How to purchase your First NFT as a Complete Beginner?

We are moving towards a world where everything – data, assets, and objects – is on the blockchain as NFT. This is for anyone in the world to interact with and seek value from. The current dominant business model of Web 2.0 is the freemium model. Hence, users get assured of ‘free’ services exchanged for their valuable data. And what happens to your data? They’re aggregated, bundled, and sold to anyone willing to pay for it. All the spam, misinformation, and data theft you see around? Hence, your data is free and available for anyone who wants to pay for it.

You’ve come across non-fungible tokens or NFTs before. Likewise, guessing what’s the big deal about it? It is a big deal indeed. You’ll feel it when you realize the implications of a global, 24.7 market for everything when you feel it in your bones. Likewise, everyone is a beginner when they learn about a new topic. And on Web 3.0, everyone is new. Communities that build decentralization technologies have experimented with blockchain and smart contracts before. Hence, the efforts and enthusiasm of readers will scale the new internet of Web 3.0 to the billions of masses. NFTs lie at the heart of this transition.

What are NFTs? A Beginner’s guide

Non-fungible tokens or NFTs are objects or goods that live on the blockchain as a unique address. As a result, the object or good in question can be anything. Anything that you can imagine. It can be your car’s ownership certificate. It’s your favorite piece of artwork. What else can you think of? Hence, it can be an NFT as long as you believe your work is valuable. And will increase the net output that society produces on a daily basis. That’s what a society is. A mass of individuals and communities doing things to increase the collective well-being of all. At least, that’s the theory.

The decentralized database on which NFTs live is the blockchain. One of the core properties of the blockchain is that it is neutral and not in control of anyone single actor. Second, it is tamper-proof. Hence, data entries like transactions and information, once verified, are visible to anyone. This is better than single, monopolistic database control. Likewise, more and more data leads to massive data monopolies. This traps large numbers of users into the same garden.

How to Buy Your First NFT?

Now that you know and understand what NFTs and blockchains are, you need to know how to purchase your first NFT. It’s easy! Likewise, Make sure you go through each of the below steps to gain a comprehensive understanding.

Step 1: Create your Cryptocurrency Wallet

Wait, why do I need cryptocurrency? You may be thinking. It’s because blockchains need to use a unit of currency for interacting with others. Think of the blockchain as a country that issues its own currency and specifies how, where, and why. From this perspective, you can interact with other citizens using cryptocurrency. It depends on the one used by the blockchain where your NFT currently lives. That’s the reason for using cryptocurrency. The most popular blockchain for NFTs, DeFi, and DAOs is Ethereum. You will need to make an account on a cryptocurrency wallet that’s compatible with Ethereum. MetaMask is the most popular crypto wallet

Remember to write the 12 or 24-word seed phrase on a piece of paper, and store it in a place you will remember. Of course, it’s better to remember it. But few do that. Also, never share your recovery phrase with anyone.

Step 2: Add some funds in your crypto wallet

Every transaction request on a blockchain requires gas fees. Ethereum’s gas fees are quite notorious for pricing out individual participants. They cannot afford to pay so much to process their transactions. Hence, once Ethereum migrates to a proof-of-stake validation mechanism, this gets solved. Other blockchains like Polygon can verify Ethereum transactions on their own chain. And for fractions of cents. So do not worry about getting priced out of the NFT market.

Blockchains like Solana, Binance Smart Chain, Cosmos, Polkadot, and others, need fewer fees. Hence, you can create a crypto wallet account that is compatible with many chains. This is so that you can widen your playing field to as many NFTs as possible. To get started with MetaMask, you need to buy ETH from an exchange like Coinbase, Binance, Kucoin or Huobi. You can use your fiat currency. You can transfer them to your crypto wallet. It’s time to begin your journey in the decentralized world!

Step 3: Find an NFT marketplace

An NFT marketplace is where buyers and sellers place their bids, exchange, and sell. There are millions of artists in the world who seek an audience. We’re amongst millions of individuals and communities. The most talented, already at the peak of their career have a team to handle their NFT journey. This is news that you hear on social media.

But, a majority of the world’s artist talent is developing and aren’t the perfect artists yet. NFT marketplaces like NFTically, Opensea, Rarible, MakersPlace and Foundation play an important part. They will help turn art into NFT (putting art on the blockchain) and find an audience. Since you’ve already made your crypto wallet, you can start with any NFT marketplace and check them all out.

Step 4: Find good NFT projects

When you see an NFT artwork you like, follow a few tips.

Check whether the profile of the artist is correct. If not, there’s a chance the artwork is fake or copied. Spend some time on Discord, Twitter, and Telegram. You will get to know that artists will guide you. Ask them which NFT marketplaces you can interact with. Second, check what the NFT project community is talking about. Are they talking about the long-term value of the art or are they talking about its price? The most original projects have the best communities.

Concluding Thoughts

That’s it! You can now check out some NFTs. In case you are a potential artist and fancy yourself as one, create your own NFT project! Don’t wait for anyone.

NFTically helps you set up and launch your own NFT marketplace.