How to successfully start your web3 journey
An extensive guide covering the dos and don’ts in the crypto space.
I can still remember the very first day I found out about web3 almost a year ago.
My boyfriend and I were discussing investment strategies and brainstorming ideas on how to diversify our portfolio.
Should we buy real estate?
Open a business?
We even thought about investing in art but quickly moved on from that idea.
What to do … what to do …
Well … I can tell you what I did.
Like every crafty 28-year-old, I turned to Youtube for some advice on how to make money, fast.
And guess what I found?
Cryptocurrencies and NFT investing.
No way, I thought.
That sounds kind of scammy.
This is never going to work.
Well …
It did work.
But I also made lots of mistakes along the way because I had to figure out everything by myself.
Trial and error was my friend, you could say.
If you are interested in cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and the web3 space, too, I’d love to give you some of the most valuable tips and tricks I was able to gather on my crypto journey so far.
They will help you navigate the pitfalls every beginner in the web3 space undoubtedly faces.
Your initial steps into web3 — a.k.a. Safety First
I know you might be inclined to only skim this part of the article.
Because after all …
You’ve never been hacked in the past.
Your iPhone or iPad is secured via PIN or face recognition.
You store all of your passwords on a digital key chain.
Your iCloud has pretty solid password protection, too.
That should be sufficient, right?
Wrong.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but those safety measures are inadequate for anyone wanting to participate in the crypto and NFT space.
Why is that?
Think about it this way.
If you want to transfer $100 from one account to another via online banking, there is always a possibility of something going wrong.
Maybe you accidentally sent $1000 instead of $100.
Maybe you entered the account number incorrectly.
Maybe you typed in the wrong bank name.
No problem at all.
Just call the customer service center and you will get the help you need.
Pretty straightforward, right?
In web3 it’s different …
There is no safety net in the crypto and NFT space.
There is no customer service to call in case you sent your cryptocurrencies or NFTs to the wrong address.
You got hacked and someone transferred all of your funds out of your wallet?
There is nothing you can do to get those coins back once the damage is done.
Someone gained access to your NFT wallet and stole your favourite collectible?
There goes hundreds, thousands, sometimes even millions of dollars with no chance of compensation.
Always remember.
In web3 safety isn’t expensive; it is priceless.
Sounds pretty daunting, I know.
But fear not!
I am going to teach you in 6 easy steps how to create the safest environment for your web3 investments and prepare you for a successful journey.
Go old-school — the less technology the better
The very first thing I’d suggest you do is to get some pens and at least two paper notebooks.
Use them to store all of your login credentials, passwords, and sensitive information regarding your crypto wallets, exchanges, and other important accounts.
Never store sensitive information with a password manager, on your phone, or on any other device that is connected to the internet.
Pretty much everything is hackable these days and we want to make sure to not provide anyone with malintent with a target.
Why at least two notebooks?
Remember how I told you that there is no customer service and no safety net in case something goes wrong?
This also applies if you happen to lose your notebook with all of your wallet credentials or any other sensitive information regarding your accounts.
All of the responsibility lies with you, so it is of utmost importance to always keep a backup to ensure you’ll have access to your wallets and accounts.
Store each of the notebooks in a separate location to make sure they don’t get destroyed simultaneously.
You never know if your house may be affected by a fire, a hurricane, or a flood.
Get creative with your passwords — More is more
It is essential to create a lot of different, very long, and complicated passwords when setting up your cryptocurrency investment accounts, wallets, and more.
These passwords have to be extremely strong.
Never use something that might be related to you, your life, or your family and friends in any way.
Don’t forget that hackers are not just sitting around, trying to guess your passwords.
They use programs to automatically run through massive databases of common passwords and random combinations of characters.
That is why your new passwords should always include …
Random numbers.
Letters.
Capitalizations.
Special characters.
Also, do not replace letters with similar-looking numbers.
Choosing flow3r_pow3r instead of flower_power won’t make your password more secure.
Bonus Tip:
Don’t use online sites that help you create your passwords. You never know if those sites are storing them on their server.
Also, don’t store them on online-password managers. They are very vulnerable to remote attacks.
That’s what our handy-dandy notebooks are for.
Bonus Tip 2:
Create a new password for every single account or wallet you activate.
I know this might sound excessive, but if you get hacked — which is highly unlikely if you follow all the steps — at least only one account will be compromised.
Remember.
You are your own bank.
Never rely on only one password to secure all of your investments.
Treat your computer and mobile devices like Fort Knox
You want to make sure your laptop, computer, or mobile phone is secure and free of any malware before you start setting up any accounts or crypto wallets.
If you don’t have one already, create another strong password to get access to any of those devices.
And don’t forget to write it down in your paper notebook.
Now it is essential to run a complete malware scan of your computer.
There are a lot of tools and services available to help make your computer and devices secure like Malwarebytes, Kaspersky, Avira, or Bitdefender.
Many of them also offer free basic services.
I opted for a paid option by Bitdefender to get some extra security perks, but every reputable company works just as well.
It all comes down to personal preferences and how much you’re willing to invest in cyber security.
Aside from securing your computer, smartphones play a huge role in crypto and NFT investments as well.
Do not forget to run a malware scan on your mobile devices, too.
Bonus Tip:
If you want to up security even further, remove your phone number from public websites and social media.
Also, do not share your cellphone provider with anyone you don’t trust.
With knowing your phone number and provider, skilled hackers can conduct so-called SIM theft.
Now that we’ve secured all of your electronics, it is time to …
Create a new email address specifically for your cryptocurrency and NFT investments
It is crucial to choose a brand-new handle you’ve never used anywhere else before.
This includes your name, surname, nicknames, usernames, or any other names you have already used for accounts anywhere online or offline in the past.
Choose something completely random for the handle of your new email account.
Bonus Tip:
Do not use your new email address for online shopping or signing up for newsletters. This address is solely used for web3-related activities.
I set up my email account with ProtonMail but similar providers that prioritise security and privacy work just as well.
2-Factor Authentication — Setting up a second layer of security
Now, using your newly secured mobile device, I highly suggest downloading a 2-Factor authentication app like Authy or Google Authenticator.
Login into your accounts or crypto exchanges will now not only require you to type in your super-secure password but also to put in a code that was specifically generated on your phone for this exact log-in attempt.
These codes change every 20 to 30 seconds — depending on what app you use.
No one will be able to access your accounts unless they have your cellphone at that particular moment in time.
Great!
Now you’ve secured all of your accounts, your computer, and mobile devices.
But what about the actual crypto coins and NFTs you want to buy?
Are there any safety measures to secure those specific assets?
Of course there are — so let’s get right to them.
Invest in a hardware wallet like a Ledger or Trezor
This is another crucial step when investing in cryptocurrencies or NFTs — but many people tend to skip it because those wallets can be quite costly.
Ledger offers two options.
The Ledger Nano S for $59 and the Ledger Nano X for $149.
Trezor also has two options in store.
The Trezor Model One for 69€ (around $72) and the Trezor Model T for 249€ ($263).
Why is it so important to get your hands on one of those devices?
When you buy cryptocurrencies, you do so on so-called exchanges.
After successfully purchasing your coins, they will be stored on your account within this specific exchange.
Leaving them on this account is a highly risky choice because hackers are constantly trying to break into exchanges to get access to millions of dollars worth of assets.
Ledger, Trezor, and any other hardware wallet out there, however, stores the keys to your assets offline, making it the safest option for your investments.
Bonus Tip:
Never buy a used hardware wallet and never buy a hardware wallet from a different source than the official website, to ensure you are getting a clean and legit device.
Okay great.
Now that you have set everything up and taken all of the mentioned precautions, I want to share some additional tips and tricks with you to guarantee a successful web3 journey.
Web3 — The modern-day Wild Wild West
Web3 prides itself on being decentralised, unregulated, and autonomous.
And while all of those traits offer great opportunities, it also comes with a hefty price tag.
Every carelessness is punished ruthlessly.
That is why I am going to give you 5 more valuable rules, I swear by.
If something sounds too good to be true — It always is
This is rule number one to live by if you want to be successful in the web3 space.
95% of all people investing in crypto and NFTs are in it to make money.
Pretty obvious, right?
So no one — and I repeat — No one will give you anything for free.
No free coins.
No free NFTs.
No free web3-lessons.
Nothing.
You have to be especially careful if you are promised something by a stranger you don’t even know.
Always assume that everyone wants to scam you and that every link or website you’re being sent is malicious.
I know this may sound extreme, but you can never be too careful in web3.
Never reveal your seed phrase to anybody
Seed what …?!
A seed phrase is a randomly generated sequence of words you’ll get when setting up your hardware wallet.
They act as a recovery phrase in case you have lost your password.
Everyone who knows your seed phrase can access your wallet and transfer cryptocurrency or NFTs out of it.
That’s why it is extremely important to store those 12 words in a very secure place and never tell or show them to anyone.
Sometimes scammers can get very cunning and promise you free NFTs or other „valuable goods“. All you have to do is give them your seed phrase and they can airdrop it into your wallet — At least that is what they claim.
Once you hand them the words, the scammers will drain all of your hard-earned funds out of your wallet.
So always remember.
No one — except yourself — must know your seed phrase.
Never interact with unknown NFTs or coins that appeared in your wallet
It has happened to me before.
Suddenly there is a random NFT or some coins in your wallet you cannot remember buying.
Do not interact with those airdropped tokens or collectibles.
Since your wallet address is public knowledge, scammers often try to get access to it through those coins or NFTs.
Be careful.
If you click on one of those NFTs because you want to send it out of your wallet, you have to sign a message to execute the transaction.
By signing the transaction for a malicious NFT, you might have given the hacker everything he needs to access your account or wallet.
So never — under no circumstance — interact with unknown objects in your wallet.
Do not interact with any unknown links or websites
Sometimes people will send you links to websites, claiming they found this interesting new coin or NFT, and they want you to check it out, too.
This brings us back to my very first point — sounds too good to be true, right?
Never click on any links provided by strangers or people you don’t trust 100%.
99,99% of the time, those links lead to fishy websites with the end goal of getting access to your funds.
This brings me straight to my next point …
Never connect your wallet to sketchy websites
Let’s assume someone sent you a dubious link and you clicked on it.
In some cases that is already enough to do some damage.
However, if you are lucky and nothing unusual has happened yet, do not connect your wallet to those websites.
As soon as you connect, it is pretty much game-over, and you may have just given a hacker access to all of your assets.
Bonus Tip:
If you want to further minimise the risk of being messaged by unknown people, I would highly suggest disabling private messages on Twitter, Discord, or any other platform you use on your crypto journey.
Whew, that was a lot, right?
I can still remember how overwhelmed and anxious I felt after my first steps into the crypto space.
Was I ready to take on such a huge responsibility?
After all, if something goes wrong, there’s no one to blame but me.
Not a very reassuring thought.
And let me tell you.
Things did go wrong for me in the beginning.
I did click some links.
And I interacted with some people who wanted to scam me.
I just didn’t know any better.
That’s why I created this beginner guide.
To help everyone interested in the crypto and NFT space prepare for their new adventure.
It is a wild one.
An exciting one.
So buckle up and enjoy the ride — Welcome to web3.
