How Do You Identify Real NFTs and Avoid the Fakes?
NFTs’ popularity and demand continue to rise, with Opensea, the world’s largest NFT marketplace, with a record $5 billion in monthly sales in January. Data from Dune Analytics “shows that OpenSea had more than $4.95 billion of Ethereum trading volume in January, plus over $79 million on Polygon,” according to Decrypt. However, it should be noted that in many NFT transactions, people can mistakenly purchase unauthorized copies or counterfeit NFTs. As a result, BigONE believes that whether you are a novice or a seasoned trader, it’s worth using our recommended tools to help ensure the authenticity of the NFT you purchase.
When it comes to making a good assessment of NFTs, it’s sometimes easy to be swayed by public opinion and swept along by your emotions; however, relying on the media and celebrity endorsement for credible NFT information, or entering the market simply to avoid missing out on “scarce” NFTs is very risky behavior. Instead, as a rule of thumb you must conduct thorough research and study before investing in any NFTs. BigONE has therefore put together a list of practical tips to help you make informed decisions and take the stress out of the equation.
· Every NFT should be unique. Therefore, before buying an NFT, double-check if the NFT you are interested in is available for sale on other marketplaces. If the same NFT is found in other marketplaces, this is an obvious ‘red flag’ as it means the seller has multiple copies listed.
· Do an image search using Google search. This is an excellent way to see if other copies or imitations of the NFT. Another NFT image and keyword-based search tool worth using is Fingible, a NFT search engine for Ethereum and Polygon NFTs. It includes a counterfeit detection feature that checks whether a duplicate of an NFT has been minted and is being sold by someone else across multiple chains.
· Search for the seller’s name and NFT profile name on Twitter and Reddit to see if they have ever been red flagged or complained about. Because infringed buyers and creators currently have little recourse, though this looks to be changing in South Korea, people often turn to social media to flag NFT issues and fraud.
· Viewing the social media profiles of current sellers and creators can help buyers identify the origin of the NFT and see if the creator is a real artist.
· Pay attention to the project team, even if the team profiles are anonymous. Find out who is behind the project, and whether they have a credible community behind them, and the quality of their social media following to see if its genuine or consists of fake followers.
NFT verification tools from Twitter and Adobe
It’s worth paying close attention to the Twitter profile pictures of sellers and creators when viewing them on social media. Because Twitter launched its own NFT verification service earlier this year, allowing users of its social media platform to upload Ethereum-based NFTs for Twitter to verify. Twitter users can use an authenticated NFT as their official profile picture once approved. As CoinDesk explained this also means, “If a pesky right-clicker tries to use your NFT as their profile picture without first buying the token, they will still be able to use the image, but they will be stuck with the classic circle frame.”
This is hugely beneficial to potential buyers, as more and more NFT owners can showcase or show off their NFTs in this manner. In addition, Twitter’s NFT verification feature involves validating the profile image. So, if you come across an NFT that you’re interested in, you can check the seller’s or creator’s Twitter profile to ensure that it’s genuine.
Adobe, which launched its Content Credentials feature last October, has another tool for validating NFTs. It allows collectors to confirm that the wallet used to create the asset is the same wallet used to mint the NFT asset, ensuring that it cannot be counterfeited. In addition, according to Adobe, after minting NFT artwork, digital artists can add their social media profiles and wallet addresses to Adobe Photoshop’s database and allow creators and buyers to view them.
“Creators who want to share their full attribution history can do so by using Content Credentials (Beta) while creating their work in Photoshop. Creators can include their public crypto wallet addresses with their work’s content credentials by adding it to Content Credentials (Beta).
“NFT marketplaces can then match the attribution details from Photoshop to the NFTs transaction details. Audiences and potential buyers will then have more insight into whether the seller of the art is the same as the Photoshop user who exported the artwork,” confirmed Adobe.
Adobe also announced a collaboration with the largest NFT marketplaces to provide content credentials metrics for authenticated, eligible NFTs listed on Rarible, OpenSea, SuperRare, and KnownOrigin. Buyers who wish to safely determine the authenticity of NFTs should consider purchasing those NFTs marked with Content Credentials in the asset description, which can guarantee the authenticity of the NFTs you are buying.
As with any speculative investment, do thorough research and study before purchasing an NFT, and never risk more money than you can afford to lose. BigONE hopes that these tips and tools will boost your confidence in exploring the world of NFTs.
