NFT PFPs: A Real Use Case of NFT Pictures

NFTs started as an immense hype in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry. Today, they are one of the most sought-after digital assets. They impact real estate, healthcare, photography, activism, and philanthropy.

The rise of NFT PFPs has taken NFT’s application to a new level. We will explore NFT PFPs, their origin, and their value in this piece.

What are NFT PFPs?

Non-Fungible Token Profile Pictures, or NFT PFPs, are digital images people use as their profile pictures on social media platforms. You might also hear them called Picture for Proof, Profile Picture Non-Fungible Tokens, or Picture for Profile Non-Fungible Tokens.

Unlike the regular profile pictures you know, an NFT PFP is a computer-generated digital art prize with varying attributes. Most PFPs’ characters are animals (apes, bears, toads). The character in the image can have attributes such as smoking pipes, sunglasses, and bandanas.

An NFT PFP can be any NFT. It doesn’t have to be minted specifically for social media profile pictures. You can buy NFTs on platforms like Binance and use them as your profile picture.

The Origin of NFT PFPs

NFT PFPs started when the first PFP project, CryptoPunks, launched in 2017. This project featured a collection of 10,000 uniquely generated characters called Punks.

In 2021, the project became mainstream, and holders of the CryptoPunks NFTs began to use them as their profile pictures on Twitter and other social media sites.

With time the trend of setting NFTs from the CryptoPunks collection as social media avatars gathered so much interest that it skyrocketed the price for the NFTs. Many of these Punks sold for millions of US dollars.

Following the media frenzy, high demand, and high prices of these CryptoPunks NFTs, other developers launched their NFT PFPs projects. Today, you can own an NFT PFP by spending only a few hundred dollars or less – it just won’t be one of the coveted CryptoPunks collections.

How Popular are NFT PFPs?

NFT PFPs are on track to becoming the ultimate social media avatars. They have attracted so much interest from crypto enthusiasts, celebrities, and institutional giants.

Some of the current owners of the most expensive NFT PFPs in the world include celebrities like Justin Bieber, Jay Z, and Snoop Dog.

Multi billionaires such as Daymond John, Devin Finzer, Alex Atallahand, and Mark Cuban have also invested in NFT PFPs.

Can I Mint NFT PFPs?

Yes, you can. Many great platforms like Open Sea, Proton Mint, and Nifty Gateway allow users to create their own NFTs. You can use any NFT as your social media profile picture.

However, if you want to own any famous PFP NFTs, you must buy them from an existing owner or at the project launch.

For example, Larva Labs launched the CryptoPunk project on the Ethereum Blockchain. The collection consisted of 10,000 unique NFT characters.

The design of each piece in the collection is the work of an artist or a team. The team decides if the NFTs would take the representation of a cat, ape, bear, or any other model. After that, they will produce a pictorial sample of how the NFTs would look.

The main designs will contain many attributes such as body type, facial expression, background color, arm position, clothing, and accessories. The artists will also determine how each feature will appear and where.

Once the artistic team has sorted out the final designs and layout, the developer team will take over. They will program the forms and structures into codes and run them into a suitable programming language such as Python. This program will then generate thousands of NFTs in the collection.

All the NFTs in the collection will be unique, even if the difference is on a single attribute. However, there is usually a sub-category of NFTs that would be vastly different from the rest of the collection. These NFTs will have unique details you can’t find among the rest of the pack.

These uniquely designed NFTs will cost far more than others and are usually considered rare NFTs.

What are the Benefits of NFT PFPs?

NFT PFPs mean different things to different categories of people. Here are some of the key benefits people get from investing in NFT PFPs

●     Exclusive Community

Most NFTs projects rely on their community for promotion and backing. For instance, the popularity and high value of the NFTs in the BAYC collection are mainly due to the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC).

Most NFTs grant owners exclusive access to the community behind the project. These communities offer real value to their members.

Members also get invited to exclusive online and offline events, collectibles, giveaways, special discounts, and other benefits. For example, the Okay Bears community provides opportunities for members to support each other and create and share fan art.

●     Aesthetic value

Many investors and collectors buy NFT Profile pics because they are rare or possess appealing attributes.

For instance, it is rare to find a CryptoPunk NFT with cyborg eyes and a king’s crown. Okay Bears NFTs with purple backgrounds are hard to find. These attributes give a unique value to the NFT and confer benefits on the owner.

●     Real-World Integration

NFT PFPs also offer real-world fashion brands collaborative opportunities. For instance, MIRL allows users to create fashionable characters that might not appeal to popular tastes or values.

With this, people make bold versions of themselves that don’t align with societal trends.

NFT PFPs and Social Media Integration

Social media companies now offer ways for users to use NFTs as their avatars and profile pictures. Twitter is leading this innovation with its verifiable NFTs profile images.

Although it is only available for iOS devices, it allows users to set a PFP from their NFT collection as their avatar. Twitter displays the PFP with a hexagonal border instead of the typical circular border to distinguish it from the regular profile picture.

Instagram is also experimenting with features allowing users to display their verified NFTs on the platform and mint their own NFTs. There are also speculations that Meta might introduce these features to its other social media platforms.

Should You Invest in NFT PFPs?

Investing in NFT PFPs is a personal decision to make. If you are considering buying NFT PFPs to sell in the future, you might be up to something. There is an excellent chance of NFT PFPs spiking in value when other social media platforms integrate them into their platforms.

However, you should know that the most significant risk with NFTs is that they are hard to liquidate. Finding a buyer who is interested and willing to pay more than you paid to acquire the asset can take a while.

Furthermore, you need a secure way to secure valuable digital assets like NFTs. We recommend top-tier hardware wallets like Ledger.

When choosing PFPs to invest in, there are many great PFP crypto NFTs projects. Some of them include CryptoPunks, Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), Cool Cat NFT, SupDucks, Doodles, World of Women, 0N1 Force, Mfers, Karafuru, Avastar, and Gutter Cat Gang.

Conclusion

NFT PFPs are one of the biggest use cases of NFTs on the internet. As social media avatars, anyone can collect NFTs and enjoy exclusive rights of an NFT community. 

The best platforms for buying NFTs in our recommendations are Opensea and Binance. For storing NFTs, we recommend Ledger Wallet, one of the world’s most trusted hardware wallets.