Here's the plan
I understand this can all feel overwhelming, so we're going to take it step by step.What is an NFT?
Non-fungible token's are digital assets that are proven to be unique. The source of this truth is a network of computers around the world that approve each other's actions called the blockchain.
NFTs can have different usecases, many of which are in the early phases of development and adoption. Today, the most common use case of NFTs is in digital art.
Credit: Jack Butcher
Create a wallet
An Ethereum wallet is your access point to everything in Web3. You will use your wallet to store tokens and NFTs, connect to websites, transfer assets and more.
Ethereum wallets are decentralized and portable.They are free to create and don't require an email, username or password.
The easiest way to create an Ethereum wallet and add some test funds to it is with the Rainbow app, available on iOS and Android.
Connect your wallet
Click “Connect” and select “Wallet Connect” then scan the QR code from within Rainbow.
I get it, connecting your wallet to a new website feels intimidating, but there's no need to worry. This initial connection won't give website's access to do anything malicious with your assets.
Things to know before buying your first NFT
When an NFT is created it's called “minting”. This is basically writing the NFT data to the blockchain where it will live forever. In the case of generative NFTs, the first sale is also when the art is created/written to the blockchain, so technically the original buyer is minting the NFT.
Most NFTs have a unique ID that is publicly owned by a wallet. This is what makes it non-fungible.
Minting an NFT, or really any transaction on the Ethereum network, comes with a transaction fee called a gas fee. Unfortunately these fees are can be quite high ($100+ at times), but it's important to understand how they work.
The transaction fee is based on a few factors: type of transaction and the price of gas at that moment being the main ones.
Different types of transactions require different amounts of work from the Ethereum network. For example, sending Ether from one wallet to another is not very demanding, while creating a new NFT collection is very demanding and therefore requires more gas.
The price of gas at any time is based on network activity, and is represented in Gwei, a small fraction of Ether.
Since gas, which you see the real-time price of above, is based on network activity, you can save a significant amount of money by simply waiting for the activity to slow down.
A great resource to reference is RaribleAnalytics. This will give you an easy scale of whether it's currently a good time to make a transaction, or if it's better to wait.
