

All investments involve risk, including possible loss of principal.

The material provided here is for informational purposes only and should not be considered an individualized recommendation or personalized investment advice. The investment strategies mentioned here may not be suitable for everyone. Each investor needs to review an investment strategy for his or her own particular situation before making any investment decision.

All expressions of opinion are subject to change without notice in reaction to shifting market conditions. Data contained herein from third party providers is obtained from what are considered reliable sources. However, its accuracy, completeness or reliability cannot be guaranteed.

Examples provided are for illustrative purposes only and not intended to be reflective of results you can expect to achieve.

The value of investments and the income from them can go down as well as up and investors may not get back the amounts originally invested, and can be affected by changes in interest rates, in exchange rates, general market conditions, political, social and economic developments and other variable factors. Investment involves risks including but not limited to, possible delays in payments and loss of income or capital. Neither Toroso nor any of its affiliates guarantees any rate of return or the return of capital invested. This commentary material is available for informational purposes only and nothing herein constitutes an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security and nothing herein should be construed as such. All investment strategies and investments involve risk of loss, including the possible loss of all amounts invested, and nothing herein should be construed as a guarantee of any specific outcome or profit.  While we have gathered the information presented herein from sources that we believe to be reliable, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the information presented and the information presented should not be relied upon as such. Any opinions expressed herein are our opinions and are current only as of the date of distribution, and are subject to change without notice. We disclaim any obligation to provide revised opinions in the event of changed circumstances.

The information in this material is confidential and proprietary and may not be used other than by the intended user. Neither Toroso or its affiliates or any of their officers or employees of Toroso accepts any liability whatsoever for any loss arising from any use of this material or its contents. This material may not be reproduced, distributed or published without prior written permission from Toroso. Distribution of this material may be restricted in certain jurisdictions. Any persons coming into possession of this material should seek advice for details of and observe such restrictions (if any).

Total
0
Shares
Prev
ETF Industry KPI – 5/02/2022

ETF Industry KPI – 5/02/2022

Week of April 25, 2022 KPI Summary This week, the industry experienced 12 ETF

Next
What We Learned From Buffett & Munger at BRK 2022

What We Learned From Buffett & Munger at BRK 2022

There was no shortage of colorful one-liners by Warren Buffett and Charlie

You May Also Like