Alan Dunn is a long-time domain investor and domain broker, and I trust his insights when it comes to the business of domain names. Take a look at Alan’s Twitter feed, and you will see he has become active in the NFT space. I have learned more about NFT projects from reading Alan’s Twitter feed than anywhere else.
Over the holiday weekend, Alan posted a Twitter thread explaining why his focus has shifted from domain names to NFTs for personal investments. Quite a few other domain investors I know have shifted some level of focus to NFTs, so I think seeing this perspective helps me understand what’s up:
Hiren Patel and Andrew Allemann inspired me to write this today. Some top reasons why I shifted some energy to the #NFT space. I still love domain names, still acquire/sell a bunch, but for personal investments, my focus has shifted tremendously to the digital art space. Why?
— Alan Dunn ?? ?? (@alangdunn) July 3, 2021
1/ Domains are boring. Killer domain names are amazing, especially one-word .com’s but they simply do not have the wider sex appeal of a Beeple or Bored Ape. Again, I love killer domains but at this point, I would rather own something more people want to talk about.
— Alan Dunn ?? ?? (@alangdunn) July 3, 2021
2/ Domain investors were born for this. For the last 20 years we all have been going through drop lists, looking for rarities (short .com’s etc), hunting marketplaces for domain name deals and more. All these skills automatically carry over to the digital art marketplace.
— Alan Dunn ?? ?? (@alangdunn) July 3, 2021
3/ Content. Again, domains are awesome but I rarely find much content of interest. Many people publish great stuff, such as @domainnamewire, @dninvesting, @GeorgeKirikos, @dotweekly and I truly appreciate this work. There are just not enough topics overall for me. I need more.
— Alan Dunn ?? ?? (@alangdunn) July 3, 2021
4/ Crypto. I am a big crypto advocate. ETH is amazing and the future of money is just getting started. I bought BTC many years ago but should have also attended the Miami conference when Chad asked me back in 2014. My biggest regret so far. You were right Chad!
— Alan Dunn ?? ?? (@alangdunn) July 3, 2021
5/ Community. I love people. I also love innovation. Unfortunately, the innovation piece is missing from the domain name industry imo. The people are amazing but I need both. NFTS have both. The domain industry seems to be mostly in a consolidation stage the last few years.
— Alan Dunn ?? ?? (@alangdunn) July 3, 2021
6/ Risk and Reward. I like betting on digital assets. Why not dive into another arena with a wider audience and possibly higher returns? I mean, most domains have the same risk, and most have a lower chance of a higher reward. Economically, a jump to NFTS was a no-brainer for me.
— Alan Dunn ?? ?? (@alangdunn) July 3, 2021
7/ Fun. I want fun in my life, even if it means less money. Life is too short. I also want to change the world a little. If that means taking a chance, buying art and supporting an artist then it’s a whole lot more rewarding than paying annual renewal tax to Verisign and ICANN.
— Alan Dunn ?? ?? (@alangdunn) July 3, 2021
At the end of the day, we all have our own reasons for investing. A wise person said to me years ago on another topic “Why can’t you do both”. That is where I am today. Not financial advice. All of this may go to zero or moon. No one knows for sure, I just want to be on the ride.
— Alan Dunn ?? ?? (@alangdunn) July 3, 2021
I haven’t bought a single NFT nor have I owned any cryptocurrency for that matter either. I like and display art at my home, but I can’t get into the digital art for some reason. I appreciate it and think some projects (like Bored apes) look unique and fun, but I am not moved from observer to owner.
My knowledge-base and expertise is limited to domain names. While I have enough dry powder, I don’t feel comfortable using it on alternative investments like these. I have enough traditional investment alternatives to keep me diversified.
