Recently, I went to a gallery show in Los Angeles that presented one of my favorite artist’s works. His art pieces were both physical and digital. I naively expected that the gallery would accept both fiat and crypto currency in order to purchase a piece, but to my surprise, they exclusively accepted Ethereum. At that moment, I realized that this is not just happening online anymore; buying and selling art is now embracing trading solely in crypto.
If you are interested in getting started, your first step is to set up your own crypto wallet. Think of a crypto wallet like you would your Apple wallet that holds your credit cards, airline tickets, entertainment tickets etc. Your crypto wallet is an electronic wallet that can be publicly seen that holds your crypto currency and NFTs. The wallet that I would recommend and the one that I use is a MetaMask Wallet. MetaMask is easy to link to all the platforms and is widely accepted.
Go to Metamask.io
Download the App (Click on the Download now button) using Chrome, Firefox, Brave or Edge
Note: it does not work with Safari, but there is an app for iPhone and Android where you can download the app.
Once you have downloaded the extension, then click on ‘Get Started’
Click on ‘Add a New Wallet’
Create a Password – this is a secondary password.
Next a seed phrase will be generated. This is the key to your wallet. Write it down and keep it safe. NEVER share your seed phrase with anyone!
Use the Settings button to personalize your account name and other details.
Once you have set up your MetaMask wallet, you will have an account address. This address is what you need to send or receive tokens. You can copy the address or use the QR code that will show up in order to transact. If you have another account or wallet, you can go to settings and click on ‘Import Account’ to add it to your MetaMask. In Settings you can also ‘Connect a Hardware Wallet’.
For a comprehensive and detailed YouTube tutorial, I highly recommend you click this link.
Crypto Currencies for NFTs
I recommend that you also become familiar with the most popular crypto currencies used in NFT trading. The top ones should be familiar to you including Ethereum, Solana, and Cardano, as they are the most established and widely used for their smart-contract capabilities. In addition, it is important to acknowledge the opensource Bitcoin network as it has acted as the catalyst to the cryptocurrencies referenced above.
Bitcoin (BTC)
Bitcoin is the most recognized cryptocurrency. It is volatile and has traded this month roughly between $45,000-$52,000/coin. It is currently trading in the $48,000 range. The term bitcoin was first defined in a white paper published on October 31, 2008. It was started and implemented by the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto. The idea behind Bitcoin was to form a payment system that is decentralized, where the transactions can be confirmed on a blockchain which is public with no single administrator.
Ethereum (ETH)
On July 30, 2015, The Ethereum network was launched. It brought smart contracts to the cryptocurrency world. The reason why digital art and other collectibles mainly use the Ethereum network to transact is because of its ability to incorporate a contract within the transaction which can be customized to include restrictions or guidelines, such as royalties. The price of Ethereum has skyrocketed alongside the skyrocketing NFTs available for purchase today. On January 1st of this year, the price of Ethereum was approx. $730/ETH and today the price is roughly $3500/ETH.
“Cryptocurrencies that don’t have their own dedicated blockchain but use the blockchain of another crypto asset are known as tokens. The ones that are on the Ethereum network are called ERC-20 tokens. The first-ever ERC token launched back in 2015. That was the crypto asset known as Augur. Since that day, a plethora of tokens have been created on the Ethereum blockchain. There are currently more than 200,000 ERC tokens, which means that there is a huge cryptocurrency ecosystem running on a single blockchain.”
Solana (SOL)
Solana was launched in April of 2020 and in just 18 months has grown over 180X. Solona is a platform that is competing with the Ethereum blockchain to grow an ecosystem to offer similar products and services to ETH, but at a faster transaction settlement and a higher capacity for transactions. It focuses on flexibility and uses its own cryptocurrency SOL to execute programs and transactions on the Solana network. Solana currently trades for approx $165/SOL. It recently had its first million-dollar sale of an NFT last week. Solana touts that it offers a more scalable blockchain than Ethereum.
Cardano (ADA)
Cardano is a decentralized blockchain platform launched in 2017. Cardano differs from other projects by “emphasizing a research-driven approach to design, aiming to achieve an academic rigor it believes will propel adoption of its technology.” Its code is written in the Haskell programming language, commonly used in banking and defense sectors, giving it more credence.
Cardano allows transactions in its native cryptocurrency, ADA. It enables developers to build secure and scalable applications powered on it. Cardano is currently selling for approx. $2.35/ADA while its all-time high is $3.10/ADA.
I hope this has given you enough information to take the plunge and set up your crypto wallets. Once you start transacting, it does become a little addictive, so be careful my friends!
Stay tuned for more to come next week. Keep sending in requests!
Please reach out to us anytime with comments or questions to nftartsource@gmail.com.
Stay Curious!
~NFT Art Source
Article by: Iris Pearlman