How to get started in NFT’s and Crypto. A Simple 10-step Guide
Seen those outrageous NFT & Crypto HEADLINES?
So you have heard about people who buy jpegs of cats, apes or pixelated punks for hundreds of thousands of dollars, even millions. You’ve heard about digital artists selling some work for nearly 100 million dollars at auctions or marketplaces. You’ve heard about people rushing to buy land in the Metaverses (mainly Decentraland or Sandbox) at prices more expensive than prime real estate on Fifth Avenue in New York? And you have been watching crypto before NFTs that experienced amazing growth going from a few dollars per bitcoin to hitting almost 70,000 dollars per coin?
Don’t Worry you are Still Early!
Yes, it’s true. While things have been going on for a while and the super early innovators have jumped in, made life changing money and haven’t looked back. It’s still early days for most. With crypto being adopted by between 120 and 300 million people worldwide (under 4% of the population) according to estimates only around 0,1% of crypto owners have adopted NFT’s with averages ranging around 300,000–400,000 people worldwide (of 0,0055)
How to get Started?
The best way to understand what’s going on, is to get involved.. and why don’t you? Wish you got into the crypto space before it exploded and now live your life in luxury, well maybe it’s worth a couple of hours then to dive into the rabbit hole and see if things make sense and if it’s worth throwing some money at it, with the potential to lose it all or to maybe see life changing gains.
For those considering, regard this article as a getting-started guide on what you’ll need to do to get in early this time. Of course, there are different ways to get involved, but I’ll try and go over an approach that works for the majority.
Step 1: Open a Crypto Account
Before you can get involved with crypto or NFT’s you’ll need to open an account. Why? You’ll need to convert some regular (fiat) currency into crypto currency. The first step is to select an exchange where you can do this in the country you live in. A simple google search for “crypto exchange <country name>” can get you started. Skip over the purchased ads that you’ll see populate the top of your results and then look at the first 10 links google returns. That’s most likely your best choice, the next step is to review the options and decide which one is best for you. Aim for something with good reputation, lots of users, some form of consumer protection program (in case they get hacked), ask a friend that is into crypto what they prefer and also look at the other side, ie. the negative comments and reviews. What issues did people experience. You’ll most likely be required to follow a KYC process, which is now a required first step in most countries and for most exchanges to help avoid money laundering and all kinds of illegal things. This might involve taking a selfie with you holding up your passport and a piece of paper with some instructions on it. It’s all part of the process. Expect that to take a couple of days.
Step 2: Do a little research while you wait
If you’re impatient like me then keep yourself busy during the time the exchange finalizes the KYC process. You might want to use the time to sign up for 3 or 4 exchanges — registering doesn’t cost anything, and you’ll have some backup options in case you later decide you don’t like your initial choice. You can read some articles on NFTs or Crypto, bookmark some websites and watch some YouTube videos so you’ll be extremely ready when that approval email hits your inbox.
Step 3: Enable ALL security layers on your crypto account — BEFORE you fund it.
Ok the email came in saying you got approved, so now you can access the account and buy some crypto. One very important thing that you should not think of lightly is security. The world of crypto moves fast and there are all kind of scammers out there wanting to get their hands on your crypto. Follow all steps the exchange gives you to protect your account, save your password somewhere — ideally not on a device connected to the internet, setup two factor authentication 2FA to avoid anyone being able to access your account without having access to your phone and (if given one) protect that seed phrase carefully. Again, don’t store information related to your account on a connected device, that includes the picture you took of the seed phrase that is now in your gallery, that includes that note in your note app and not a word document in your download folder. Your devices will be the first place a hacker will look for to find your log-in details.
Step 4: Fund your account & Buy some Crypto
To start entering the world of crypto currency, you’ll next need to send some funds (real money) to your newly opened and heavily protected account. If you’re still not sure what you’re doing start with a small amount first. Get the hang of how it works moving funds around, changing them to different currency maybe funding your NFT wallet and once you feel more familiar — then deposit the remainder. When you have fiat currency sitting in your crypto account, it means you’re ready to get in. Now patience is gold and if you can sit on your hands for a nice market pull-back you’ll be able to get more crypto for the same amount of money. The simple money-making rule of “buy low sell high” applies here like with everything in life. But hey, it’s up to you.. You’ve been so patient it’s hard to not jump in right away, right? If rates are low, you can “average in” as well, which simply means you buy a little now and periodically you add similar amounts, so you average the buying price out more evenly.
Now, if you’re only interested in getting involved in crypto then you’re getting-started journey ends here. The next thing to do is to figure out what coins you want to get involved with. Is it Bitcoin or Ethereum, the two granddaddy’s of the space, or if you’re a bit of a risk taker then perhaps look at Altcoins. Of course, the “more risk, more reward” mantra applies, but be careful with Altcoins, while it is unlikely that Bitcoin or Ethereum go to zero any time soon, some altcoins can move very intensely. Do your research, understand the utility of the coins, understand who is behind it, understand why coins were created and check how the community speaks about it. Is there real engagement, real excitement, knowledgeable people exchanging opinions?
Now if you plan to dive down deeper and get into the NFT space, then keep reading.
Step 5: Create a Metamask Wallet
To get into NFT’s most people buy projects that operate on the Ethereum blockchain, so it’s best to get a wallet that is ETH friendly. While there are many options for wallets (again do your own research) one of the most commonly used ones is called Metamask. There is only 1 legitimate place to get the Metamask wallet and that is the METAMASK.IO website. Always check before downloading if you are on the actual website. Don’t even trust google search results in this matter, as there have been known moments where the first search result leads you to a spoofed version of the site. A spoofed website is a website that looks like an exact replica but might lead you to a malicious wallet where hackers have access to your wallet. Sorry to scare you, but you must tread carefully. The space is still very much unregulated, and you need to pay attention.
Now it’s best to have Metamask running on a laptop or desktop pc or mac. There is a mobile version of the app, but in some instances that doesn’t work when doing day-to-day transactions. If you really want to be safe, install Metamask on a laptop or desktop you’ll only use for NFT trading. A clean install, no pirated software, keep it updated and patched of the latest versions and don’t play those Facebook games where you’ll get shown how you look in 10 years from now. (Anyone still doing that?)
When you’ve downloaded the Metamask for Chrome or iOS pay attention as you follow the instructions on screen. You’ll at some point be shown a 12-word seed phrase. It is absolutely critical to write this seedphrase down. If you lose access to this seed phrase, you’ll lose access to your account and all your assets will be lost without a chance of retrieval. Once you have Metamask running on your browser, go ahead and install it on your phone as well, now you’ll want to opt for the function of importing a wallet, not setting up a new wallet and you’ll need that 12-word seed phrase to get the same wallet working on your phone.
DON’T EVER give out your seedphrase, security keys or password to anyone. There’s no support that will ever ask you for this. The only time you’ll need the seedphrase is when you import your wallet on a new workstation for the first time, all other times you’ll be asked to enter your seedphrase you’re likely in the process of getting hacked. To understand more about how to use Metamask in the Safest way possible, check out this article with 50 tips I wrote on Metamask alone!
Step 6: Get yourself a Twitter Account
Ok, so you’ve got your wallet all setup. Next step is to join NFT and Crypto Twitter. Everyone in the space is making use of Twitter to follow new projects, to get early word out of a Discord server opening, a new project launching or just to shill (discuss) new projects. Get yourself an account, a nice futuristic profile picture (we’ll change it later with a picture of an NFT you own) but you’ll need a twitter account.
Once you have your twitter account up and running do a search for influencers in the NFT space and start adding them, follow their updates, work with lists if you want in twitter to separate your following into topics of interest and switch on notifications.
Step 7: Install Discord
Another essential tool in the space is Discord, an app that allows project founders to create chat servers for their community. On Discord people connect with each other, form communities around new projects, and talk about projects. The Discord server for a project is where the project founders drop announcements, share official links to ensure you get (mint) NFTs from the correct, official sources. And they’ll organize meme contests, raffles, lotteries, or lucky draws to get whitelist access to a project. A whitelist is the guarantee to mint at the start of a project at the best price possible. Whitelist spots for popular projects are highly coveted and sought after and people will spend hours “grinding” the discord chat to be seen, get noticed, level up (based on engagement and number of messages you type) etc. Discord servers stay alive after a project is launched as the project moves along its roadmap and starts to enter next levels of development. A great project provides a lot of utility, extra’s, freebies to its members so pay attention to the Discord servers you’re in — check in once or twice a day for new messages.
When new projects launch, being able to get into a new discord server often brings several rewards, special early member status or even whitelist spots for the first 10, 50, 100 people in. It’s hard to find out about these, so again watch your twitter space. Connect with influencers and lots of “alpha’s” ie. those people that somehow seem to have access to early news.
Be careful as well, Discord servers are known to get hacked. It helps to always follow the official twitter account, because if a server does get hacked, you’ll probably hear about it on Twitter. Also always keep your DMs (direct messages) switched off in Discord. It should be the first thing to do after a fresh install. In every project there are fake users in the community, that through direct messages will try to mislead you into thinking that the project is doing an unannounced stealth mint. The messages are written in a very convincing way, and you’ll think that you’ll have an insider scoop, while in fact you’re being directed to a spoof minting website where you can forever part ways with your $ETH funds if you mint from a wrong website.
Step 8: Bookmark the Opensea Website
Opensea is another website you’ll want to take a look at. It’s best to get into an NFT project via a whitelist mint, but if you couldn’t get that, but really want to get into a project, you can always buy yourself in via the secondary market. Opensea is the biggest secondary market for NFTs besides projects, you can also buy art here and all kinds of other NFTS.
To be able to trade on Opensea, you’ll need to connect your wallet, once connected you can access your account page, where you can see all the NFTs you own, you can set sell prices for them, you can hide the ones you don’t want other people to see and you can upload a cool profile picture of yourself, to flex latest purchase.
Now, Opensea is affectionally referred to by insiders as Brokensea, for the fact they experience downtime several times a day, totally doesn’t care for its user community, except for the 2.5% royalty they take out of any transaction and for the fact that many fake project pages constantly pop up that pretend to be the official second market page for a project, while they actually are not. Opensea is slow to react to taking such sites down, so before you buy into a project, always make sure you follow the official links from the Discord server.
When you visit a project page, you can find some more info about the project you’re looking at. The floor price is the most important part, which is the lowest price you can pay to get into the project. Why do people spend more than the floor price for an NFT that is part of a collection? The answer is rarity or special traits. In most collections, every NFT is different from each other, and the differences could matter a lot. There are websites and tools that help you understand and analyze collections to find the NFT that you really want to own. Again, some research is needed, but Opensea is essential when you want to do transactions.
Step 9: Educate yourself
Alright, you’ve made it all the way to the end, now before you jump in and burn all your money on a rugpull, spend a couple of hours watching Youtube videos on how to evaluate NFT projects, follow influencers on Twitter, see what they have to say, also look for opposite information to really know what you’re getting into. Every youtuber in every video will use the phrase “Do your own research” and “This is not financial advice” be careful out there. You’re all setup, don’t rush in, don’t spend all your money on 1 project. Try to diversify. Blue chip projects that have been long established are safer investments, but most of the projects out there will not be able to drive the community for a long time. It is early days and the NFT mechanic while so powerful, is currently used as it is in its infancy, project roadmaps are unimaginative, or not attainable. Teams are not doxed and completely anonymous — those projects you may only make money on if you do a quick flip.
Step 10: Buy your first NFT
Alright once you feel ready, have secured a whitelist in a fantastic project dive in. Don’t get caught up in the excitement. Develop a trading / flipping strategy you stick to. Evaluate your own rules and adjust based on your experiences and learnings. Remember, you don’t need to mint the maximum number of tokens, start small, learn fast, diversify, and stay safe!
Last Piece of Advice, Only Invest with money you can go withhout
Now, one final word of advice. The CRYPTO and NFT market actually still regularly see crazy 100x gains, which you’ll not easily find in real life in traditional investments (real estate, stocks etc). There is high risk associated as well with crypto. You’ve all heard the stories about very volatile movement of coins and coins losing more than half their value in a short period of time. The same faith awaits many NFT projects.
Do NOT invest with money that you cannot afford to lose. Start small, see if you’re able to develop a feeling for it. Take profits often and do your research. Don’t follow the suggestions of an influencer or a telegram group. There are many pump-and-dump schemes out there that will hype up something and in pyramid-scheme fashion earn money for those in early, while others are being left holding the bag. Be careful out there, but understand as well this is part of the future. It’s good to develop an understanding of what’s happening at some point.
