Reviewing NFT Tools, Part 1
Why they're popular, changes over time, and what I'll review in the coming days
Welcome to my first multi-part series! This week, I’ll be discussing and reviewing NFT tools. These should not be mistaken for the “utility” that NFT’s increasingly promise, though many NFT’s promise “utility” that might sound vaguely like “tools.” When I refer to tools, I mean services that primarily provide features or data analysis related to the NFT market and its transactions.
NFT tools promise to refine the signal to noise ratio of the market and to facilitate the already overly-complicated process of purchasing and participating in NFT’s. This may seem obvious, but I want to provide some context before I outline my review methodology and then provide my reviews of Nansen, Icy, Coniun, and WGMI. I’ve used the paid versions of all of these; depending on interest, I might also review NFT Nerds. There are also a lot of ways to use good old (free) Etherscan, but I’ll save that for another time.
As the NFT space evolves and grows, an increasing number of companies or platforms have emerged to offer traders and buyers information. It’s said that information is the real currency in NFT’s, and while that might be a cutesy cop-out (sort of like saying matter matters), Scientists™ are even beginning to consider information to be a new form of matter (which presumably would make fake news anti-matter, but I digress). I can’t, and don’t need to, overstate how important information is to NFT traders, since many make purchase decisions based on criteria like floor and median or average price, sales volume, who has purchased, the metadata or traits of particular items, and so on. The right kind of information can (ostensibly) help traders avoid scams, find projects that they like and hopefully want to stay in, and optimize their entry and exit strategies.
We’re all familiar with subscriptions. NFT subscriptions are not totally dissimilar from the basic model of recurring fees with discounts for quarterly or annual subscriptions, but many offer a “lifetime” subscription for holders of tokens: Coniun and WGMI are somewhat like this. Most tools let you pay subscription fees in either fiat or crypto. Most generalist tools offer the same basic features, like “trending” sales and mints, data visualization, a customized feed of activity from collections or wallets the user follows, and / or portfolio analysis. Because these features overlap so much, the value prop of each tool tends to be a unique and / or proprietary feature that the others lack. I’ll talk more about these in each review, but as an overview, for Nansen, it’s the “Smart Money” concept (more on this in my review); for NFTNerds it’s the integrated buying tools and data visualization; for Coniun, it’s the “Next Blue Chip” metric and Mint Trust Index; for Icy, it’s currently a combination of the live updates and comparatively low price entry point.
Why NFT Tools Emerged & How They’re Changing
The types of tools that are available, their features, and their evolution can provide a narrative of how the NFT market has evolved over the past year.
You've probably heard the adage that it’s more profitable to sell shovels during a gold rush than to dig for gold. The NFT world is not exactly a gold rush: I maintain that popular discussions of NFT’s miss the point and potential in favor of sensationalizing its weirder, spec-market-based manifestations. However, any emerging industry or market will eventually beget adjacent services and firms. The NFT world is byzantine, risky, scam-riddled, unnecessarily obfuscated, and continually churns people in and out on promises of both utopian libertarianism and get-rich-quick snake oil – so any tools that promise to make it easier and safer are an easy sell. Theoretically, everybody wins: Traders feel more comfortable entering this weird space, businesses can develop something useful and potentially nimble that could easily be pivoted into something else if the NFT market implodes.
These tools also fit neatly within the dominant anti-centralization ideology of NFT’s. They largely exist because to be blunt, OpenSea – the biggest marketplace for NFT’s and the GUI that most traders use to interact with them – absolutely and unapologetically sucks. This suckage has created a market space to fill in the gaps for the services and information it simply can’t or won’t provide, and then I guess OpenSea can claim this helps facilitate decentralization or something.
There’s also a dark, cynical aspect of these tools’ existence. Most of these tools effectively act as market action aggregators. In a decentralized market already resplendent with manipulation, there are probably opportunities to portray projects or tokens in better or worse lights, or with strategically slowed or accelerated data, and so on. I have no evidence any of this actually happens, but I imagine that the companies who make these tools receive offers to do so frequently. By cornering the information market and helping to create the narrative of what the market is doing, these companies also gain enormous power. Are they using it for good? That remains to be seen.
Types of NFT Tools
There are currently two major types of NFT-related tools. Some are generalist or information-based, meaning they support data aggregation and / or visualization by pulling data off the blockchain or working with marketplaces’ API’s. Other tools, particularly those that are older (i.e., older in NFT-time, meaning by a couple of months!), provide opportunities to see metadata and rapidly purchase or identify under-valued items in a collection, because that was an effective trading strategy for many in 2021. I think that the current market has fewer opportunities based on arbitrage of under-valued items within collections, and instead brings more opportunities at a collection level and with respect to market timing. At least, this is how I trade, so perhaps my selection is biased. Consequently, I am more familiar with the generalist tools that provide data on the market and collection or token movement than I am with sniping or rarity tools.
Rating and reviewing methodology
My assumptions in reviewing are simple: A good tool adds enormous value for most traders, creators, and other stakeholders, companies that should be responsive to customer experience and feedback, tools should be accessible and easy to use, and even though tools add value, most people would prefer to spend no more than necessary. I also assume that some tools are better fits for people in particular categories.
Therefore, I’ll be rating and reviewing the following aspects of each of these tools:
· Price. Duh.
· Customer service, if I’ve dealt with it.
· Ease of use / UI.
· Features and innovation.
· Roadmap / transparency.
· Overall Pros / Cons.
I’ll also give a verdict or quick take.
Is there anything I’m missing? Let me know! And tune in tomorrow for my first review.
Disclosures and disclaimers:
Nothing in this publication should be considered financial advice.
I currently (March 27, 2022) own 3 Coniun NFT’s and 1 WGMI “token.” I hold a paid monthly subscription to Icy.
No companies have paid me or given me anything for this coverage. They probably do not even know I exist. All the information about these projects was accurate as of the time I wrote this, and I have verified this information to the best of my ability. None of the links I’ve used in this post are referral links unless otherwise indicated.
If you appreciated this update and haven’t subscribed yet, please do so, or share it with a friend!
If you really appreciate it and want to help me out, my ETH wallet is open for contributions of any size - all of which would be appreciated! And no pressure if you can’t.
0x4E53CD9f9BF1A0C2f89E7af2Dd8F72b8f0cFC142
