If you’ve browsed on OpenSea lately, you may have come to the conclusion that the world’s gone mad. The content there is dominated by pixelated art, often built into huge collections. From CryptoPunks to MoonCats, there are thousands of items, changing hands for thousands of dollars. Why?

The first thing to recognise is that not all NFTs sell at their asking price, but even so, a quick check of recent sales of CryptoPunks shows that there is clearly a lot of activity in the market, at eye-watering prices. (As I write this 1 Ξ is $1,980)

What gives these images value is that the market has decided that they will be valuable. Of the many choices available, a hierarchy of value has been created for NFTs, and one of the main reasons why one piece of art is more precious than another comes from its position in the chronology of NFTs releases. They may not have been the first, but CryptoPunks caught the imagination at a very early stage for NFTs and that gave them some gravitas, despite the fact that there are now many thousands of them.

All other NFTs currently minted have some degree of chronological value. In 10 years time, we’ll look back on anything created in early 2021 as being at the beginning of NFTs. What is likely to prevent many collections from appreciating in value is that if the bubble starts to burst, the me-too pixellations will be first to pop.

The work that I’ve done for The First Age NFTs will ensure that their long-term value is highly likely to appreciate, making them one of the better NFT investments. Consider the following reasons:

1. We’re still at the early stage of NFTs, there’s still some value in that.
2. The original digital artwork pre-dates most NFTs, being created in early 2018 (see the backstory)
3. The artwork is unique.
4. The subject matter is something that is widely popular (being based on the works of JRR Tolkien)
5. Supply is significantly limited. There will only be 25 copies of each image.
6. When you think of the number of Tolkien fans out there (including some very wealthy ones), as awareness grows, so will the desirability and value of each asset. There should be no trouble in selling on an NFT should you choose to do so.

For all of those reasons, and despite the lack of pixellation, The First Age offers one of the better investments in NFTs.