Blockchain / Art
Here are the basics I should have known
I am new to the topic of blockchain & cryptocurrencies.
A few minutes ago, I wanted to buy an NFT since I heard about the hype. Stupidly, I tried it before I did any research.
Here is what I should have known.
Unlike real trading cards, artwork and music, NFTs are not usually paid for with fiat currencies. Fiat currencies are money issued by governments — euros, dollars, yen.
NFTs, on the other hand, are usually paid with cryptocurrencies, especially Ethereum. If you thought that buying an NFT is so easy, I have to fail you.
That was my first disappointment, too — I had to buy some Ether first.
But it got worse.
The fees
I bought the cryptocurrency Ether on the platform Binance — in total for $35.
So far, so good. To buy an NFT with it, I need to transfer that amount to a local wallet in my browser — but I forgot about the transaction fees.
Transferring from one wallet to another works through the Ethereum network. Such a transfer costs ether — after all, the network participants do not work for free.
However, I would not have thought that it is expensive.
For the $35, I had to pay $12 in fees. Of course, this is not a fixed percentage. When transferring more Ether, the fee’s ratio gets better , but this is unsuitable for someone who wants to buy a cheap NFT.
I finally had my Ether in my wallet in the browser. On platforms like OpenSea, you can buy NFTs with it. That’s exactly what I was going to do. I went to the site and picked out the cheapest NFTs.
Some of them are available for less than $2 — of course, I wanted to buy them. And again, a faux pas.
Performing the transaction again wastes money — this time a lot of money. The gas fee, which you have to pay to the network to buy an NFT, costs almost $42 — a brutal amount.
To buy a cheap NFT, of course, this is too much.
Enough costs — let’s move on to the next thing I should have known.
I was planning to buy an NFT as a small experiment — maybe as a real investment. Only then did I realize that anyone can publish NFTs.
On platforms like OpenSea, it’s a piece of cake — create a collection and upload something — no matter if GIF or JPG.
The more I’ve been on OpenSea, the more it’s become clear — people are uploading all kinds of nonsense. Memes, nudes, and poorly done screenshots they certainly shouldn’t have made.
Meaning copyright — a lot of people upload logos of brands or companies there, and I’m pretty sure that’s not legitimate.
I find the hype around NFTs pretty funny. However, most of the “artworks” that are published as such have no real value.
The transaction costs are huge in proportion — as is the energy required to perform the network transactions.
I believe that NFTs could be put to good use — e.g., for identity cards or other documents that should not be forgeable.
However, I will not buy an NFT artwork at the moment.
Especially not for so much money.
The Ether I had to pay for the transaction is gone. The rest is sitting tight in my local wallet. If I want to sell it again, I have to transfer it to an exchange — that costs a lot again.
Coinsmart. Beste Bitcoin-Börse in Europa
Source: https://medium.com/@louispetrik/buy-nft-ce9f4f773ef5?source=rss——-8—————–cryptocurrency
