Welcome to the Open Sea
A deep dive into NFTs for beginners
Welcome, Non-Fungible Token (NFTs) noob.
Have you recently gotten into the NFT space and are enjoying yourself?
Speaking on behalf of the NFT community, we welcome you with open arms.
If you are still struggling to wrap your head around these concepts, I have other articles about NFTs. Check them out.
Opensea.io is the first stop for searching for the most coveted NFTs. Even if NFTs are not interesting to you, I would see some of the available artwork. If you are unfamiliar with the process, it may feel daunting, but Crypto Crier is here to help. This article covers in-depth how you can get the best bang for your buck and some tips that can help keep you ahead of the curve.
Starting Off
The first thing you need to do is connect your wallet to Open Sea, which is similar to creating an account on any other website. Web3 sites use your cryptocurrency wallet as your login. There are many to choose from, but I personally use Wallet Connect or Metamask, depending on your device to browse OpenSea. Wallet connect is a better mobile experience than Metamask, but if you are using your computer Metamask is more streamlined. For this ‘How To,’ I used my iPad, but most devices have similar instructions. If you have never purchased any cryptocurrencies, check out this article to get you started in the digital realm.
Once the wallet is connected, Open Sea has a vast variety of collectibles and artwork to browse. Pick an amount you are willing to spend on NFTs and stick with it for your first couple of purchases. Ethereum is the most commonly used currency for NFTs, but you need to use wrapped ethereum (wETH) if you make offers or bids. Opensea.io directs you to a wrapper directly, so we don’t have to get too technical. The best advice I have is to watch the 7-day volume and 90-day volume under statistics to see which projects are trending. Make sure projects have the blue checkmark, so you aren’t buying from fake collections. If it isn’t verified, you can check it out in the discord, which we will cover in-depth in this article. You can also filter by your budget to see which of these trending projects are within reach.
Once you find a project that catches your eye, rarity.tools will become your new best friend. You can search each project for the desirable traits on the left side of the page. Each choice will further narrow down your results; If I look for an Ethereum necklace and sick sunglasses, rarity tools will only show avatars with both traits. Most projects that are trending have their collection setup on rarity.tools. I like to search priced low to high, filter by budget, and buy now; you can usually see cheaper outliers than the rarity.
Join Discord and Get Involved
Each NFT project has a chat room for everyone to participate and find community updates. Most developers choose to use the app Discord because of the many features and ease of use. One of the best aspects of these projects is the community—tribalism at its’ finest.
If you go to a community discord and there is only talk of prices and not running conversation, I would steer away; The community might be only interested in flipping for higher prices. Check the road map for the project and see if they have anything unique planned or if they are executing the planned road map. Another great discord tool is the rarity sniper channel. It is similar to rarity.tools, but you have to search by id number for each avatar, and since you already have to use discord, it cuts down on a cluttered desktop.
Have Fun
As a long-time crypto ‘hodler,’ I was skeptical of the NFT space at first; I don’t ever want to let go of my precious ethereum, but after spending a few months immersed in the ecosystem, I am glad I did. I haven’t had this much fun trading collectibles since I was hustling Pokemon and Magic: The Gathering cards back in middle school. With all the doom and gloom on most social media outlets, it is refreshing to just relax and browse beautiful art from around the globe. Most of you were here for cryptocurrency information and education, but while we consolidate in these price ranges, NFTs offer an opportunity to learn a new market. Money can be made in other sectors, and learning to follow the volume can increase your ethereum holdings.
That’s all for the free weekly Crypto Crier. If you enjoyed this article, please like and share. If you have any questions, please leave a comment, and I can answer your questions further. As with all of my writing, this is not financial advice and is my opinion. I cannot stress enough how important it is to do your own research on all financial endeavors. I hope that these newsletters can help investors realize the current financial systems’ downfalls and usher in a more equitable system without middlemen.
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