We know that Splinterlands cards are extremely important to players. So, should non-players also invest in Splinterlands cards? I've bought and sold dozens of cards in the last six months, so I have a clear picture of the situation. I will evaluate Splinterlands cards based on criteria such as supply, demand, yield, price movements, and liquidity.
Liquidity
One of the major problems with NFTs is that it's not easy for us to sell. There is ample liquidity in the market during bull times, but we may have a hard time finding buyers when our NFTs are not popular. This is due to the nature of NFTs. There is great diversity and it is not always easy to find buyers for all types of NFTs.
Splinterlands cards are fine with liquidity. Bots buy instantly when we sell cheap cards at just below market price. High-priced cards take a few days to sell. I started playing Splinterlands with two accounts. After a while, I decided that it is difficult to play with two accounts. I sold more than fifty maximum-level cards at the market price. It took about a week to sell them all. While we can't talk about liquidity at the level of a coin or token, Splinterlands cards have fine liquidity.
Return
I rented the cards on my second account for a few weeks before selling them. On the Splintercards site, we can see the returns of the cards one by one and collectively. The majority of my cards were included in the Chaos Legion set and were generating around 20% annual returns. The cards included in the Untamed set provide higher rental income. Why aren't Untamed card prices rising to offset higher rental yields? A new set of cards will be available at the end of the summer and Untamed cards will not be usable in the Modern version. This may have reduced the demand for these cards.
Splinterlands cards provide regular income like real estate. It is also possible that their value will increase over time. The price may increase or decrease in line with the number of players and expectations in the crypto market.
Scarcity
Although Splinterlands card prices have decreased a little recently, there are few specific cards in the market. Especially Untamed set cards and Riftwatcher cards are scarce in the market. For example, there are currently only 4 PHANTOM OF THE ABYSS cards on the market. When we combine them, we can reach 1 maximum card. There are also a few other Untamed cards on the market. If there were 5 players who wanted to have the maximum versions of all cards, the prices would rise significantly, the Untamed and Riftwatcher card market is that shallow.
Currently, Chaos Legion cards are not sold by the Splinterlands team, only earned as rewards. There are more than 1 million Riftwatcher card packs on sale. We can buy cards in Alpha, Beta, and Untamed sets only from other players/investors. I have made quite a few Untamed card investments despite the high prices. Actually, my intention was to play Splinterlands without the need to rent it.
I have over 150 Splinterlands cards and I don't intend to sell any of them because I need them to play the game. The scarcity of Untamed and Riftwatchers cards in the market must be related to this situation.
Request
The demand for cards is not just from Splinterlands players. Land plot owners also need cards. The card staking in the Land game is expected to start in June. In addition, Soulkeep, another game in the Splinterland universe, will also create demand for cards.
On the other hand, the Splinterlands team destroys the unsold portion of the cards they put up for sale. For example, the pre-sale of a special card, Runi, was successful, but its general sale did not go as well as he had hoped. As the unsold Runes were burned, the price of the Runes reached three times the pre-sale price.
The most important source of demand for Splinterlands cards will be new players. Playing Splinterlands becomes more attractive when the price of digital assets rises, leading to higher card prices.
Card Prices
Starting in 2022, the prices of cryptocurrencies and NFTs began to decline rapidly. So much so that even the value of Bitcoin, which is seen as the strongest cryptocurrency, has dropped to one-third. So, I wonder how Splinterlands cards spent the month of the season.
Splinterlands card prices have roughly halved in the past year. There are also cards with more or less depreciation of 50%, but we can talk about 50% depreciation on average. I started investing in the Splinterlands card in January. Prices remained strong in January, February, and March. There has been a slight decrease in prices since April. Card prices are more stable compared to SPS and when most of the cards' prices increased fivefold in their lifetime.
TL;DR
The Splinterlands cards I buy for gaming make up almost half of my crypto portfolio. Even if one day I get bored of the game, I don't think I will sell the cards. Renting seems more attractive to me. On the other hand, if the prices are 10x, of course, I can sell my cards, because I want to buy a summer house.
I believe Splinterlands cards are good investment tools. You should not assume that the evaluations I have made in this article are unbiased. I've progressively purchased a lot of cards over the last six months as I believe the future of Splinterlands is bright.
We have to wait patiently while buying the cards. It is possible to buy each of the cards at a discount of between ten and twenty percent. Because sometimes there are people who want to sell their cards urgently. For example, last month someone sold their Level 4 Byzantine Kitty for $2400. Currently, the market price of this card is $3400.
The Splinterlands team has created an interesting world where entertainment and investment intertwine. I am happy to contribute to this world for now.
Thank you for reading.