The next obvious thing... Built on the blockchain... Unique and secure... They're more than just funny memes... Good for artists... Good for gaming... Interest-bearing tokens... Editor's note: With much of the financial world focused on the volatile stock market, high inflation, and recession warnings – and for good reason – it's easy to forget that there are other things going on that are worth talking about... With this in mind, today I (Corey McLaughlin) am handing over the Digest to our colleague Eric Wade to discuss one of them... a corner of the market that you might have heard about over the last year or so, but one that we sense many folks are uncertain about… or have dismissed entirely given the hype around it. As Eric, editor of our popular Crypto Capital newsletter, explains, the skepticism makes for a tremendous "picks and shovels" investment opportunity today... in a form of cryptocurrency that he believes will be widely used in the future. Specifically, he points to projects tied to it that are best positioned to succeed in the months and years ahead. Here's Eric... And we'll be back with our "regular" Digest fare tomorrow, including a report on how the market reacted to the Federal Reserve's actions today. The central bank raised interest rates by 0.50%, as expected. You can read more about that right now on our free Stansberry NewsWire. Someday, not too far off, you won't be able to live without non-fungible tokens ('NFTs')... Yes, there will come a day when NFTs will be as critical for you as your car and the Internet are today. Don't scoff... History is on my side on this one, whether you want to admit it or not. Some 150 years ago, it was not obvious that newly invented automobiles would be critical to society. Decades later, that was obvious to everyone... Now we can't live without them. In the 1970s, the Internet was not obvious... A few wonky professors shared information via their computers. By the 1990s, the Internet had changed the course of history... It gave us e-commerce to shop from home... powerful pocket computers called smartphones... and the ability to instantly find information whenever we need it. And today it's still changing, evolving, and growing to become even more integral to our daily lives. For example, the Internet has changed how we travel... Apps like Uber and Kayak make it easy and affordable to see the world... The Internet has streamlined how we share ideas and disseminate information through social media, news publications, and even sites dedicated to growing your wealth... The fact you're reading this right now is a testament to that. Now on the shoulders of the Internet that we can't live without comes a new revolutionary idea that has the potential to make as big of an impact as cars and connected computers to our day-to-day lives. Yes, I'm talking this way about NFTs... But before we jump into that, we should first look at what they are built on – the blockchain technology. Blockchains are immutable decentralized ledgers. In a nutshell, that means they can't be changed, they're owned by the community, and they consist of an ongoing record of data. As they're used, they grow in chunks called blocks that chain together – hence the term "blockchain." Cryptocurrencies, like bitcoin (BTC), secure and power these blockchains through different methods. But not all blockchains are the same. For example, bitcoin is the only crypto on the bitcoin blockchain... It's also the largest crypto by market cap, coming in at $730 billion. Meanwhile, the second-largest crypto Ether (ETH) lives on the Ethereum blockchain. But the Ethereum blockchain is home to many other cryptos as well, called ERC-20 tokens. Whereas ETH secures and powers the Ethereum blockchain, these smaller tokens can fulfill any number of other tasks. Blockchain technology – and the cryptocurrencies it uses – already have the potential to revolutionize the world... But that's not what we're talking about today. Instead, we're looking at a ground-breaking technology emerging from the blockchain that may change the way we interact with everything... such as arts, gaming, real estate, trust funds, licenses, and even our own personal identity. That technology is what's behind NFTs... What are NFTs?... Despite what the headlines say, NFTs are more than just pictures of 8-bit rocks online. But that's what most people see whenever "NFT" appears in the news. That's because a digital image of a rock selling for more than $1 million gets more attention than the actual application of this new technology... And that's not necessarily a bad thing. You see, we're still on the cusp of this revolution, meaning we're well-positioned to benefit before word catches on about just how important NFTs are for the future. Let me explain... To put it simply, NFTs are unique tokens that represent a specific asset. They're non-fungible, meaning only one of each token exists. The reason that a digital picture of a rock is worth so much more than another is because it's proven to be a one-of-a-kind asset that no one else in the world can own... unless the current owner sells it. Just take a look at this picture of a rainbow "Chromie Squiggle." It's difficult to see this as million-dollar art... But that's exactly what it is. The last time this NFT changed hands, it sold for 922.5 ETH. That's $2.62 million. But that's because this squiggle is special. It has certain traits other squiggles from the same collection don't have, like a "perfect spectrum" of colors that only 0.21% of squiggle NFTs carry. It may sound silly, but the ownership of this NFT is what gives it such a high value. We can all click on that squiggle and save it to our computer to look at it whenever we want. But only one person can undeniably and irrefutably own that squiggle. And the implications of that reach further than you'd expect. The utility of NFTs... To see this utility in action, let's look at one of the biggest industries making use of NFT technology today... gaming. After digital art, the gaming industry has arguably benefited the most from NFT technology. Whether it's through in-game rewards, spin-to-win gacha mechanics, or play-to-earn tokenomics, the growth of NFT-based gaming has taken both the crypto and gaming community by storm. For example, one game called Axie Infinity requires its players to use digital creatures called "Axies" to battle and earn SLP tokens, which can be sold for traditional money... You can also breed these creatures to create new ones and sell them to other players, making a decent profit. It takes three Axies to enter the gaming ecosystem and begin earning, with each one costing about $90. That's $270 just to start playing... but that money is going to other players in the ecosystem. Some players even make a living off only playing this game through breeding, selling, and battling regularly. (Note: We are not recommending Axie Infinity or the SLP token.) Another gaming mechanic that makes the most of NFT technology is trading-card games, which are known for profiting off exclusive ownership and collectible, unique assets. This isn't to say that gaming is going to change the world, but rather, NFTs have taken an industry that already exists and opened the doors to an entirely new way for both companies and individuals to generate consistent and significant revenue... And in-game rewards and creatures are still just the tip of a very large iceberg concerning what NFT technology can do. Another example is the music industry... Right now, there is a movement in the music industry concerning the rates musicians are paid... Many streaming platforms, like Spotify and YouTube Music, are under fire for underpaying the artists they host, creating an ecosystem where only massively successful artists can profit. But it's not as simple as moving to another streaming platform. The fact is that distributing music, hosting centralized servers, and keeping teams staffed and happy costs money... And streaming platforms need a significant cut of profits to cover those expenses while still making enough to continue building the platform. That's one reason why NFTs and blockchain technology are at the forefront of transforming the music industry. Decentralized music platforms offer a way for artists to submit their own music as NFTs, which automatically distribute profits directly to the artist from streaming data... And that artist's ownership of the song is proven through NFT technology. Not only that, but the artist has a direct say in the governance of that streaming platform as it grows through the distribution and ownership of platform-native tokens. But it doesn't stop there... NFT technology can be used to copyright songs. The songs can be sold to fans as a fundraising method for artists, and they can be resold with built-in royalty systems that stem back to the original owner. Those are a couple of examples of the future we're heading toward... Driver's licenses, passports, real estate, concert tickets, and even your favorite wine can all be stored as NFTs representing the ownership of the real physical assets. In just a few years, we see this technology reaching as high as the worth of 10 million bitcoin, around $380 billion. And that may just be the beginning... You see... the utility of NFTs covers more than just uniqueness and ownership. The implications of how many industries will change from the fundamentals of NFT technology are just now beginning to show. The future of NFTs... It's safe to say that the original developers behind NFTs were smart people... And rest assured, where there's a brilliant idea, there's bound to be even more smart people improving on it. One such improvement comes from a team working on upgrading what NFTs are capable of by introducing the concept of nesting NFTs. You're probably familiar with the concept of nesting dolls, also known as matryoshka dolls... These dolls fit one inside the other, starting from a very small one in the middle all the way to a big one on the outside to hold the smaller ones within. That's exactly what the team behind these nesting NFTs has built. It created a way to put NFTs inside other NFTs, facilitating collections of NFTs with one purchase... Think of an entire album of songs, a collection of artwork, someone's identification documents, or even an entire will and testament... all in one transferrable NFT. Sort of like a mutual fund, which is a tradeable security made up of individual tradeable securities (stocks)... But that's not even the best part. These NFTs can also generate a cash flow through interest-bearing tokens... And they can be programmed to automatically react to things like transferring ownership, selling and buying, adding and removing assets, and even the passage of time. This improvement paves the way for decentralized trust funds, savings accounts, royalty-collecting bundles of art, sponsorship campaigns, and community-funded lotteries... Living in a non-fungible world... Through NFTs, we're offered a glimpse of what it would be like to live in a world where ownership is irrefutable. Blockchains are immutable... They can't be changed due to the foundation they were built on. This one small detail makes NFTs possible and lays the groundwork to change the way we interact with everything, from 8-bit digital artwork to our own very identity. While it may seem like a security risk to put all of your proof of ownership for everything in a wallet service... the beauty of blockchain technology is that you're actually more secure than current traditional storage methods. Through good security practices, third-party hardware wallets, and a little education, keeping your assets on the blockchain is one of the most secure methods of holding available. And there are numerous investment opportunities in NFTs... I've researched the 5,000-plus cryptos, and it all boils down to this... there is one NFT-based crypto that's flashing a huge buy signal right now. And I believe a small investment in this one crypto today, trading for under $2, could increase your investment at least five times (or a lot more!) by the end of 2022. But there's much more to this than simply knowing the name of the NFT-based crypto I'm talking about... That's why I just recorded this short presentation... But you need to get started with it immediately. Get all the details here while there's still time. New 52-week highs (as of 5/3/22): Suncor Energy (SU). In today's mailbag, feedback on yesterday's Digest and comparisons made by Wall Street legend Paul Tudor Jones to today's market environment... As always, send your questions and comments, praise or rage, to us at feedback@stansberryresearch.com. "'the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008... the Black Monday crash of 1987... the dot-com bust from 2000 to 2002...' "The inflation/bubble/crash/bear-market narrative seems to have taken on a life of its own. But considering a reopening economy on steroids, with a feeding frenzy in the labor market (propensity to spend coupled with rising disposable incomes), a 'bear-market crash' seems premature. "I think this correction is better explained as Herd Behavior 101. (Most 'rational actors' on Wall Street are actually reactionary closet indexers). My take – and I'm actually surprised none of the editors has yet elucidated the 'History doesn't repeat, but it rhymes' [idea] – this isn't exactly a repeat of the 'Taper Tantrum,' but perhaps a 'Raising Rates Rebellion.' "True, the Fed has backed themselves into a few (relatively minor) upticks. But let's face reality – any company that can't withstand 2% to 2.5% rates deserves to fail. (And beyond that... this is not Paul Volcker's Fed.) "Investors need to focus not on a singular 'stock market' but a market of individual stocks, which is where Stansberry provides us, your subscribers, such valuable guidance." – Stansberry Alliance member D.M. Eric Wade Southern California May 4, 2022 Stansberry Research Top 10 Open Recommendations Top 10 highest-returning open positions across all Stansberry Research portfolios Stock | Buy Date | Return | Publication | Analyst |
---|
MSFT Microsoft | 11/11/10 | 1,008.2% | Retirement Millionaire | Doc | ETH/USD Ethereum | 02/21/20 | 923.0% | Stansberry Innovations Report | Wade | MSFT Microsoft | 02/10/12 | 867.5% | Stansberry's Investment Advisory | Porter | ADP Automatic Data | 10/09/08 | 780.3% | Extreme Value | Ferris | HSY Hershey | 12/07/07 | 518.8% | Stansberry's Investment Advisory | Porter | BRK.B Berkshire Hathaway | 04/01/09 | 465.6% | Retirement Millionaire | Doc | AFG American Financial | 10/12/12 | 422.4% | Stansberry's Investment Advisory | Porter | BTC/USD Bitcoin | 01/16/20 | 331.5% | Stansberry Innovations Report | Wade | BTC/USD Bitcoin | 05/05/20 | 324.4% | DailyWealth Trader | Morris | FSMEX Fidelity Sel Med | 09/03/08 | 305.2% | Retirement Millionaire | Doc |
Please note: Securities appearing in the Top 10 are not necessarily recommended buys at current prices. The list reflects the best-performing positions currently in the model portfolio of any Stansberry Research publication. The buy date reflects when the editor recommended the investment in the listed publication, and the return shows its performance since that date. To learn if a security is still a recommended buy today, you must be a subscriber to that publication and refer to the most recent portfolio. Top 10 Totals |
---|
3 | Retirement Millionaire | Doc | 2 | Stansberry Innovations Report | Wade | 3 | Stansberry's Investment Advisory | Porter | 1 | Extreme Value | Ferris | 1 | DailyWealth Trader | Morris | Top 5 Crypto Capital Open Recommendations Top 5 highest-returning open positions in the Crypto Capital model portfolio Stock | Buy Date | Return | Publication | Analyst |
---|
ETH/USD Ethereum | 12/07/18 | 1,958.9% | Crypto Capital | Wade | ONE-USD Harmony | 12/16/19 | 1,856.9% | Crypto Capital | Wade | POLY/USD Polymath | 05/19/20 | 1,130.4% | Crypto Capital | Wade | MATIC/USD Polygon | 02/25/21 | 913.1% | Crypto Capital | Wade | BTC/USD Bitcoin | 11/27/18 | 907.2% | Crypto Capital | Wade |
Please note: Securities appearing in the Top 5 are not necessarily recommended buys at current prices. The list reflects the best-performing positions currently in the Crypto Capital model portfolio. The buy date reflects when the recommendation was made, and the return shows its performance since that date. To learn if it's still a recommended buy today, you must be a subscriber and refer to the most recent portfolio. Stansberry Research Hall of Fame Top 10 all-time, highest-returning closed positions across all Stansberry portfolios Investment | Symbol | Duration | Gain | Publication | Analyst |
---|
Band Protocol crypto | 0.32 years | 1,169% | Crypto Capital | Wade | Terra crypto | 0.41 years | 1,164% | Crypto Capital | Wade | Inovio Pharma.^ | INO | 1.01 years | 1,139% | Venture Tech. | Lashmet | Seabridge Gold^ | SA | 4.20 years | 995% | Sjug Conf. | Sjuggerud | Frontier crypto | 0.08 years | 978% | Crypto Capital | Wade | Binance Coin crypto | 1.78 years | 963% | Crypto Capital | Wade | Nvidia^ | NVDA | 4.12 years | 777% | Venture Tech. | Lashmet | Intellia Therapeutics | NTLA | 1.95 years | 775% | Amer. Moonshots | Root | Rite Aid 8.5% bond | 4.97 years | 773% | True Income | Williams | PNC Warrants | PNC-WS | 6.16 years | 709% | True Wealth Sys. | Sjuggerud |
^ These gains occurred with a partial position in the respective stocks. |