Even large video game publishers, such as Electronic Arts and Ubisoft Entertainment, believe that the most popular games in the future will be backed by blockchain technology, allowing their players to prove ownership of virtual assets and trade them as non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Because the gaming metaverse is still in its infancy, gaming cryptos are emerging at a rapid rate, and the most promising projects could play important roles in it. By betting on them early, you can see a huge return on your investment down the road.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only, and it does not include any financial advice. Please remember to always do your own research before investing into any gaming cryptos. If you’re new to the crypto world, and would like to start your trading journey, we highly recommend you consider using a trusted exchange platform like Coinbase or Binance.

#1 – UFO Gaming (UFO)

Despite its recent slump, UFO Gaming has experienced an enviable growth this year, making the earliest investors extremely happy.

UFO Gaming is building something called a dark metaverse, which it describes as a closed-loop ever-expanding ecosystem consisting of play-to-earn games, breedable in-game NFTs, earning virtual land, and other aspects.

Right now, UFO Gaming has a single game, Super Galactic, but more games are coming in the near future. Thanks to the unique rating system, more active players can earn bigger rewards and access more challenging game content.

Recently, UFO Gaming branched off into the eSports territory by launching its own Apex Legends Tournament hosted by Twitch streamers Apryze and Nokokopuffs. The prize pool worth a whopping $10,000 immediately attracted plenty of attention, and that’s exactly what this gaming crypto needs to succeed.

#2 – Vulcan Forged (PYR)

Vulcan Forged is like an incubator for blockchain games. This community-based project supports developers by providing the resources, infrastructure, and money needed to create world-class blockchain games.

The platform has its own thriving NFT marketplace and a tool that allows for instant dApp and NFT creation, and they’re both powered by the PYR settlement, staking, and utility token.

What’s really interesting about Vulcan Forged is the fact that 10 percent of the entire PYR supply goes into the LAVA pool. Players can then earn LAVA tokens by simply playing and engaging with any Vulcan Forged-made or hosted game. Best of all, the more LAVA tokens a player has, the more PYR airdrops they can receive each month.

#3 – Merit Circle (MC)

Merit Circle isn’t your typical crypto game. Instead, it’s an innovative project whose goal is to maximize value accrual across different games in the metaverse.

To be more precise, Merit Circle is a branching decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) whose members work together to participate in play-to-earn games and precious NFTs so they can collectively earn money.

The project has partnered with many leaders in the play-to-earn industry, giving its members access to exclusive rewards and emerging games. If you would like to increase your earning potential, then you can join Merit Circle as a scholar by applying for a scholarship on the official Discord server.

Understandably, Merit Circle focuses on the largest games out there, such as Axie Infinity, which are often prohibitively expensive for new players to get into on their own. However, Merit Circle members can create subDAOs, each representing a specific play-to-earn game. All subDAOs then contribute to the mainDAO.

#4 – RMRK (Pronounced “Remark”)

It can be difficult to understand everything RMRK is trying to do because the scope of the project is pretty large.

What you should know is that it’s built on the Kusama blockchain, Polkadot’s canary network, and designed to enable NFT creators to put together and build a system of arbitrary complexity by combining the so-called NFT legos.

These NFT legos can own other NFTs and change their output media by equipping them with additional building blocks. For example, imagine that you own two NFTs: a virtual dog and a fancy dog collar. RMRK’s NFT legos make it possible to put the collar on the virtual dog to create what’s essentially an upgraded version of the original dog NFT, increasing its value.

If you would like to learn more about RMRK, you can join the RMRKable Hacktoberfest. Besides learning a lot of useful information, you can also earn $50,000 in prizes. Registration ends on November 30, 2021, so you better hurry up to secure your virtual seat.

#5 – Aavegotchi (GHST)

As the name of this gaming crypto suggests, the project is inspired by the wildly popular Japanese digital pet handheld game, Tamagotchi. Just like Tamagotchi, Aavegotchi lets you take care of a virtual pet, but there’s a lot more to it than that.

Each Aavegotchi virtual pet is an ERC-721 non-fungible token that has a cryptocurrency stake inside. This stake comes from tokens staked through the Aave DeFi lending protocol. Players earn interest depending on which token is staked inside their Aavegotchies.

Of course, Aavegotchies also have a certain rarity value, which reflects everything from the uniqueness of their names to their traits to equipped wearables within the Aavegotchi universe.

Aavegotchi has recently partnered with Blackpool, a quantitative hedge fund for the NFT, so the future is looking bright, indeed.

Wrapping Things Up

By looking at the top 5 gaming cryptos currently available, we feel that 2024 will be a huge year for blockchain gaming. Developers from around the world are working on extremely promising projects that implement many features cryptocurrency enthusiasts and gamers have been dreaming about for years, and major corporations see the growing demand and want to be part of this exciting space.

You can be part of it too. All you need to do is recognize the opportunity and join the right project early on.

The post 5 Gaming Cryptos That Will Explode In 2024 appeared first on Tech Magazine.

What Are Altcoins?

An “Altcoin” is simply a cryptocurrency that isn’t Bitcoin. All altcoins share common characteristics, and operate in broadly the same way as Bitcoin, but under the hood, they may use a different mechanism to conduct transactions.

Some altcoins are used purely for mining, whereas others are intended to be used as security or utility tokens. Ethereum and Binance Coin are probably the best know Bitcoin alternatives, but as of 2021, there are over 9,000 different cryptocurrencies in existence, and that number will undoubtedly rise in the future.

Should You Invest In Altcoins?

Some altcoins are more stable and mature than others, Ethereum being a prime example. With that being said, you only have to take a look at a recent Bitcoin price chart to see that even the most mature of cryptocurrencies can still be very volatile in nature.

Investing in altcoins then, is something of a gamble. Many of the Bitcoin alternatives are attractive to investors because they’re currently extremely cheap, and have the potential for huge growth. That means it’s relatively easy to build a broad portfolio of coins for relatively little outlay. It’s also perfectly possible to make a very good return if you choose wisely.

Here are some of our top altcoin picks for 2021:

Disclaimer: Any recommendations we give in this article are purely based on our own opinions. We’re certainly not giving you financial advice. Always do your own independent research before investing in cryptocurrency of any kind.

Our 1st Pick: Cardano (ADA)

Out of our “top 3 altcoins”, Cardano is perhaps the most interesting. So-called “meme coins” like Doge are getting a lot of celebrity hype right now, which means that genuinely innovative altcoins like Cardano aren’t always given the attention they deserve. That’s a shame, because Cardano is based around a genuinely useful (and ethical) set of features that could eventually see it becoming a very wise choice for patient investors.

What Is Cardano?

Cardano’s CEO, and former Ethereum founder Charles Hoskinson, describes the altcoin as:

“A collection of protocols and technology that allows you to transform, store, and manage value, identity, and governance.”

Hoskinson has focused his efforts on creating a technology that can help people in the Third World to create verifiable records and better access to bank accounts and loans, as well as a means of storing academic credentials that are recognized worldwide.

In addition to it’s ethical underpinnings, Cardano uses the “Proof of Stake” model to mine new blocks and verify transactions. This means that only a fraction of Cardano holders can mine on the network, which greatly reduces the overall carbon footprint of the blockchain, as it puts restrictions on the number of computers that can mine new coins.

Bitcoin on the other hand, uses a “Proof of Work” model. This puts zero restrictions on mining, meaning that wealthy companies not only have an unfair advantage in the amount of processing power they can bring to mining operations, but there is no ceiling on the amount of energy that can be thrown at mining.

Should You Invest In Cardano?

Obviously all altcoins are volatile in nature, so we can’t be certain that you’ll hit the big time by investing in Cardano. With that being said, the team behind this cryptocurrency has some great experience and credentials, and they’ve already proven the technology as viable. Cardano is also set to launch smart contracts within the next couple of months which experts in the field claim will skyrocket the price.

Think of this one as a slow burner, and not your typical “meme coin”, and you could see healthy returns in the longer term.

2nd Pick: Polkadot (DOT)

Founded by Gavin Wood (another Ethereum co-founder) back in 2016, Polkadot launched in 2020. To date, the cryptocurrency has raised over $200 million from investors and although its growth has been volatile, it’s seen some promising gains in 2021.

What Is Polkadot?

Polkadot is essentially a software that allows users to launch and operate their own blockchains. It features a main network (the so-called Relay Chain) for permanent transactions, as well as user created networks, known as Parachains, that can be customized for any number of uses.

The purpose of Polkadot’s design is to create an ecosystem that allows users to conduct more secure transactions with greater privacy, using blockchains that don’t disclose user data onto the public network itself.

So This Is Basically Like Ethereum?

Since the major Ethereum update known as Ethereum 2.0, it does share many similarities with Polkadot in operation and developers can even use Polkadot’s developer framework to simulate the Ethereum blockchain for use in custom blockchain designs.

Should You Invest In Polkadot?

Polkadot’s value grew rapidly in February 2021, with a huge price hike of 350% from the start of the year. Like many altcoins, there’s been a degree of volatility in Polkadot’s market price, but many experts are bullish about the future value of this coin, with some forecasters suggesting it could break the $100 mark by the end of 2021.

3rd Pick: Shiba Inu (SHIB)

Shiba Inu Coin is a cryptocurrency featuring the same dog mascot made famous by Elon Musk’s favorite altcoin, Dogecoin.

Dogecoin was conceived as a Bitcoin parody way back in 2013, and Shiba Inu Coin takes the absurdity to the next level, using the breed name of the Japanese dog mascot of Dogecoin to create a “a meta parody”.

Although clearly created as something of a joke, Ryoshi, the founder of Shiba Inu, envisaged the coin as a fun experiment to build a token using a 100% decentralized community, and despite clearly being a meme-coin, it does show promise for future investors:

Shiba Inu – Made For Investors

Shiba Inu was created in such a way as to provide its investors with greater investment potential from its inception. The Shiba Inu team created an ERC-20 token that was priced low enough that anyone could own millions of tokens whilst they were still relatively undervalued.

Another decision made by the Shiba Inu team was to hand over half of the pool of coins available at launch to Vitalik Buterin, a co-founder of Ethereum. The team hoped that “burning” a large amount of the currency would prevent the coins being bought up by a few big investors, which could have impacted its future use as genuinely useful coin.

As it turns out, Vitalik Buterin has now given away 10% of his entire portfolio of Shiba Inu to a COVID-19 relief fund in India, and burned the remaining 90% sending prices tumbling after their huge initial surge in early May 2021.

Should You Invest In Shiba Inu Coin?

The market for novelty “meme coins” is huge at the moment. Investors are constantly looking for the next big thing, and Shiba Inu still has decent growth potential, despite the loses suffered b Buterin’s huge coin dump. For that reason, and because it’s so closely tied to the fortunes of Dogecoin, we’d say that Shiba Inu still has a lot of potential left for the rest of 2021.

Summing Up

There are hundreds of promising altcoins making strong gains in 2021, and these are simply the top 3 altcoins we believe will see significant price rises towards the end of the year. It’s important that you go into the world of altcoins with your eyes open, and don’t make any rash investing decisions that you’ll later regret. However, for those of you that keep a level head and invest wisely, you could see some amazing returns from your portfolio!

The post The Top 3 Altcoins To Keep An Eye On In 2021 appeared first on Tech Magazine.

So is the coin that describes itself as a “meme-token” a solid investment? Or more to the point; what exactly is this bizarre new coin that’s quickly becoming an internet sensation?

Read on for a brief overview of Shiba Inu, and whether we think investing in this most ridiculous of altcoins is the height of stupidity, or an act of pure genius!

Disclaimer: When we discuss anything to do with the world of cryptocurrencies (and especially the more left-field altcoins), it’s our responsibility to warn you that the markets are extremely volatile, and that we’re absolutely not giving you financial advice. Always do your research before you invest your hard earned cash.

So What Exactly Is Shiba Inu Coin?

Shiba Inu Coin ($SHIB) is a cryptocurrency that features a dog mascot of the Japanese Shiba Inu breed. The coin is an obvious copy (or parody, if you will) of the equally infamous Dogecoin, another crypto featuring the same Japanese dog breed as its mascot.

Confused? Alright, let’s start from the beginning:

The Dogecoin Meme

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last year (and honestly, with the way 2020 turned out, we wouldn’t have blamed you) then you’ll almost certainly have heard of Dogecoin.

Championed by Elon Musk, the parody cryptocurrency with a name and logo inspired by one of the internet’s most famous memes, was created back in 2013 as a joke alternative to Bitcoin. However, after the Tesla and SpaceX CEO began Tweeting about this comedy crypto, it began to explode in popularity, and has seen wild surges in value ever since.

The Meta Joke That Is Shiba Inu

If Dogecoin was conceived as a Bitcoin parody, then Shiba Inu Coin goes one stage further, being created as a “parody of a parody”.

Or as the mascot himself might put it: “Such meta, very humor”.

Shiba Inu launched as recently as August 2020, with a name derived from the breed of Japanese dog that featured in the original meme that inspired Dogecoin.

Is Shiba Inu A Viable Cryptocurrency?

In and of itself, Shiba Inu isn’t all that different from a bunch of other cryptocurrencies, being based on the trusty Ethereum blockchain.

A quick read of the coin’s white paper (known as the Woofpaper!) reads much more like a marketing booklet than a technical manual, so it’s clear that this crypto was not only created from the outset to be a bit of a joke, it’s also intended to be something that people will speculate on, rather than having legitimate functional use as a currency.

Ryoshi, the pseudonym of the anonymous founder of Shiba Inu, created the coin not only as a fun project, but also as an experiment to build a cryptocurrency using a 100% decentralized and spontaneous community.

What Makes Shiba Inu Different To Other Altcoins?

Although Shiba Inu Coin was conceived as both a community building experiment and a parody of Dogecoin, some of the decisions made by its decentralized team of creators points to the cryptocurrency as having the potential to become a usable investment commodity in its own right.

One of the first decisions that the Shiba Inu team made was to give away half of the coins that were available at launch to Vitalik Buterin, a founder of Ethereum. This seems like an odd decision, but the team hoped that this action would prevent large amounts of the currency being held by just a few big investors, which could have impacted its future use as a usable coin.

Secondly, Shiba Inu was created in such a way as to provide its investors with greater earning potential from launch. The Shiba Inu project’s aim was to create an ERC-20 token and supporting ecosystem that was priced so low that anyone could own millions of tokens whilst they were still undervalued.

It’s a plan that seems to be working well so far, with Ryoshi claiming that Shiba Inu is a potential “Dogecoin killer”:

“(Shiba Inu can) …outpace the value of Dogecoin exponentially, without ever crossing the $0.01 value.”

Where Can I Buy Shiba Inu Coin?

Shiba Inu coin is listed with coin exchanges under the symbol SHIB. Binance has recently begun listing the currency for sale, which is a fairly big deal, as the platform is home to a number of well known cryptocurrencies and enjoys high levels of consumer confidence.

Binance is currently warning its users that Shiba Inu is a volatile coin and could be subject to rapid (and significant) changes in value.

The ShibaSwap Exchange

Shibaswap is Shiba Inu’s very own cryptocurrency exchange. Although the service hasn’t launched yet, it’s intended to act as a decentralized exchange where you’ll be able to trade in your other cryptos for Shiba Inu coins.

What’s The Current Value Of Shiba Inu Coin?

Shiba Inu has seen a huge surge in growth during May 2021, rising in value from $0.0000001631 per coin to a peak of around $0.00003640 per coin just ten days later.

The cryptocurrency dropped fairly sharply through the second half of May 2021, but that initial spike represented gains of 1500% in just a few weeks, which created a huge buzz for the coin that’s still largely intact.

The original Dogecoin on the other hand, has crashed in value following Elon Musk’s appearance on the famous US TV show Saturday Night Live.

Should You Invest In Shiba Inu Coin?

The market for so-called “meme coins” is pretty huge right now. Thanks to celebrities like Elon Musk pushing cryptocurrencies like Dogecoin, there’s a sizable pool of amateur investors looking for the next big thing.

It would be tempting to look at the rapid drop in value of Shiba Inu in recent weeks as the end of the line for this coin, but in actual fact, a good deal of that price drop can be attributed to the Etherum co-founder Vitalik Buterin giving away the huge amount of coins that were gifted into his wallet at launch.

The COVID-19 Relief Fund

As we previously mentioned, around half of the initial pool of coins were given to Etherum co-founder Vitalik Buterin on launch. This was a slightly odd move on the part of the developers, who had hoped that Buterin would hold the coins for a long period of time. In a surprise move, Buterin ended up donating 10% of the tokens to an Indian COVID-19 relief fund and burned the remaining 90%, which although incredible news for the charity, is largely the reason for the dramatic losses seen after the coin’s initial surge.

The Future Of Shiba Inu

Shiba Inu has a market cap of over $13 billion at the time of research. The platform has seen an increase in value of 40,000% over a 30 day period. Whilst a good volume of that initial surge in price has now been lost, the coin is still massively more valuable than it was at launch.

One of the most encouraging things about the rise of Shiba Inu is the speed at which it’s been accepted onto the major exchanges like Binance, giving a degree of confidence and stability to the coin. So despite coming with a warning about its likely volatility, we believe that there’s a bright future ahead for this novelty cryptocurrency.

If you’re interested in crypto, and want to learn how you can make money with NFTs, check out our step-by-step guide on how you can get started with making money with NFTs.

The post Shiba Inu Coin: Everything You Need To Know appeared first on Tech Magazine.

What Is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency created by an unknown person called Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. Since then, its market capitalization has reached an all-time high of more than $1 trillion, which is roughly half the value of all cryptocurrencies combined.

The main aspect that separates Bitcoin from other similar projects is the technology behind it, called Blockchain. Bitcoin’s blockchain is basically a public distributed database of transactions, which are verified by network nodes through cryptography, ensuring their immutability. In other words, once a transaction is recorded, it can’t be retroactively changed.

The process of transaction verification is referred to as mining, and it requires a substantial amount of computing power. Those who participate in it are rewarded with newly created bitcoins and transaction fees. If you would like to understand how Bitcoin actually works under the hood, then we highly recommend you watch the video explanation by 3Blue1Brown.

As a user, you just need to know that Bitcoin is a convenient (albeit volatile) alternative to fiat currency, allowing you to quickly and securely send and receive payments across borders without having to go through any third party.

How To Buy Bitcoin In Lebanon?

Unfortunately, buying Bitcoin in Lebanon is not as easy as buying Bitcoin in most other countries. Due to the United States embargo over Lebanon and the banking restrictions imposed by Lebanese authorities, almost all reputable cryptocurrency exchanges refuse to serve Lebanese customers.

While you could technically create an account on exchanges like Coinbase, Kraken, or Gemini, features such as account verification and fund deposits (as well as crypto purchases) will not work even if you have an international credit card or bank account abroad.

Binance In Lebanon

One of the very few respected exchanges that does offer its services in Lebanon is called Binance.

Binance is an excellent option for buying Bitcoin as well as hundreds of altcoins (including the popular Dogecoin). Creating an account is fairly straightforward. Use your email or Lebanese phone number to sign up, fill in your basic information, and upload your Lebanese passport or ID card to complete the verification process. Once your account has been verified (this process may take a couple of hours), you’ll be able to make your first Bitcoin purchase. It’s important to mention that you will only be able to make purchases using a “fresh” dollar account credit/debit card.

Use this link to create a Binance account and get $100 USD of free credit when you make your first trade.

If cryptocurrency exchanges aren’t your thing, there are at least three alternative options available, so let’s take a closer look at them.

Peer-To-Peer

As we’ve already explained, Bitcoin makes it possible for any two people to trade directly without the involvement of a centralized financial authority. This means that you can simply find someone in Lebanon who already has BTC and purchase some from the person in exchange for cash.

You can find local traders on peer-to-peer Bitcoin marketplaces like:

• LocalBitcoins.com
• HodlHodl.com

Alternatively, you can join a Bitcoin community such as @lbbtcm on Telegram and find someone willing to trade with you that way. Just make sure to verify the person’s trading reputation to avoid getting scammed.

Bitcoin Retailers

If person-to-person trading seems a bit too daunting to you, then you should consider buying BTC from a retailer like Bitcoins Lebanon, BTCLeb, or CryptoLeb. Lebanese Bitcoin retailers typically accept payments in person or via Western Union, and they offer professional customer support to put your worries at ease during the buying process.

Mine Them Yourself

New BTC is issued as a reward to those who verify Bitcoin transactions by solving extremely complex computational math problems in a process called mining. To participate in Bitcoin mining, you actually don’t need any specialized equipment, but don’t expect to earn any significant amount of BTC unless your computer is extremely powerful — the competition these days is simply too steep.

While you can increase your profitability by investing in specialized mining hardware and joining a mining pool, which is basically just a large group of miners who evenly split their rewards, you may not be able to break even unless you have access to free or nearly free electricity.

Tips To Avoid Bitcoin Scams

Money attracts scammers — that’s how it’s always been. The cryptocurrency space is, unfortunately, full of them, so you really need to take some time to learn how to protect yourself. Here are five tips to help you avoid Bitcoin scams:

• Verify, verify, verify: You should never send money to anyone you don’t 100% trust. Remember that screenshots can be faked, email addresses spoofed, and security credentials stolen.
• Don’t put all your eggs in one basket: If this is your first time buying Bitcoin, we recommend you start small and avoid putting all your eggs in just one basket. That way, you won’t lose all your money even if you make a serious mistake and fall for a scam.
• Use two-factor authentication: When trading BTC online, always enable two-factor authentication whenever possible. 2FA is the most effective protection against password-based attacks.
• Never let anyone remotely use your computer: Even if you really could use IT support, we strongly urge you to not let anyone remotely access your computer unless you know the person and fully trust them.
• Buy a hardware wallet: A hardware wallet is a special device that resembles a USB thumb drive. It lets you store your Bitcoin private keys in a secure manner, protecting them against malware and hackers.

Conclusion

Unfortunately, people who live in Lebanon don’t have the same options when it comes to buying Bitcoin as people living in most other countries. But having fewer options to choose from is still better than having no options at all. Peer-to-peer trading, for example, is easy to get into, making it a great choice for those who would like to bet on Bitcoin’s steadily growing (at least in the long-term) price.

If you found this guide helpful, you’ll definitely want to check out our beginner’s guide on how to make money with NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens).

The post Bitcoin In Lebanon: Everything You Need To Know appeared first on Tech Magazine.

Still confused?

In March 2021, artist Mike Winkelmann (aka “Beeple”) entered the history books when one of his projects sold for over $69 million at famous auction house Chrisite’s. Meanwhile, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey was auctioning off a part of his own digital legacy: His first ever Tweet from 2006, which eventually sold for an astounding $2.9 million!

The technology that allowed these sales to take place is known as an NFT, or Non-Fungible Token. Put simply, NFTs are cryptographic tokens that use blockchain technology to allow users to define the uniqueness of an individual asset.

If that description still sounds a little mystifying, and you’re having trouble getting your head around Non-Fungible Tokens, NFT art, or any other aspect of this burgeoning technological trend, don’t worry, we’ve put together this easy to understand guide to help get you started.

Non-Fungible Tokens: A Very Simple Definition

If you were lucky enough to be in the market for an original Picasso painting or perhaps the studio master of your favorite Beetles album, how would go about verifying that they were the real deal?

In the case of those two examples, the enormous costs involved would mean that the items would come with certificates of authenticity, and a mound of paperwork from industry experts that verified their “provenance”.

However, when it comes to digital-only items like Beeple’s artwork, how would you ever know that your JPEG file was the original? It could easily have been duplicated thousands of times before you ever got your hands on it!

This in a nutshell, is the purpose of an NFT. It allows someone to create a “digital tag” for an item, using blockchain technology to assign a unique identifier that guarantees authenticity.

NFTs can be used to prove the originality of digital art and even music tracks, but in the future they might also be used to track real-world assets too, such as a house, a car, or even a prize-winning racehorse!

What Does The Non-Fungible Part Mean?

Cryptographic tokens like Bitcoin are designed to replicate money: You could exchange your Bitcoin for a friend’s Bitcoin, as they both have equal value. Likewise, you could also split a Bitcoin between a group of people, much like a $20 bill. This makes Bitcoins “Fungible”.

On the other hand, although a “Non-Fungible” token is sort of like a Bitcoin in the way its technology works, it can’t be divided or distributed, and it can’t be exchanged on a like-for-like basis.

These properties make NFTs ideal for representing individual assets, as they can’t be modified or split. You can’t buy half a painting for example, and although you might be able to swap the painting for something similar, it must always exist as a unique item of its own accord.

How Does The Technology Work?

The technology behind NFTs is very complex, but if you can get your head around how “blockchain” works, you’ll easily understand the basic concept:

A blockchain is a bit like a database. It stores blocks of data in a linked chain. However, unlike a typical database that would be stored on a central server, blockchain is completely decentralized. Every node of the chain is spread around the entire world, and each part holds a full record of the data that’s been stored there since its creation.

The order of the data on the blockchain is important, but each block itself is useless on its own, and tampering with any of the nodes would render the entire chain invalid. Combine that with decentralization, and you have a very solid and secure method for storing data.

Because NFT items are transferred and traded within the infrastructure of the blockchain, ownership is provable and guaranteed, with a complete ledger of transaction history embedded within.

How To Make Money With NFTs

OK, so that’s the technical part explained. Now here’s the part that most readers are probably holding out for: How do you go about buying and selling NFTs, and how difficult is it to create NFT artwork for yourself?

Let’s dive right in:

How To Buy & Sell NFTs

First up, if you’re keen to start buying and selling NFT items, you’ll need to get yourself a digital wallet.

A digital wallet is, as the name suggests, a secure place where you store all of your cryptocurrencies. There are lots of different online exchanges available where you can go to swap your regular (Fiat) money for Cryptocurrencies, and these sites will also come with a digital wallet where you can store your digital currency.

Coinbase is probably the best known of these exchanges, and it’s super easy to join the site via iOS, Android or your web browser.

Choose Your Currency

At this point, the only consideration you’ll need to make is which of the various marketplaces you’ll be using to buy and sell your NFT items.

Not all NFT marketplaces use the same currency (or blockchain) for buying, selling or creating NFTs. As a beginner, you’re probably best sticking to a Coinbase wallet and using Ethereum, as this is the currency that’s used by some of the largest NFT marketplaces (more on those in a moment).

If you’d like to dive in at the deep end with some of the more obscure marketplaces, we’d suggest starting out with something called Metamask.

MetaMask Wallet

Metamask is a more flexible option than Coinbase, and comes with a browser extension and mobile app, giving you a secure wallet and a token exchange to manage a broader range of digital assets.

Different NFT Marketplaces

Once you have some digital currency loaded up, you can begin to browse the various NFT marketplaces. Once you’ve joined one, you can make as many purchases (or sales) as you’d like.

At the time of writing, we managed to find dozens of different platforms where you can buy and sell NFTs.

Here are the most popular:

• OpenSea
• Rarible
• SuperRare
• Mintable
• BakerySwap
• Foundation
• AtomicMarket
• KnownOrigin
• Enjin Marketplace
• Async Art

Out of that list, the top four entries make up the lion’s share of the current market, with OpenSea being by far the largest.

OpenSea Homepage

If you’ve made it this far, you’ll have no trouble buying and selling NFTs on a site like OpenSea. It’s as easy as making a bid on eBay!

So What Kind Of Items Are For Sale?

For the most part we’re talking digital art, but there’s a thriving economy for all sorts of digital assets. Here’s a non-exhaustive list:

• Trading cards like CryptoKitties (think Pokemon Go).
• Digital sports memorabilia, from NBA to F1.
• Censorship-resistant domain names.
• Virtual worlds and collectable Minecraft-style builds.
• Virtual clothing and wearables for avatars.
• Rare in-game items such as weapons and armor.

At this point, it’s important for us to make a bit of a disclaimer: Whilst the sites we’ve mentioned are completely legit, we’re not offering any investment or financial advice here. If you decide to start trading in digital artwork or collectables, you’re certainly not guaranteed to make money!

How To Create Your Own NFT Artwork

Buying and selling other people’s NFTs is one thing, but how do you go about making your own NFT art and publishing it on one of the marketplaces?

Surprisingly, it’s actually a pretty easy process and requires almost zero technical knowhow: If you’re signed up to one of the big marketplaces like Opensea or Rarible, all you need to do is make sure you have a crypto wallet attached to your account, then head over to the “Create” section of the site.

A few clicks later, you’ll be the proud owner of your very first piece of NFT art!

Is It Really That Simple?

Yes! Once you’ve uploaded your artwork and filled out some details (your name, description of the file, that kind of thing..), you’ll then go ahead and pay a small fee to “Mint” your creation (more on that below).

“Minting” is the process of adding a block onto the Ethereum blockchain, where your artwork’s unique identifier will live forever.

What Will Your Art Be Worth?

Your guess is as good as ours!

We’d wager that you probably won’t be breaking Beeple’s $69.3 million record anytime soon, but if you’re a talented artist, sites like OpenSea and Rarible could eventually help you to launch a full time career.

Bring Gas Money With You

NFT Gas Station

Minting your own NFT requires the creation of a unique new entry on the blockchain, which ultimately requires a significant amount of processing power to get done. As Ethereum is the most commonly used network used to mint NFTs, this comes with what is known as a “gas fee” for the effort and energy used in computation. Optimist provides a helpful tool called NFT Gas Station which gives you an estimate of the gas fees on all major NFT marketplaces.

Some Real World Applications

So at this point, you probably fall into one of two camps: You’re either a digital creator trying to figure out how NFTs could help get your passion off of the ground, or you’re someone with an entrepreneurial spirit looking to make their fortune.

So the big question then: Are NFTs just hype, or do they have tangible uses in the future?

It’s still too early to tell, but we’re already seeing some interesting applications:

Digital Artists & Photographers: NFTs are fantastic news for anyone who makes a living with digital art. The NFT marketplaces allow you to show off your work to the entire world, and then trade it digitally without fear of it being copied.

The nature of blockchain also means that every time your piece gets traded online, you’ll get a fair commission from each and every sale, without having to employ a middleman like an agent or a gallery.

Musicians: Kings of Leon look set to be the first band to release an album using NFT technology. The release will be a little bit like a limited edition vinyl, with special perks like unique album art and access to front row concert seats.

NFTs are a natural fit for modern musicians, as they enable artists to release tracks or albums digitally in limited numbers, without the fear of piracy or duplication. NFTs enable an artist to retain the copyright for a track, but sell it on the open market as either a limited edition, or a one-off studio master.

Physical Items: It’s important to note that NFTs aren’t in any way restricted to digital items. The great thing about blockchain technology is that it not only keeps a paper-trail of every transaction the item has ever gone through, but it can also hold encrypted information or history.

• NFTs could prove the authenticity of art and antiques.
• Classic car owners could use NFTs to trace a vehicles history and originality.
• Real estate sales could be managed and tracked using NFT tokens.

Licensing & Record Keeping: In the future, it’s highly likely that a form of NFT technology will be used for sensitive information, such as medical records and even passports, whilst NFTs could also prove valuable for issuing patents and licenses for all manner of activities.

Summing Up

NFT technology and marketplaces like OpenSea are still very much in their infancy. However, the technology behind this new trend is sound, and could easily signal the start of a revolution for digital artists, musicians and other online creators, as well as offering practical solutions for offline applications as well.

Exciting times lie ahead that’s for sure, and there are certainly fortunes to be made for early adopters that do their research.

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