If you’re curious about NFTs but don’t know where to start, this article is for you. I’m going to give you 3 steps that can help take you from square one to feeling perhaps ready to make an investment. So let’s get right into it!
Why?
It’s important to have a vision and a plan, even if that plan (inevitably) changes over time as you take in more and better information. An early goal might be to determine whether you think NFTs will be valuable in the future, and which use cases for them will be valuable and why.
For example, you might do research on the explosion of play-to-earn gaming driven by companies like Axie Infinity, or learn about how digital artists are selling work on sites like Superrare and ArtBlocks, or how the NFL is partnering with Dapper Labs to sell NFTs, or how Twitter will be verifying PFPs - NFTs displayed as profile pictures - to authenticate ownership.
Who?
With everyone jabbering about NFTs, it’s hard to recognize where to get good information, especially since Twitter and Discord - the mainstays of NFT discourse - are so chaotic and fragmented.
Well hey - this is a new thing. You can’t buy a book on it, and mainstream media isn’t a good source of info (LOL is it ever?). Instead, I recommend finding people on YouTube and Twitter who:
seem to be genuine and seem to know what they’re talking about
show their face and name
don’t seem to be promoting anything
acknowledge the downsides
These people are the exception, not the rule, but finding one or two can go a long way, since some create helpful content designed for noobs like you. Here’s a guy I’ve personally learned a lot from on YouTube - his videos are a great place to start. It can be a little off-putting to learn from someone way younger than you, but you’ll get used to it. :)
I also recommend following esteemed creators, like Dom Hofmann, who created Vine and, in the NFT world, Loot.
Additionally, I recommend finding smart technical people who are dabbling in NFTs without going all in, since they understand the technology and since their perspective can be more balanced. Suhail, who I’ve mentioned in a previous post, is one I like.
How?
Well, since NFT technology is so user-friendly, understanding how to use it is as easy as 1…. 2…. hahaha it’s actually really user-unfriendly right now - but it’s learnable. Here’s a quick checklist of questions you’ll probably need to know the answers to:
What is Ethereum?
How do I buy ETH?
What are gas fees?
What is a wallet?
What is a browser wallet (like Metamask)?
How do I not get hacked?
Where can I buy an NFT?
How do I “mint” an NFT?
…and so on. There are plenty of friendly YouTubers who can help you with these - here’s another channel I recommend with easy-to-understand guides.
As long as you’re willing to put in some research and take the time to curate legitimate sources of information, it’s not difficult to become a (relatively) early adopter of this new technology. Even if you don’t personally invest in NFTs, your knowledge of the space will probably come in handy in the future.