Here's Why Mark Cuban Is the Top Influencer in NFTs

Research shows that almost everybody trusts Mark Cuban when it comes to NFTs.

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) stole the show last year as more and more people began to engage with this new way to own items online. And as people searched for reliable information about these new and mysterious products, Mark Cuban emerged as a top influencer in almost every category.

Research from Time2play showed that billionaire investor and Shark Tank judge Mark Cuban is the top go-to influencer for news and advice, and the second most followed NFT influencer on social media.

The study broke down NFT influencers by gender, age, political affiliation, and income. Cuban came out on top in almost every group -- he's trusted by Democrats and Republicans, men and women, most age groups, and people in almost every income group.

According to the survey, other top NFT influencers include:

• John Legere: The former CEO of T-Mobile grabbed headlines when he spent $888,888.88 on an NFT.
• Beeple: Real name Michael Winkelmann, the digital artist has made a name for himself as one of the most influential NFT creators. Most famously, Christie's auctioned one of his pieces for almost $70 million.
• Anthony Pomplaino: The entrepreneur and investor is the founder and partner at Morgan Creek Digital. His commentary on the crypto industry has built him a huge following online.

Here's why people trust Mark Cuban on NFTs

Put simply, Cuban was one of the first well-known investors to start talking about NFTs -- way before they became the billion-dollar business they are now. He says he had a lightbulb moment when he minted his first NFT.

The easiest way to understand NFTs is that they are digital certificates of ownership. They can apply to all kinds of items, from art and music to in-game items and sports collectibles. Minting an NFT is the process of making that digital certificate and recording various bits of information on the blockchain.

READ MORE: Top Cryptocurrency Apps and Exchanges

One reason Cuban saw so much potential in NFTs is because of the way a creator might earn royalties when an NFT gets resold. This doesn't happen with every NFT, it's something the person who mints an NFT can choose to build in. For example, an artist might state that they are paid 5% every time their work gets sold on. Cuban was excited because it isn't possible to do this with physical items.

The well-known investor has put money into various NFT projects, including his own NFT gallery project called Lazy.com. Lazy makes it easy for people to show off the NFTs they own. Cuban has also invested in top NFT marketplaces such as OpenSea, Mintable, and Nifty Gateway.

Don't rely only on influencers

You can learn a lot from people like Mark Cuban. As you start to learn more about NFTs and cryptocurrencies, you'll develop a list of people you trust online. But no matter how much you trust a certain individual, you still need to do your own research.

There are a number of reasons for this:

• Your financial circumstances are likely to be different. Investment decisions depend a lot on your personal situation, and what's right for a billionaire investor may not be right for you. When you research an NFT or crypto project, one thing to consider is how it fits with your investment strategy, existing portfolio, and risk tolerance.
• Influencers don't always get it right. Even Cuban has fallen victim to crypto scammers. Last year, he bought TITAN tokens, but the project turned out to be a rug pull, and Cuban lost his investment.
• Some influencer accounts are fake. If an influencer you admire suddenly starts trying to push an unmissable investment opportunity on social media, there's a good chance the account is fake. Look for unusual spikes in followers, odd spelling or grammar, or unusual product promotion.
• Some celebrities get paid to pump projects. It's very unlikely Cuban has ever taken money to promote a coin, but other celebrities and influencers have. For example, in 2018, the SEC charged boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. for shilling coins and failing to disclose he had been paid. More recently, Kim Kardashian was paid to promote EthereumMax (EMAX), though she did include "#AD" to show it was a paid promotion.
• Information changes. This is a fast moving business, and information that was correct three months ago may not be accurate today. It's always useful to understand why an influencer has given a particular piece of advice so you can check whether it still holds true.

The technology behind NFTs could change the way we own things online, but the industry is still in its infancy. Cuban's dominance as an NFT influencer could be a sign that there aren't yet many credible sources to rely on. This makes it all the more important to tread carefully if you're considering investing in NFTs.