To Mint, or not to Mint an NFT Project? #1 Step-by-Step Essential Guide
The days of minting every new NFT project that comes out have long passed us by. No longer is it wise, safe, or profitable to mint every new project with a landing page and smart contract.
So, which NFT project should you mint?
And how do you know which new NFTs will be worth the cost of admission?
Let’s take a closer look.
The Basics
How much is the mint?
If it’s out of your range and you’re not willing to dump current NFT’s, or add ETH to your stack to have the liquidity necessary to mint, let’s not give it a second thought. There are exceptions to this like Moonbirds or Otherside, in these cases for example it would have been beneficial to make some portfolio moves to get in the fray.
Are you on the whitelist (WL), or minting with the public?
Big difference here in a large, hyped-up mint. If you’re on a WL for a mint that’s expecting big numbers, you have more of an incentive to mint. If you’re not and your mint is going to cost more than a WL mint, you may want to determine how much more before pushing in.
The NFT Project
What’s your conviction level?
Have you been following the NFT project for a long time, or did you just find out about it and it’s minting soon? Conviction can be tricky, it can lead you down a path of holding onto something longer than you should, or in the case of a lack of conviction, selling way too soon. Ask yourself this:
“Am I willing to hold this under the mint cost while the team builds?”
And if the answer is ‘no,’ you may want to rethink your mint decision.
That leads us to the team. Who is behind this NFt project? Are they well known? Are they doxed? You need to feel comfortable with whom you’re “investing” with. There could be another article entirely on this topic, but high-level things to consider:
- Does the team have a social presence with active (real) followers and interaction?
- If they aren’t doxed, are you comfortable with the mint price? There are still a lot of un-doxed founders in the space, it would be a shame to miss out on a Bored Ape type project because the team was anonymous at the time of the mint.
- Has the team been involved in other projects? If so, were they successful?
- Does the project have a well-thought-out roadmap or whitepaper? How do they plan on delivering on it? Is it ambitious, but not far-fetched? Is it something that would make you want to hold while the team builds to see what comes next? There are so many items to think about here, and roadmaps are fluid and change often, but as long as the team communicates well that’s super important.
- If you ask questions of the team, are they forthcoming and sincere in their answers? A team that is dodging questions or just not doing a good job answering them is a huge red flag.
- Is Discord active and organized? A well-run Discord, in many instances, is a sign of a well-run project. If it’s chaotic, messy, no moderation, etc.., the general section and FUD can get out of control in a hurry.
Mint Day Decisions
So the day of the mint has arrived, there have’t been any raging debates or FUD surrounding the project, you have some conviction, confidence in the team, wallet loaded…you’re ready to push the ‘mint’ button, but hang on:
How is the mint going? There are several things to still consider here before letting it rip.
Is it selling?
If a project is not being minted at a good rate and isn’t going to sell out, you need to seriously reconsider your mint decision here. Jump on Twitter or in Discord and see how it’s being handled and re-evaluate.
What do secondary sales look like? Any volume, is the floor price below mint or above?
Is it an instant reveal? I’m partial to instant reveals, but the anticipation of something being great and having to wait for the reveal will many times cause some upwards action in the price.
If you’ve checked all (or most) of these boxes and are ready to mint. Mint a few! Because it sucks to pick a winner and only have one!
Happy minting!
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