NFTs are all SCAMS!!! Right?

A lot of NFT projects are scams.

Definitely rug pulls.

Cash grabs.

So damn it, this next part is going to be hard.

But first I’d like to congratulate you on making it further into an article than most people ever will on this subject.

Most people have seen all the headlines and already know that they’re scams, Ponzi schemes* and Pyramid schemes**.

Quick, which headline are you more likely to see:

“NFT Scammers Steal $1 Million in 20 Seconds!”

-or-

“Hard Working Team Builds Something Useful, Delivers on Promises”

More importantly, which headline are you more likely to click?

You know this already. Today’s media grabs your attention with wild headlines to get you to click. The algorithms notice and serve you more of it.

Some influencer shouts it, too. “NFTs are Stupid!!!” is great for engagement. The algorithm rewards them, and their influence grows.

Echo chamber created.

What you won’t read about in mainstream media or Twitter are the thousands of founders grinding day and night to build something of value. Building a community around a shared passion. Developing their business model, creating benefits, and pushing the technology forward.

Boooooooorriiiiiiiiing.

The only way you’d know that’s happening is to spend about 100 hours scanning crypto news sites, following a lot of projects and founders on Twitter, and reading through their websites, FAQs, Medium posts, and Discord announcements.

Ain’t nobody got time for that!

Fortunately, I made time.

EXAMPLES, PLEASE.

Here are five examples of projects with real teams building real things:

• Roo Troop — creating a job marketplace for WEB3 opportunities
• Bike Club — building the world’s largest cycling club & community
• Rug Radio — a WEB3 broadcasting network that pays creators
• WomenRise — Benefitting girls education & mental health
• MetaOps — NFT-based FPS video game where you own your assets

You won’t read about these in mainstream media. Heck, you’ll barely read about them in crypto media like Coindesk and NonFungible, because they, too, need clicks. And there are tons of traffic-driving “hype and fomo” projects that are super easy to write about.

But also, you won’t read about most of these because there are just TOO MANY to cover.

Just like with traditional businesses, the vast majority of NFT projects fly under the radar because they’re too busy building something real to focus on building PR buzz. This is a problem for small businesses everywhere, in every industry.

TAKEAWAY #2

WEB3, NFTs, and Cryptocurrency aren’t going away just because sensationalist headlines stoke flame. There’s a reason why every industry is figuring out their WEB3 strategy RIGHT NOW.

Whether you like it or not, WEB3 and NFT and Cryptocurrency will absolutely, 100% be some part of everyone’s life within five years.

Much like the telephone, snowboards, and e-bikes, raging against them didn’t slow their adoption. It only gave the first movers a huge advantage. They made some people a lot of money and power, and they made a lot of other people look dumb.

There’s a really good chance one of those boring little projects being built right now will change the world. My world. Your world. OUR world.

TAKEAWAY #1

Don’t believe everything you read.

This intentionally comes after Takeaway #2, because there’s a chance I’m wrong.

There’s also a chance I’m right.

I encourage you to consider both sides and, at a minimum, be aware of what else is happening in the space besides scams.

BONUS TALKING POINTS:

If you’ve read this far, here’s your bonus intel:

* A Ponzi scheme requires new people to invest into something at a higher price than earlier investors so that the perpetrator can return money to initial investors to create the appearance of high returns.

** A Pyramid scheme simply pays people for recruiting people to pay to join the scheme, who in turn are paid to recruit people under them, and so on, but without ever actually having anything to sell anyone.

NFTs are neither Ponzi or Pyramid schemes. Calling them that is just lazy, and factually incorrect.

And nobody likes to be wrong, right?

(full disclosure: I’m one of the founders at Bike Club)