Passion Assets: From NFTs to Rare Whiskey

For many people, cryptocurrencies have become a gateway to trading and investing. After learning how to earn money via investing in crypto, some decided to try other, more traditional investments. This article reviews some of the lucrative investment instruments characterized by the emotional attachment of the investors. Such engaging things as luxury items, bottles of collection liquor, rare books, antique furniture, and so on can be a lucrative investment. Cryptocurrencies can also be called passion assets if you are a crypto enthusiast. NFTs definitely fit the passion asset definition. Read and learn about the pros and cons of such investments.

Passion Assets

First, let's provide definitions of passion asset and passion investment. The latter relates to a venture of your knowledge, willingness, and resources into a subject of your interest and sympathy. That's more than just a job for you. It can be a business as well as a hobby. Unlike other ventures, passion investment is driven by your keenness no less than profit-seeking. 

However, dedicating time and energy to your endeavor and doing things right can lead to professional and personal growth. More than that, it can bring money. An item or a passion investment subject is called a passion asset. It's a thing that can serve as an asset, but even on its own, this thing provides an owner with pleasure. This article will outline several examples of passion assets that make considerable money nowadays.

Luxury Cars

Many people have cars. Some own several vehicles. Some people buy cars only to sell them for a higher price. But having a passion for luxury cars is a whole other business. There are many categories of luxury cars, modern and old. There are many reasons why people buy such vehicles. Some like it simply as a beautiful, lucrative asset with a rich history. Others dedicate their time to researching the mechanics of each model and even do some tweaks. And some people love attention, and luxury cars satisfy their thirst for astonished eyes.

The problem for any car, including any luxury car, is that the initial price drops once somebody has a ride on it. Nevertheless, there are always people looking to purchase a particular model, and you have a chance that this person will pay a reasonable price for the car you offer.

Whiskey

One of the leading passion assets is rare whiskey, which has become increasingly popular over the years. People collect whiskey, and wealth-wise, drinking it appears to be the worst they can do to it. The factors giving whiskey its value are age, quality, and rarity. Interestingly, the rarity increases each time one of the bottles of a certain mark gets opened while the age parameter improves even more easily – you just have to keep doing your thing while age-wise whiskey gets better and better. 

The money earned through whiskey investments competes with traditional stocks. If you wish to try investing in "liquid gold" quickly, you may use one of many online auction platforms. The process is pretty straightforward. However, it's essential to remember that rare whiskey markets are infiltrated with scammers due to a lack of regulation in some countries. Also, it's important to realize that the value of some of the bottles and casks can fluctuate.

Fine Arts

Every year, fine art pieces make headlines when someone purchases them, paying dozens of millions of dollars. Some people passionate about fine arts can't help but start to collect pictures at some point. Owning rare and valuable paintings (or other types of pieces of art) can play out well in terms of wealth. The global art market (including the online market) keeps growing, generating more profit. The fine art market doesn't depend on the trends of stock markets. That's why some investors use fine arts to hedge against stock market turbulence. 

However, investing in fine arts involves risks too. First off, fine art is considered an illiquid asset. Finding a buyer can be a challenging task. Considering the fact that the proper storage of a fine art piece isn't cheap, without a true passion for art, you can go through lots of stress while searching for a buyer. Who knows if the art you sell covers the expenses once the buyer is found?

Rare Books

If physical books are as valuable to you as their contents, you may become a passionate collector of rare books. Each can be a gem associated with a special time and place in the history of literature and your personal history as well. Selecting and collecting rare books can be accompanied by capitalizing on selling them quite naturally. 

The downside of investing in rare books is the lack of stability in the price. It can be heavily affected by the market conditions, and it's better to check the actual cost before buying another book. The physical book market, in general, is not on the rise. It is another alarming factor for bibliophiles wanting to make money via their passion.

Antique Furniture

Furniture is a must in the assortment of any antique shop. People keen on interior design pay interest to the furniture of the past decades or even centuries. These people occasionally buy certain items, say, chairs, tables, or nightstands, but only a few consider these furniture units an investment. If you manage to keep the condition of an antique furniture item or even improve it, its value will probably increase over time. 

In this business, it's important to ensure you buy an authentic item before you pay money. Otherwise, you may end up paying an excessive sum for a cheap imitation or something less valuable than you think. 

Security Tips

All of the listed above require expertise and caution while selecting an item to invest in, as fraudsters are on the watch. If you mistakenly sell anyone an item that turns out to be inauthentic, it may cause trouble for you too. Instead of a conclusion, we attach a short list of security tips to ease your passion investment journey.

Learn the technical aspects related to the assets you are going to purchase. No matter if the asset is digital or physical, you must understand well how to buy it, store it, create it, distinguish a genuine item from a fake one, and so on. On top of that, you should learn the conditions at which the platforms where you can buy and sell an asset work. Are you satisfied with the fees, etc.

Get to know the market well. Check what's trending, what brands are the flagship, how the prices are formed, and other things. You should have a good vision of the market you are entering. If possible, communicate with someone who makes good returns on the market and follow the market news, as you can't learn the market once and forever.

Choose established platforms (exchanges, galleries, auction houses, etc.) with genuine positive feedback online. Read about the pros and cons of these platforms and choose the one with characteristics that meet your needs. If you use an online platform to buy or sell an expansive asset, ensure the company uses encryption. 

Use a VPN service, as it will add an extra layer of encryption to the data flow on your connected device. If your laptop or smartphone gets hacked, criminals won't be able to read the correspondence between you and a seller/buyer/bidder, your browsing history, and other sensitive data.

It's better to turn on a VPN on all the devices you use for your investment operations and communication. Happily, decent VPN providers like ExpressVPN work on various devices, including Mac, PC, Android, and iPhone, so you can set up a single account to protect your devices.

To prevent hacking of your devices, it's better to keep out from opening suspicious links and providing your sensitive data to strangers via DMs, emails, and social media. More than that, almost always, the investments that seem to be too good to be true are not true.