WTF Is an NFT?
And How Do I Do It?
An NFT is a non-fungible token. Big deal. The explanation for that TLA doesn’t help anyone. An NFT is a unique token that can be traded. Think a baseball card, or Pokémon card. But also think of your home and your phone. Everyone has one (almost) but they’re not the same. They’re not interchangeable (fungible). They’re worth different amounts to different people. NFTs are all about value, and the ability to transfer that value, really easily. And yes, it’s all stored on the blockchain which means it’s transparent and verifiable.
How Do I Buy an NFT?
- You need to exchange some crypto you own for an NFT. Think of it as handing some cash over in exchange for a skateboard.
- You store your crypto in your wallet. There are tons of different kinds of wallet for different blockchains and for different purposes. A wallet doubles as a unique identifier that you can use to log into websites and apps with. Apps that use this way of logging in are called decentralised apps. They call them dApps. When you set up your wallet, you’ll receive a unique phrase—this is access to your wallet. Never share this phrase with anyone. And keep it in a safe place. The wallets I use are MetaMask for the Ethereum, Polygon, and Avalanche blockchains. I use Phantom for the Solana blockchain. I use Temple for the Tezos blockchain.
- You need to exchange “real money” for crytpo. They call “real money” fiat currency. The best place to do this is on an exchange, where you can swap “real” money for digital money. The easiest exchange I’ve used is Coinbase.com. Use this link to get some free Bitcoin when you sign up. I’ll get some too.
- Once you have crypto in your account in an exchange, you can send it to your wallet. Make sure to send the right kind of crytpo to the correct wallet. Send Ether to a wallet that can hold Ether. Send Tezos to a wallet that can hold Tezos. You get the idea.
- Provision a bit more money for transaction fees. They call this gas fees.
How Do I Use MetaMask for Avalanche Blockchain?
MetaMask supports the Ethereum blockchain out the box. If you want to transact in Avalanche (AVAX) you’ll need to manually add some details. This blog post shows you the steps you need to take.
How Do I Buy a Doodleverse Piece on Kalao?
- Get some AVAX on Coinbase.
- Send it to your AVAX-compatible wallet. Metamask, on the Avalanche network will do.
- Log in to the Kalao marketplace using your wallet.
- Check out the collection.
- Bid and buy as you wish.
Where Am I Selling My NFTs?
I’m trying a bunch of marketplaces out. And aim to try a bunch more. As well as learning how to do as much myself as possible. Here’s what I got so far:
- OpenSea. It’s the big kahuna. You can transact using Ether, Polygon, and a few others.
- Foundation. You can transact in Ether. This is an invite-only platform with amazing art for sale.
- Objkt.com. This is like OpenSea, but for the Tezos blockchain.
- SolSea. This is like OpenSea, but for the Solana blockchain.
- Kalao. This is the latest marketplace I’m trying. It’s on the Avalanche blockchain.
Warning
This is a simple and mostly practical post. There are tons of scammers out there. Never share your wallet secret phrase. Double and and triple-check before buying an NFT—especially if it looks too good to be true. FOMO is a real thing. Don’t be swayed too much by it.
Got questions? Reach out to me on Twitter and Instagram.
