NFTs: How to get involved (for the everyday person)
NFTs (non-fungible tokens) can change the way artists interact with their patrons
Although, it can be somewhat difficult to understand the utility of this new technology — with all the terms and jargons, I’m going to share how you can get involved based on what I’ve learned from the past 16 months of participating in the space.
When I talk to a few of my friends and family about my new-found interest — NFTs, I get a good sense of apprehension.
I understand that the older we get, the more we want to stick to what we know. I know that understanding new technology can be like trying to learn a new trick. I am aware that the tried-and-tested walkway is always easier to follow than the unpaved path.
“I am going to lay out a few things I’ve learned along the way and you can follow those steps to get involved in the NFT space yourself.”
I know that the future is hard to predict. Perhaps the whole NFT and Blockchain craze is just a fad and the hopes of decentralization would not be fully actualized.
According to Gerd Leonhard’s book TECHNOLOGY VS. HUMANITY, one of the main reasons why we don’t understand how technology progresses is that we think about it linearly, while technology actually advances in an exponential and combinatorial manner.
This makes it hard to keep track of all the rapid changes that are constantly happening around us. We tend to only pay attention when we see how the new technology is directly applicable to our lives.
Hesitation is normal?
That’s what happened to me with NFTs. Blockchain technology has been around for a while and I can tell you I didn’t care much for it.
“Ok some digital currency? That’s great, I guess.”
It was until I learned about NFTs (built on the blockchain), its smart contract capabilities, and its potential for empowering artists, creatives, and entrepreneurs, that’s when the technology finally got my attention.
Read about my journey here and my first NFT project.
The more I get my feet wet in this new space, the more I learn about some new capability, protocol, or potential.
And if this technology can bring about a new form of wealth creation and economic empowerment, I strongly believe that more diverse communities need to get involved.
For the spirit of decentralization to be retained and nourished, the space needs to involve more diverse individuals to determine how it’s governed before it’s controlled by centralized pools of people and capital.
So as I’m learning through participation, I want to pass on my knowledge with the hopes that it sparks your curiosity and gets you more comfortable going down this path.
Getting involved
I’m not here to tell you to “drop everything you have and go purchase some pictures of cats throwing up into their eyes” (and if there’s a project like that out there, i mean no offense).
All I’m saying here in terms of involvement is —
educate yourself about the technology, what it is, what it’s capable of doing, what you can get out of it.
I like how 3LAU (DJ, Musician, founder of Royal) described it in an interview when he was asked about how new people should get started:
“If I was advising someone in buying their first NFT, I would honestly say, find something uou like at a reasonable price, buy it, and see how it makes your feel. Because until you do that, until you take that first step, it’s impossible to know”
It’s your participation that matters and how taking action makes you feel.
Be careful of anyone that calls themselves an expert in the field. It is still very early in the development phase. We are all still learning. You are the best expert in understanding your risk level and what you want to get out of it. So always keep learning and questioning.
Participation and learning should be your greatest ROI. You determine how you put a value on your education and knowledge.
I am going to lay out a few things I’ve learned along the way and you can follow those steps to get involved in the space yourself.
Education is key
When you start, only put in what you are willing to lose.
I know that might be a deterrent for a lot. But the asset class is still new and risky.
But if you go in with the mindset of trying to learn through participation, then the reward is not only financial but educational, which is invaluable.
Start by getting an understanding the basics of Blockchain technology
A blockchain is an official ledger shared by thousands of computers. Imagine “Duplicated spreadsheets across a network of computers”
For NFTs, the block is storing a record of NFT ownership and transacting history.
These NFTs can be purchased and traded directly from the minting site of the author or on secondary markets such as OpenSea (for ethereum-based NFTs).
Do your own research (DYOR)
A few places to learn about NFTs include outlets where NFT enthusiasts gather including Medium, Twitter, and Discord.
Twitter spaces have been very useful to have voice conversations with people in the space. Also following people and projects that you are interested in is one of the best ways to learn.
Find what learning style and approach that works best for you.
“Also think beyond only NFTs…Use this as a gateway to understand the technological and economic opportunities that this will open up over the next few decades.”
There are obviously general pros and cons of the NFT space to keep in mind.
To mention a few, the pros include the fact that this technology can be used to empower artists and boost artistic inclinations. It also rewards the authors of intellectual property in perpetuity.
On the other side of the coin, a few cons include scams, the opportunistic nature of the space in hyped-up markets, and the environmental impact of verifying these crypto-transactions on the blockchain.
P.S. If you‘re concerned about the environmental impact of the blockchain technology, then focus on eco-friendly blockchains that use a proof-of-stake consensus algorithm to verify new blocks on the chain.
Also, always think about safety.
Safety first
Although I said, you should invest only what you’re willing to lose to start out with, that doesn’t mean you should be totally reckless. You can still do your part to protect your assets. In the hype of this new and blossoming space, it’s easy to get carried away by the winds of FOMO (fear of missing out).
This is one of the main things that scammers take advantage of. These scammers are getting more deceptive by the second. The two main things you want to avoid:
1) connecting your wallet to fake websites
2) sharing your wallet’s seed phrase (more on this later)
Get NFT in your wallet:
So now that you have the basics, how do you go from cash to NFTs? Here are the steps I have taken:
- Purchase cryptocurrency from an established cryptocurrency exchange platform such as Coinbase
- Get a digital wallet: This is where you will store your digital currencies and assets. One of the most popular is MetaMask, which is what I’ve used so far. It’s built mainly for the Ethereum Blockchain.
- You will get a seed phrase (or recovery phrase) with your wallet: This is literally the key to your wallet. It is a string of 12–24 words that allow access to a cryptocurrency wallet. Once again, never share your seed phrase, try to memorize them, store them in multiple places.
- Transfer assets to your wallet: Your wallet will come with a unique public address. That’s the address you send your crypto assets to. Transfer your crypto-currency from Coinbase to MetaMask.
- Purchase NFT with wallet: Connect your wallet to a verified website to mint the NFT or to a secondary market place, such as OpenSea, NiftyGateway, Solanart, Rarible, Jpeg.store, to buy and sell NFTs.
Pay attention to the price of NFT + “gas fees” that are used to authenticate and verify transactions.
Voila!!!!. You’ve made your first purchase. Welcome to the new world.
Once the NFT has been purchased. It will be in your wallet and can be verified on the peer-to-peer blockchain network for instance using etherscan.
Develop your NFT strategy
There is a lot going on and so much to consume in the space. It’s easy to get distracted by every new and shiny “attention-grabber”, but the best way to proceed is to
keep it simple
Develop your own thesis that’s easy to follow. Start with the art and the artist.
For instance I support artists that align with my interests and can bring diversity to the space: musicians, writers, black and brown artists/entrepreneurs, women, and immigrants. Those are a few guide posts that I use when I start following projects.
Pay attention to supporting artists you want to see succeed, support the art, see what you can get from their work through offered utility, and see how the project is contributing to the ecosystem and ultimately to the world.
The beauty of NFTs is it creates this digital authenticity surrounding the idea of digital ownership. And now you can show that support for the artist and prove it on-chain. So if you find a new artist that isn’t that big yet, and you buy one of their pieces of art, or you engage with that community — you have proof on the blockchain that you were there from the beginning.
- 3LAU, Royal Founder, DJ & Musician.
Also think beyond only NFTs.
NFTs are just an application of blockchain technology. Use this as a gateway to understand the technological and economic opportunities that this will open up over the next few decades.
Allow your curiosity to keep you motivated in the space.
I hope you found that useful.
Check out my first attempt of using NFTs to support my writer’s journey.
