Written by Mitanshu Goyal

If you have shifted your entire life online thanks to the pandemic, you would have probably come across NFTs by now. 

The world. Well, the online world is buzzing with these weird nonsensical images, which apparently are supposed to be worth millions. 

The hype is enormous & real enough now to have crossed the question of whether it’s a scam. 

Big players around the globe are going all-in with the trend, and the early investors are cashing in millions with these.

The day is not far off when your financial advisor rings you up, telling you to add some NFTs to your portfolio. 

So without further ado, 

What the frak are NFT’s? 


NFTs are Non-fungible tokens. 

Well, that doesn’t quite clear it up. 

Let’s break it.

‘Non-fungible’ basically means unique or non-replaceable. Something that cannot be copied, substituted or subdivided. Like diamonds, for example. Every individual diamond has a different cut, color, size, & grade – in a sense that it is not interchangeable. Every piece is unique. 

‘Tokens’ are the currency of the blockchain world. They represent an asset and can be used for investment purposes, store value, or make purchases.

So you can think of NFTs as a sort of digital diamonds. They are unique, represent an asset, and can be of high value. 

What are NFTs made of?

NFTs look like this. 

They are created as representations of both tangible and intangible items.

It can be  

  • Deeds to a property
  • Rights to a piece of art
  • Ticket to an event

With NFTs, let your imagination fly. 

These images, you see up there?

The cheapest one of them all costs $1.5 million. 

Who decides the value and is every NFT worth a million? 

Not every diamond is the Koh-i-Noor, right? 

NFTs' value depends upon their scarcity, the demand for the artwork or sometimes even the creator, and the prices of the underlying cryptocurrency used. 

How to buy your first NFT?

Deciding to get on the NFT ride is the first and probably the hardest step. From here, on its all smooth sailing: 

What do you need to buy an NFT? 

A digital wallet


You’ll need an Ethereum-compatible wallet if you wanna score some NFTs. This is the place where you’ll store your NFTs. Some popular ones are MetaMask, Trust Wallet, Coinbase & Enjin. 

Opening a digital wallet

Getting a digital wallet opened is fairly straightforward. You simply go to the platform of your preference and register with your details. 

Cryptocurrency

It’s an easy guess. You’ll need some cryptocurrency – Ethereum specifically to purchase an NFT. You can easily buy Ethereum through the website that’s selling the NFT, or you can get it transferred from any other crypto exchange to your wallet. 

Buying Ethereum 

Here’s a quick step-by-step tutorial to buy Ethereum

Create an account with a cryptocurrency exchange. Make sure you choose a credible one.


Verify your email address & phone number. 

After signing up you have to add a payment method.  Choose from debit/credit card or bank transfer.

Select ‘Ether’ and click on the ‘buy’ option. 

Click ‘Buy Eth’. And Voila! 

Some popular crypto exchanges

Coinbase

Binance

Kraken

Crypto.com

Gemini

Adding Ethereum to your digital wallet

The Eth you just bought is stored safely in your exchange. You need to transfer it to your digital wallet so that you can begin with your NFT shopping. 

Here’s how: 

Open your digital wallet webpage. For this tutorial, Metamask has been used.


Copy your public address from your digital wallet. 

Open the account you just created on the exchange where you bought Ethereum. 

Click on Ethereum. 

You will find a send/receive option. Click on send. 

Paste the public address you copied. 

Add the amount you want to transfer. 

Click on ‘Send now’ 

You will receive Ethereum in your wallet, in a few minutes. 

Note: Transferring Ethereum from exchange to wallet requires you to pay a network fee called gas fees. It is a fee charged by the Ethereum network to execute the transaction. The gas price fluctuates so check the transaction page before transferring. 

A marketplace account

Once you have your digital wallet ready with some hot Ethereum coins straight from the exchange. You are ready to visit the NFT store or NFT marketplaces. As evident, these platforms are where you can go to buy an NFT. Once you have your marketplace account up & running, you’ll be all set to become an NFT investor. 

Popular NFT marketplaces

There’s an ocean of NFT marketplaces. But we won’t be surfing every wave, because it can be dangerous. Here are the most credible platforms to buy NFTs. 

Opensea: Denoted as the largest NFT marketplace, Opensea is the home of NFT buyers. It’s a peer-to-peer platform where you can buy, sell or trade ‘rare digital items and collectibles.’

Foundation: Recently launched, the foundation is the hub of NFT artists. It blew up owing to its unique concept. 

It’s an exclusive community of NFT collectors & artists where you will need an invite from fellow creators to join. 

Launched less than a year ago, they are already one of the top NFT marketplaces garnering a pool of $160 million for their creators. Due to the extreme exclusivity, the quality of the NFT art is assured to be supreme. 

Rarible: Rarible is an Ethereum-based NFT platform enabling the creation, sale, and purchase of ownership rights. To participate in the voting within the platform, you will need RARI tokens. 

Apart from these, a few other up-and-coming platforms: 

SuperRare, Axie, Mintable, Theta Drop

Connect your wallet to the marketplace

You will need to connect your digital wallet to the marketplace to buy NFTs. It is super safe & easy to add to your wallet. Most platforms have a ‘connect wallet’ button on top of the page. 

Once you do this, You are ready to jump on the NFT buying spree. 

Buying NFT

A quick walkthrough:

  1. Open any marketplace. We like Opensea. 


  1. Click on ‘Explore’ to surf through different NFTs. 


  1. Select an NFT you want to buy. 


  1. Click on ‘buy now’ 

  2. You’ll see a collection review window. Check the box after reviewing and Checkout.

  3. The purchase window will appear with the final price including the corresponding gas fees. Yes, you have to pay a network fee here too, since you are interacting with the ethereum network. 

  4. Once done you’ll have your NFT waiting for you in your profile as soon as the contract goes through. 

A couple of things you can check before buying your first NFT: 

Seller Verification

The transaction fees offered by the marketplace

What makes the NFT unique?

Performance of the creators other NFTs

The Market Volume of the said NFT 

With the end of this article, you are ready to start your NFT investing journey. Go nuts! 


About Mitanshu Goyal:

I am a freelance writer with love for Defi. I have been exploring the space for about a year now, helping startups in their content marketing efforts & breaking down Defi concepts for the common folk along the way. I still have a long way to go, and whatever I learn I try to pass on to be consumed in a simple, effortless manner.

Sources: 

https://ethereum.org/en/nft/

https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/nft-non-fungible-token/

https://www.theverge.com/22310188/nft-explainer-what-is-blockchain-crypto-art-faq

https://malaysia.news.yahoo.com/nft-markets-post-record-breaking-113848657.html