What Are NFT Mystery Boxes?

People’s interest in NFTs has skyrocketed with the staggering price increase in the crypto market in 2021. NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are digital assets that are unique and cannot be replicated or exchanged for an equivalent item. They are typically used to represent digital art, collectibles, and other digital assets on blockchain platforms such as Ethereum. Among them, the NFT Mystery Boxes have been quite successful.

What Are NFT Mystery Boxes?

NFT Mystery Boxes are a type of NFT that contain a set of randomly generated items, typically digital assets such as digital art, virtual items in video games, or other digital collectibles. They are sold on blockchain marketplaces and the contents of the box are not revealed until the NFT is purchased and opened.

Source: Gate NFT

The NFTs in the boxes may be artwork, videos, in-game assets, tickets, or NFT cards. By reading the box’s description, buyers can get an idea about the box’s contents. Often, the box description will include information about the types of NFTs in the box and their degree of rarity.

Nowadays, thousands of companies are issuing limited edition mystery boxes with NFTs with varying degrees of rarity. They range in price from as little as US$20 to tens of thousands of U.S. dollars. Some popular NFT mystery boxes are:

● Dennis Rodman Mystery Boxes

● Wasder Mystery Boxes

● Hype Selection: Mystery Sneakers

● Nike Mystery Boxes

● Bored Ape Yacht Club

● Crypto Unicorns

● Into The Metaverse

● Metakicks

● Mike Tyson Mystery Box

● Akon Music Mystery Box

● Urbanball Mystery Box

● Ocean Mollu Mystery Box

● Swappable Mystery Box

● Rarable Mystery Box

● Metashooter Mystery Box

Some floor prices of mystery boxes are listed below.

NFT Mystery Box Floor Prices

• Dennis Rodman Mystery Box: US$27
• Wasder Mystery Box: US$1,033
• Crypto Unicorns: US$23
• Mike Tyson Mystery Box: US$44
• Akon Music Mystery Box: US$38
• Metashooter: US$90
• Urbanball Mystery Box: US$227

Why Are NFT Mystery Boxes Popular?

NFT mystery boxes are popular because they excite, attract, and give their buyers a sense of adventure. The thrill of purchasing and opening the mystery boxes is that the buyer does not know which NFTs are in the box collection. The ones included may be very valuable, have moderate value, or be a loss for the buyer. Since buyers do not know which NFTs are in their collection, the anticipation, hope, and ‘rush’ they feel when they open their boxes makes the purchase of the mystery box worth it even when the NFTs inside are not that valuable.

They are also popular because people can buy them and then sell them for a significant profit, sometimes more than 100%. Some buyers hold them, unopened, in their collections for some time, and then sell them. In short, they can turn out to be profitable investments.

What Can You Do With NFT Mystery Boxes?

People who buy NFT mystery boxes can keep them unopened in their NFT collection, open the mystery box and keep the NFTs inside them, or open the mystery box and then sell or trade its contents in NFT marketplaces.

After the mystery box is opened, the owner can sell or trade the individual NFTs. The box cannot be resealed and sold as a mystery box again. If the owner has gotten a rare NFT, opening the box is worth it. The rare NFTs can be sold for high values, and the owner can get back the money spent initially and earn profits.

NFT collectors do not always want to sell the NFTs in their collections. Sometimes they keep them in their collections, use them in blockchain games, or find other uses for them. If the NFTs retain (some) value, they can always be traded or sold later if the collector chooses not to sell them immediately after opening the box.

Why Do NFT Mystery Boxes’ Prices Vary?

The prices of NFT mystery boxes vary, from 0.003 ETH to more than 13 ETH. Their prices are different because their demand varies based on the type of NFTs in them. NFT collections with strong demand (e.g., CryptoKitties, Bored Apes) have higher prices. In the NFT marketplace, demand dictates price, and strong demand can translate into very high sale and resale prices. On the other hand, if the demand for the NFT collection is low, the sale price for that NFT mystery box will be lower than for one with a much stronger demand.

Nike + RTFKT MNLTH NFTs

Source: ItsNiceThat

Nike partnered with RTFKT (pronounced “artifact”) to produce NFTs called MNLTH (pronounced “monolith”). The MNLTH mystery boxes contain a blank pair of shoes, a skin vial that changes the appearance of the shoes, and RTFKT and Nike Dunk Genesis CRYPTOKICKS. The most valuable part of the Nike mystery box is the skin vial. Skin vials with human skin are common (50% chance) and not worth a lot of money (1.28 ETH/US$2,000). On the other hand, skin vials with rare alien skin are hard to get (0.15% chance) and worth a substantial sum of money (200 ETH/US$300,000). Nike MNLTH NFT mystery boxes were released in February 2021. They sell for about US$15,000.

YouTuber Untied Hawaii Nike Mystery Box Story

For potential investors, the story of Brydon Honju, a YouTuber known as Untied Hawaii, is legendary. Honju bought two Nike mystery boxes, one for US$13,000 and the other for US$15,000. Immediately after purchasing the boxes, the market price of the boxes doubled to US$30,000. Honju decided to keep the boxes and open them. In one of the boxes, he found only common Nike NFTs. He lost US$6,000 on that box. In the other box, there were NFTs that were a bit rarer, so he made a little money on that box.

Nike CryptoKicks Designed by Takashi Murakami

A CRYPTOKICKS NFT designed by Takashi Murakami was sold for US$134,000.

Source: CNET

Where Can You Buy NFT Mystery Boxes?

NFT mystery boxes can be bought in the same NFT marketplaces as NFTs. Popular places to buy NFT mystery boxes are OpenSea, Rarible, SuperRare, Binance NFT, Magic Eden, LooksRare, and Crypto.com. There are other platforms that sell mystery boxes too. Potential buyers are advised to only buy NFT mystery boxes from established and well-respected platforms in order to avoid buying counterfeit mystery boxes and being scammed.

To purchase NFT mystery boxes, the buyer must have a crypto wallet compatible with NFTs and the blockchain hosting the NFT mystery box. The crypto wallets recommended for purchasing and storing the mystery boxes are Metamask, Trust Wallet, and Gate Wallet.

In addition, the buyer must have the cryptocurrency used by the blockchain platform hosting the NFT mystery box. Finally, the buyer must be able to pay for the mystery box and transaction fees. The cryptocurrencies most often used to purchase the mystery boxes are BNB, ETH, MATIC, and BUSD. If buyers do not have the needed cryptocurrency in their crypto wallets, they must purchase it to pay the transaction costs related to the purchasing the NFT mystery boxes.

Are NFT Mystery Boxes Worth the Money?

NFT mystery boxes are doing well because those buying them like to gamble and try their luck. They like the thrill, excitement, hope, and ‘rush’ from purchasing and opening the boxes. They are similar to the feelings people have when they open a present.

Still, it does not make sense to most people for someone to spend thousands of dollars for a mystery box that may not be worth its purchase price. Moreover, the NFTs in the box may have a combined resale value equal to or less than the purchase price of the mystery box. So, why do they buy them? They buy them because they like how they feel when doing it. In their minds, the anticipation and thrill of seeing their NFTs, and their excitement when they get a rare NFT are worth the money spent for the box. Lastly, buying, opening, and selling NFTs is addictive for many people.

Conclusion

NFT mystery boxes are the newest NFT craze. Their creators use them to drive NFT sales and increase NFT market prices. They are creating a whole new breed of investors who are gamblers, thrill seekers, adrenaline junkies, tech addicts, and speculators - all in one. These mystery boxes can be purchased for fun, out of curiosity, or for investment purposes.

As thousands are traded on the market daily, buyers should be aware that their value depends on market demand. NFTs can rapidly increase and lose value. Moreover, NFTs today may not be valuable in 2 years.

There are two adages NFT mystery box buyers should adhere to: “buyer beware” and “never spend more than you can comfortably afford to lose on NFTs.”