If google analytics is to be believed, interest in NFTs has grown exponentially in the UK. Whether idly or driven by intent, more people than ever are searching for information on how to make their entrance on the cryptocurrency and NFT scene.
It might have something to do with recent news headlines detailing record sales of non-fungible tokens. Perhaps not the one about Mike Winkelmann's massive payday; he's the artist who sole Everyday, the First 5000 Days for a mind-blowing 69 million dollars.
Such a price tag would dissuade the average NFT enthusiast from buying tokens. People whose median income is in-line with the rest of the countries could hardly afford such a pay-out.
Most likely, it was the combination of Disaster Girl and Charlie Bit My Finger, each of which netted hundreds of thousands of pounds. Suddenly, everyone must have thought: "Why, I too have a funny snap/video!"
Or maybe it's just that people are waking up to a new area of commerce and are keen to get in on the ground floor. So, they query their fav search engine: How can I buy NFT - often including the qualifier 'in the UK' so they won't have to wade through the myriad of international websites and adverts.
Would you believe that buying NFT, in the UK or elsewhere, is just like strolling to your corner newsagent for a pack of gum or a drink?
| Steps to buying NFT: |
|---|
| 1. Download and set up a crypto wallet. |
| 2. Link your wallet to an NFT marketplace. |
| 3. Buy Ether - the Ethereum coin. |
| 4. Shop for NFTs. |
After completing these four steps, you will be ready to start your life as an NFT collector and trader.
Of course, just laying the steps out like that makes buying NFT look easy; it doesn't even touch on important questions like 'Where can I buy NFTs?' or 'What can you do with NFTs?'.
If history has taught us anything, it's that we should know what we're getting into before we get into it. So, Superprof endeavours to explain NFTs - their worth and potential, and what you can do with your tokens once you own a few.
What Can You Do With NFT?
Over the last 20 years, technological advances have made our lives infinitely more convenient.
Social media allows you to stay connected and establish ties with groups you have an interest in. Messaging apps let you instantly communicate with select persons or groups of persons. Job-seeker websites help you find work, search engines can answer your every question, and shopping websites provide a dizzying array of merchandise.
Check here to learn cryptocurrency trading on Superprof.
All of these digital applications and many others serve a purpose. What can you do with non-fungible tokens?
Many NFT enthusiasts like to show them off by using them as avatars for their social media profiles. Much like the wealthy reveal their status through the cars they drive, the clothes they wear and the accessories they carry, NFT owners can score status points by flashing the digital art pieces they own. The more renowned the artist, the more cachet those pieces carry.
NFT ownership isn't just about bragging rights, though.
Collecting tokens can be a wealth-building strategy, particularly if you choose your pieces carefully and hold onto them. Just as some wealthy art collectors' estates grow in value in part because of the art they own, your portfolio could benefit from adding a few, judiciously chosen pieces to it.
Selecting the tokens that will enhance your wealth takes a bit of know-how. Instead of learning all you need to know by trial and error, why not get the inside scoop?
How to Make Money With NFT
It's no secret that, around the world, people live under dire economic strain and that pain is not going to be alleviated anytime soon. Thus, it would make sense that outside-the-box thinkers would constantly search for ways to increase their income. Such a prospect, fanned by news reports of sensational paydays could be one reason that people contemplate trading in NFT.
The logic is sound but flawed.
High-dollar sales don't happen every day and, when they do, they involve remarkable pieces. To assure yourself of this fact, you only need to prowl through NFT marketplaces, where you'll find thousands of pieces that have languished for years without ever having received a single bid.
Nevertheless, you can make money with NFT. For instance, by renting out pieces from your collection.
Let's say you take the plunge. You buy and set up a wallet, buy some Ether - Ethereum's cryptocurrency, choose a few pieces from different collections and offer them up for rent. Doing so calls for you to draft a smart contract, in which you lay out the rental's terms:
- Which piece(s) you will rent
- How long you will rent them for
- The price of the rental
- The person you're renting them to
- Conditions for usage
You may specify that your renter may use your token to game with but not as a social media avatar, for instance. Or bar them from 'sub-letting' them to earn a bit off your property.
Renting your tokens out is just one way to make money from NFT; there are a few others. Are you curious to know what they are?
Where Can You Buy NFT?
In this article's introduction, we stated that buying tokens was as simple as buying from your corner newsagent: check that you have money (set up your wallet/buy cryptocurrency), go to where the NFT are (choose a marketplace) and make your selections.
The corner store analogy is apt in another way: there is more than one NFT marketplace to shop at.
OpenSea rests at the top of the heap of token marketplaces. There, you can see what's trending in NFT, discover top-rated digital artists and peruse thousands of collections. If you're a sports fan, you might check out what they have under that tab and, if you have a trading card collection, you could upload them to the blockchain and trade your duplicates for cards you don't yet have.
Should you be in the market for more exclusive pieces of generated art, SuperRare would be the place for you. Unlike other NFT marketplaces where community upvotes determine whether a piece will trend, each SuperRare token's popularity is determined by the platform's management team.
If you, like so many of us are cash-light but still recognise the value of investing in non-fungible tokens, your preferred marketplace should be Fractional. There, you can invest in a portion of a digital art piece. As a token part-owner, you and your co-owners would lay out the terms of usage in a smart contract so that every investor has an equal chance to benefit from their purchase.
And, if you chipped in simply as an investment - to get your foot in the door of an NFT marketplace, you don't have to do anything but let the piece grow in value.
Now that NFTs have claimed their place as an investment vehicle and a legitimate art form suitable for collection, marketplaces are opening up all over the web. Here, we listed only three; check out our in-depth exposé to read about others.
How to Make an NFT
Referencing the alleged thought in our introduction, the one about having funny snaps and videos that you could turn into NFT... That is a great idea, but not necessarily for a large payday.
The thing about making NFT for profit is volume.
Generally speaking, around 10,000 pieces is considered a decent collection; having just one piece is good only if you or the piece in question are already well-known, as are Disaster Girl and Charlie. Both had been openly accessible on the internet for years; the Disaster Girl meme became one of the most widely used.
The former First Lady of the US has launched herself into the NFT business. Her first piece was a watercolour painting of her eyes, paired with a short voice recording. Now, based on the success of her first auction, she's launched a second offering, this time of a piece of presidential memorabilia. This is a good example of the seller's personal fame driving the NFT sale.
So, if you only have a couple of snaps or one funny video, and neither they nor you are well-known, what's the great idea behind making NFTs?
Digitizing valuable artefacts, be they photos, videos, soundbites or documents, helps to preserve social and family heritage. Your holiday snapshots might not mean anything to anyone else outside of a few laughs but, to your clan, they are precious and well worth preserving.
Ditto with your gran's memories (document NFT or captured on video), your garage band's first performance (audio or video) and any real-world assets you might want handed down for generations to come.
If you'd like to explore the possibilities inherent in NFT and blockchain technology for these reasons - or if you truly want to investigate how you, too, could learn to create generated art, you can take a deeper dive into the topic. Take the time to learn everything you need to know about creating NFTs?
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