Thread by @d4bba, @WAX_io is the most ignored major player in NFTs.... in the West, [...]

@WAX_io is the most ignored major player in NFTs.... in the West, that is.

90% of $WAXP's trading volume occurs on Korea-only exchanges denominated in Korean won, and it's not available on any US exchange except Bittrex (requires KYC). More on that later.

1/
$WAXP $WAXE

Take a look at CMC's price chart for WAX. Seems like a dead project, right? Well, no. The project recently found its footing and is thriving.

New buyers/sellers are pouring in, each month more than the last. Total # of buyers/sellers is growing fast.

2/
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SmvJ5kzUqyA6eUCqJycnr7MfezqyaZn5-cw0XtTtamc/edit?usp=sharing

Volume and Assets Creation growth looks fantastic (thanks Ben of @nfthiveio for the data).

But the seller and buyer data I dug into tells an even more compelling picture than that shown here.

3/
https://nfthive.io/stats

WAX is the infrastructure layer for others to create marketplaces on top, where NFTs can be created, bought, sold, and traded. It is to @atomichub and others what $FLOW is to @nba_topshot.

What matters most in a marketplace business is retention. That is where WAX shines.

4/

Take a minute to review the WAX buyer & seller retention tables attached. It is extremely good.

34% of buyers & 44% of sellers onboarded May 2020 were still around Jan. 2021, 8 months later.

Once a user joins the WAX ecosystem, they stick around.

5/
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SmvJ5kzUqyA6eUCqJycnr7MfezqyaZn5-cw0XtTtamc/edit?usp=sharing

Retention matters: see Rarible. Hot in Sep. '20, but fell behind OpenSea.

Why? As of Jan. '21, Rarible's retention rate for buyers onboarded May '20 is 2%! An order of magnitude difference (small sample size notwithstanding).

6/

https://www.duneanalytics.com/rchen8/opensea
https://explore.duneanalytics.com/dashboard/rarible

Rarible is a case study that proves that absolute figures are not as important as KPIs like retention, which signal the health of an ecosystem. This is especially true in the early stages of a booming nascent industry.

7/

WAX has great retention because they are focused on in-game items and gamified collectibles. This is the key differentiator between WAX and others like Rarible, which focus on digital art.

For example, @StreetFighter released its digital collection via @WAX_io just today.

8/

WAX's top 3 collections in sales:
1. KOGs (Keys to Other Games): in-game items.
2. Bitcoin Origins: collectibles w/ gamification built-in.
3. Garbage Pail Kids: collectibles by @Topps, w/ gamification built-in.

$WAXP is a bet on the crossover between gaming and NFTs.

9/

This follows @WAX_io's strategy perfectly, laid out by CEO @WilliamEQuigley in the whitepaper:

"In the meantime, we are working with smaller publishers with very dedicated audiences. The benefit of these audiences is that they are very loyal..."

10/

Understand the 4D chess here. WAX has proved its model with indie game developers. Next come the big boys.

See WAX's founder @WilliamEQuigley talk about the concept of 'Intelligent NFTs' at this portion of an unlisted YouTube video interview:

11/

I mentioned @Topps above (used WAX to launch Garbage Pail Kids).

Topps also owns the exclusive license for MLB trading cards (see pic). In an interview, Topps' VP of Digital hints at GPK being just a start.

$WAXP is a call option on the MLB version of NBA TopShot.

12/

The other piece of this puzzle is that WAX has been under-studied.

Some background for an example: WAX was originally ERC20, then became native WAXP in June '19, but recently launched an ERC20 WAXE at 1:1000 ratio to WAXP so holders can stake their tokens, earn fees, etc.

13/

Investors have the option to convert WAXP to WAXE for DeFi purposes, but WAXP is still 'main' coin. USA can finally (after 2+ years) gain exposure to WAX (using WAXE) without KYC (Bittrex).

...yet Messari makes no mention of WAXE on its page for WAX. Neither does CMC.

14/

WAX has been ignored to a striking extent.

Messari says WAX is "currently" used as a unit of exchange on OPSkins (see pic).

Except OPSkins shut down in January '20... So Messari's page hasn't been updated in over a year. This is crypto - that's like 10 human years.

15/

DappRadar lists AtomicMarket (on WAX) in top 5 (by 24H users) in its list of top dapps, above NBA TopShot, but it does such a poor job of pulling volume data that I gave up trying to nail down the discrepancies between it and AtomicMarket's own data: http://wax.atomicmarket.io

16/

In my thread on $ZRX I tried to communicate that fundamentals still matter, even in a hype-driven market.

I'm hoping to reach both the the NFT & DeFi investors out there now. There's an insane amount of hype around specific types of NFTs. Ignore it.

17/ https://twitter.com/d4bba/status/1356791575989346305?s=20

https://twitter.com/d4bba/status/1356791575989346305?s=20

If you don't 'get' the 'digital art as NFTs' movement, fine.

NFTs are much more than digital art. NFTs also include gaming, social tokens, and even insurance contracts (look up yInsure). It's so much bigger.

NFTs are new technology.

18/

Don't let your biases keep you from making profits and supporting a movement.

If you've been considering investing in NFTs but haven't, do the research and find the niche that clicks for you. For me, in-game NFTs and $WAXP clicked, for you it may be something else.

19/

The crypto 'press' and investor hype has gotten things wrong, again. As you work on shedding your bias, know the market is shedding its bias too.

When it does, $WAXP will get the recognition it deserves, and like all things in crypto, it'll be quick.

/fin

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