How to buy and sell NFTs
If you are interested in NFTs but do not need crypto, you may be surprised to hear that you actually need crypto. Crypto is the currency of the NFT world – they both exist on the same blockchain.
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Whether you look at NFTs as an artist, a collector, an investor or a player, your journey will start on the same path – with you exchanging money for digital coins. First you get a wallet, then you join a crypto exchange and buy your digital currency. Finally, you join an NFT marketplace, where you use your crypto to buy some data that represents your small part of the digital ownership.
See how to buy and sell NFTs.
Get a crypto wallet – you need it for your NFTs
If you’ve ever considered investing in Bitcoin, you’ve probably heard that you need a digital wallet to store your cryptocurrency – but that’s a misleading language.
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According to the Cointelegraph, wallets do not store crypto or anything else. They provide a private key that guarantees you secure access to your blockchain investments.
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It includes both the NFTs and the cryptocurrency you need to buy them. You only need one wallet, but be sure to choose one that is based on the same blockchain as the NFT you want to buy. A large majority of NFTs are on the Ethereum blockchain; so in most cases an Ethereum crypto wallet is the best option.
Setting one up is not difficult and does not require any special technical skills. The best digital wallets include:
- Metamask
- Math wallet
- Coinbase wallet
- Trust Wallet
- AlphaWallet
Register with an exchange and buy crypto – the right crypto
Now that you have a wallet ready to “store” your crypto, it’s time to convert your money into digital tokens, which you will swap for your first NFT a few steps later. If you’ve only heard of one cryptocurrency, it’s guaranteed to be Bitcoin, the first and still the largest on the market. But in this case, it could just as easily be Monopoly money.
The largest cryptocurrency # 2 is Ethereum, which is dependent on the blockchain that hosts the vast majority of NFTs. This means that you will almost certainly buy ETH, Ethereum’s original cryptocurrency.
To buy Bitcoin, ETH or another cryptocurrency, you must register with an exchange. The largest is Coinbase, which is listed on Nasdaq. But here too you have many options.
When choosing a stock exchange, the Wall Street Journal recommends making your decision based on trading volume, fees, the range of coins you can trade and the exchange’s liquidity levels, collateral features and insurance policies.
Join an NFT Marketplace
You can not buy and sell NFTs on the same exchange where you got crypto. To make your ETH work, you need to join a marketplace where people display, buy, sell and trade NFTs. Then connect your digital wallet – crypto and all – to your new NFT marketplace account.
Just like with crypto exchanges, you have a whole host of NFT marketplaces to choose from. The largest is OpenSea, but other top marketplaces include Nifty Gateway, Rareable, Mintable and SuperRare.
It does not have to be one of these, but you should stick to a popular and established marketplace that many people use. The more active users in a marketplace, the more competitive prices will be when you buy NFTs, and the more potential buyers you will have if you ever decide to sell.
If you choose to sell your NFT, you can do so in the same marketplace where you bought it – only in this case you will “receive” the cryptocurrency from the buyer, who will “receive” the NFT in his or her own digital wallet.
In reality, nothing is taken from or transferred to either you or the buyer. Both the cryptocurrencies and the NFT will remain on the blockchain where they have always been, but new data will be written to indicate the change in ownership.
Start shopping – but where and for what?
Now that you know how to buy and sell NFTs, it’s time to decide which one to buy.
This is where things get difficult.
Some people buy NFTs to access play-to-earn (P2E) video games. Others buy NFTs to join an NFT community. Investors buy NFTs that they think they will be able to sell at a profit in the future. Collectors buy NFTs to boast and status, as well as for hope of future valuation.
According to CoinMarketCap, many NFT marketplaces focus on specific niches such as art or in-game assets. Knowing what kind of NFT you are looking for is a good way to start narrowing down your NFT shopping list.
From there, only you can tell which one is worth your digital dollars.
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