Tweets selling for $3M, a digital version of a burnt print going for almost $400K at Christie’s auction house, and digital art featuring winged and armed babies making Elon Musk’s former partner $6M richer — NFTs have taken the world by storm over the past year.
What do you need to be aware of before getting involved with NFTs — and how can you best manage them if you do decide to add this asset class to your investment portfolio?
Let’s talk about everything you should know before entering the NFT space.
NFTs: The Newest Topic in the Crypto Convo
NFTs have quickly become a potentially lucrative opportunity. Check out this quick primer on the brand new asset class to get your sea legs before diving in.
What Does NFT Stand For?
NFT is an acronym for non-fungible token.
Fungible basically means interchangeable. Gold is fungible since identical amounts of gold have the same exact value and can be exchanged for one another with no gains or losses. NFTs are represented by unique tokens, so they can’t be interchanged with each other. It helps to think of NFTs like digital one-of-a-kind trading cards.
Any digital property that can be represented by a token can be sold as an NFT. Right now, NFTs are largely downloadable art pieces like drawings and illustrations. But they can also be audio files, digital videos, and more.
How do NFTs Function?
Every NFT is represented by a distinct, trackable token on the blockchain, which is a public ledger. Right now, most NFTs exist on Ethereum. Ethereum is an open-source blockchain upon which many crypto-based products and services are built.
What’s the Point of NFTs?
Buying an NFT gives the buyer exclusive ownership of the digital property. While the main argument against NFTs is that there’s nothing stopping anyone else on the internet from copying an NFT, the fact is that the same can be said for pretty much any piece of art or content. How many people have reproduced prints of Monet’s Bridge over a Pond of Water Lilies in their homes, even though there is only one original that hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art?
Aside from the obvious goal of holding an asset over time in hopes that it increases in value so you can sell it for a profit, many people who purchase NFTs do so for the same reasons that fuel all collectors. They enjoy the art or content, they want to be surrounded by and share the things they enjoy, they want to support creators, and they want to be part of the community surrounding the things they enjoy.
For artists, NFTs provide a new medium in which they can work — the digital space — and also present them with a new approach for generating exposure and of course selling art.
Where to Invest in NFTs
There are plenty of online marketplaces where you can purchase NFTs. OpenSea is a popular option with a ton of variety, and Nifty Gateway is a platform known for high-profile NFT sales. If there’s a specific type of NFT you’re interested in, there’s probably a niche marketplace just for you. For example, NBA Top Shot allows investors to purchase digital video NFTs that feature NBA highlights.
5 of Our Favorite NFT Portfolio Trackers
Excited to start collecting this unique new asset to improve your portfolio diversification efforts? Then it’s time we introduce you to some of today’s best NFT portfolio trackers from which to choose.
Kubera: All-in-One Tracker for Crypto, NFTs, DeFi, and More
Kubera’s personal balance sheet software is the best all-in-one wealth tracker for managing a diverse portfolio full of physical goods, real estate, traditional investments such as stocks, Fiat money, DeFi assets, crypto, NFTs, and pretty much anything else you can own!
For account-based assets, add your account details to Kubera’s simple, spreadsheet-like interface and the platform will display the real-time value of these holdings automatically. For assets that don’t have an account that can be added to Kubera, you can still enter all the details — from name to purchase price, current value, cash flow, and even attachments — to track them alongside the rest of your portfolio. Stock and crypto tickers as well as integrations with tools like Zillow and EstiBot provide even deeper insight into real-time asset value to get the most accurate and complete portfolio view of any wealth tracker.
Use Kubera’s recap feature to get a better understanding of portfolio and asset performance on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly basis.
Want to easily find the return on investment (ROI) for individual assets?
We know that ROI for assets purchased using crypto can be difficult to calculate accurately, because their value is tied to that cryptocurrency. The constantly-changing nature of crypto makes it hard to understand if an asset has truly lost or gained value — especially in your preferred currency. And when ROI is inaccurate, it’s no longer a useful tool for understanding how an asset has performed and whether or not it aligns with your financial goals.
That’s why we built Kubera to automatically calculate internal rate of return (IRR) — a detailed version of ROI — for assets in your preferred currency.
All you have to do is make sure your assets have information like their purchase price, current value, and cash flow in and out. Kubera adds holding time to the equation to display IRR in your preferred currency. On top of that, it also shows the performance of some popular indices and cryptocurrencies (S&P 500, Bitcoin, etc.), giving you a benchmark against which to compare your asset performance.
Read this help center article for more details on how exactly to use Kubera to monitor the IRR of your NFTs and the rest of your portfolio.
Working with a financial advisor, wealth manager, or some other type of financial professional to diversify and manage your investment portfolio? Kubera offers an affordable, modern platform for you to document all of your assets, empowering your pro to create the most informed wealth advice possible. All they have to do to get on board is request a demo or contact our team at hello@kubera.com.
Kubera is for modern investors who want an approachable, affordable tool for tracking and growing a portfolio of diverse assets — NFTs included.
DappRadar: Today’s Most Popular NFT Portfolio Tracker
DappRadar is next up on our list of top NFT portfolio trackers thanks to its reputation as the “everything store” of the decentralized technology world.
It’s even in the name — “dapps” are decentralized apps that operate on a blockchain. DappRadar has become a platform from which users can discover and track tons of dapps, as well as stay on top of dapp industry news.
But, DappRadar goes beyond dapps to allow users to discover and track NFTs, tokens, and different DeFi assets. And, of course, DappRadar has a portfolio portal where users can connect crypto wallets to monitor the value and performance of their holdings, including NFTs. While it does give some insight into net worth, it’s lacking when it comes to analytics and notifications.
DappRadar is a good fit for those who want to really dive into the NFT and digital asset world, but don’t desire a ton of cutting-edge features from their portfolio tracker.
NFTBank: For More Informed NFT Portfolio Tracking
What sets NFTBank apart is its robust Explore page, which lets users view and search NFT collections on various blockchains to compare stats like current and former floor prices, 30-day volume, how many new NFTs are added to the collection daily, and more. In addition, the Price Search page makes NFTBank a powerful resource for finding the best NFT deals of the day. Together, these features make NFTBank one of the more information-driven NFT trackers.
The portfolio tracking element of NFTBank connects to your crypto wallet to offer a straightforward view of profits and losses, revenue, spending, ROI, and more. NFTBank also offers an activity log that documents every interaction with different collections as well as downloadable tax filing documents.
NFTBank is best for investors who want to grow and track their NFT portfolio while getting a great deal.
DeBank: Track NFTs Across Various Blockchains and Protocols
Getting into a variety of DeFi assets? Then you’ll enjoy the fact that DeBank can monitor holdings on nearly 20 (for now) blockchains networks, including the popular Ethereum as well as BSC, Polygon, and more. For NFTs specifically, DeBank supports over 400 collections on the Ethereum network.
Once your wallets are plugged in, DeBank’s interface will show the value of your holdings in each blockchain network as well the amount held and staked across platforms. In addition to tracking and managing your NFTs and other DeFi assets, with DeBank you can also explore tons of DeFi projects, compare rates, and even analyze risk.
If you want to actively explore and manage NFTs and other DeFi assets from various blockchains, DeBank is a tool worth considering.
ArtCentral.io: An NFT Portfolio Tracker That’s Heavy on the Analytics
You might not suspect it with a name like ArtCentral.io, but this platform is first and foremost a powerful analytics resource for NFT investors.
ArtCentral.io’s main feature is Marketplace Explorer, a place to view millions of pieces of digital art for sale across various marketplaces. This page is powered by their Advanced NFT Appraisals Algorithm, which uses machine learning to uncover trends and identify underpriced deals for collectors. The drop calendar provides a look at what NFT artists in ArtCentral.io’s network are releasing soon and the leaderboard keeps you abreast of the transactions collectors are making on the platform. Finally, a basic NFT portfolio tracker helps investors keep an eye on profits, losses, and overall portfolio value.
ArtCentral.io is for inventors who want to follow the data when it comes to choosing NFTs, and for whom managing those assets is a secondary concern.
Which Tracker Will You Choose for NFTs, Crypto, DeFi, and Whatever Else is to Come?
If your portfolio is growing to include NFTs, chances are you've got a diverse set of assets on your hands. And that’s a great thing for your financial health! However, it can be hard to manage these assets in your favor without a singular platform from which you can easily add, view, and monitor every element of your portfolio.
An all-in-one tool like Kubera is the only solution for modern investors with unique assets like NFTs.
Ready to see it for yourself? Take a step-by-step tour of how Kubera works, then sign up to give it a try and start your subscription today!
