Introduction

This guide was written to minimize risks on purchasing NFTs in this space by equipping each individual with the ability to identify best practices and projects with good potential. 

Top tip: Do not buy from OpenSea if you are a beginner. Also, free mints are not free — you will still have to pay gas fees.

Glossary

WL: WhitelistFP: FloorpriceDYOR: Do your own researchNFA: Not financial Advice
Alpha: First hand calls that has high potentialOS: OpenseaMint: Purchase NFT directly from projectBuy: Purchase off the opensea market
Bullish: Positive feeling about a projectTakoa: Pump godMint off contract: To purchase the NFT directly from project through EtherscanPaperhand: Constantly dropping your price in fear
FUD: Fear, Uncertainty and doubtPump – Increase in Price Rug: Getting scammed by the project teamDegen: High risk

Also Read: WL, PFP, Rug: Here Are The Top 15 NFT Slangs You Need To Know

Prelude: words to live by

Join first, think later

Never has the phrase “The early bird catches the worm” been more justified. In the NFT world, you snooze you lose. 

See a new project open up Discord? Join. New project on Twitter? Follow.

Get the “OG” and whitelist roles as early as you can. If the project turns out to be garbage, move on. Conversely if it turns out to be a gem, you might have struck the lottery.

It is significantly easier to get a whitelist for the project.

Do not YOLO

Do not “Mint First, Regret Later”.

If someone shills a project that has public sale running and you have neither heard of it nor have you done your own research, please do not FOMO and YOLO in.

Keep your money and live to fight another day unless you are already swimming in profits and would love a gamble.

Profits are profits

Do not cry over selling your NFT early. If you are in the green, it’s a win.

Stop losses

If you have traded on the stock/crypto markets, you would know what a stop loss is. If you were intending for a quick flip but the floor price tanks and you don’t feel good about it, grit your teeth and let it go at a loss. Don’t turn it into a family heirloom. Some money is better than no money.

Never look back

Broke up with your ex? It does not matter if she transforms into Jessica Alba or Ugly Betty after. You sold, you move on. (Oh wait.. but I love Jessica Alba!)

Social essentials

Here are some social media platforms that will be essential in your NFT journey.

Technical essentials (optional)

In this section I will be sharing the basic Wallets, Exchanges and Markets I personally use for projects on different blockchains. Feel free to use alternatives as you see fit.

  • Wallet: For storing coins and minting NFT
  • Exchange: For purchasing and selling coins
  • Market: For buying and selling NFT

Ethereum (ETH)

  • Wallet: Metamask
  • Exchange: Crypto.com App
  • Market: OpenSea

Solana (SOL)

Cronos (CRO)

Note: Crypto.com App might not have the best market rates when buying coins but it has one of the lowest withdrawal fees. Moreover, it is extremely easy and convenient to use. 

Funding

[Author’s Note: For starters, I will only be discussing ETH projects. Additionally, kindly take note that I am from Singapore so the physical cash conversion to FIAT will be from a Singaporean’s POV.]

Decide on a budget, an amount you can afford to lose, and work with it. A good starting capital in my opinion is US$1,500.

Once you have ascertained an amount you are comfortable with, let’s get you started on getting the funds ready before you purchase/mint your first NFT.

I will not be touching on P2P because the last-man-standing “Huobi Global” will cease to exist in Singapore by March. 

Funding routes

  1. Bank > StraitsX > Crypto.com App > MetaMask
  2. Bank > SGD to XSGD > XSGD to ETH > MetaMask

During the sign-up process, StraitsX will prompt you to link your bank account and it is rather self-explanatory. Just follow the steps to get your funds in.

Also Read: A Guide To StraitsX (Xfers): The Safest Way To Get Your SGD Into Crypto Exchanges

Once the funds are in your StraitsX account, you can link it up with your Crypto.com app. Login to your Crypto.com app and follow the directions stipulated below to purchase your desired amount of ETH.

Buying ETH on Crypto.com
Image Credit: Crypto.com

Also Read: Still Looking For A Crypto Exchange? Here’s A Singaporean’s Guide To Crypto.com

Next, we will be withdrawing ETH from CDC App to MetaMask. The Ethereum Mainnet (ERC Network) is pre-set into MetaMask by default so you do not need to set it up.

Congratulations, you are now ready to start your NFT minting adventure! 

Introduction to OpenSea

OpenSea is the marketplace to trade your NFTs, and the place that will display the NFTs that you minted. Here are some things you need to take note of:

  • One time account initialization fee 
  •  One time collection initialization fee, what this means is that per NFT collection, there is a really small fee to list an unlimited number NFTs from it for sale.
  • A 2.5% Opensea Fee is taken out of the Sale. 
  • WETH Offer: Purple ether, usually you DO NOT want to accept this as a beginner as YOU are paying for the gas fees instead of the seller, and usually people would lowball you on the deal. 
  • Royalties: When you are selling take note of the amount of royalties + OS tax as you might be getting back less ETH as compared to the price you paid for the mint. 

How and where to begin

Start by joining a community so you will have access to information. In the NFT space, information is king.

I started my NFT journey from sitting on the toilet bowl browsing through Tiktok when this fella called Chiau appeared on my #FYP. His videos on NFT piqued my interest and I began doing research on how to get involved.

He has literally career-switched from a day-job to flipping NFT for a living and boy, is he doing well.

[Author’s Note: I am not related to him IRL in any way, and I am not paid nor do I get any benefits for shilling him. His socials were merely the genesis of my NFT beginnings.]

Getting WL or OG roles

“Join First, Think Later” is my platinum motto.

OG: You are one of the earliest batch of members to have supported the project. OGs typically have the most benefits; such as getting to mint before everyone else, a cheaper mint price, or get to mint more #, etc.

WL: Getting the Whitelisted role means you most likely have access to presale mint. I say “most likely” because if the project team screws up, you are screwed too (happened to me on The Spacebulls Project). 

Why is getting into the presale mint important?

You are almost guaranteed a spot to mint if all goes well.

You have all the luxury of time in the world to mint during the stipulated timeframe which means you can mint whenever you feel the gas fees are low.

Total Mint Cost = Mint Price + Gas Fee

Do note that certain projects over allocate whitelists, which means you might lose your mint availability should you not mint early.

There are numerous ways to get Whitelisted or OG roles and I recommend you try every means necessary because the only thing you lose is time and effort, and the best thing is, it is free.

Each project has different criteria for OG and WL roles and those criteria may alter over time so you will have to be on-the-ball. Some of the common criteria include:

  • Twitter
    • First X number of followers
    • First X followers to RT and/or Like and/or Tag X friends
    • Raffle for Twitter giveaways (just follow the Tweet’s instructions)
  • Instagram
    • Pretty much the same as Twitter
  • Discord
    • First X number to enter discord
    • First X number to hit Level X and/or have invited X number of friends
    • Giveaway raffles (Look for giveaway channels)
    • Meme contest
    • Fanart contest
    • Reacting to emojis
    • Lore writing

I might not have covered the entire field of how-to-get-whitelisted but those are the general criteria for each platform.

Once you have entered a Discord server, the very first channel you look for and read is the WL info channel. Follow the instructions, fulfil those criteria in the shortest amount of time possible and you should be Gucci. 

I am OG/WL on Discord, now what?

First things first, for the love of god, please be a Marie Kondo and sort your discord servers into categories. As time passes, you will have accumulated a ton of discord servers and it will take you forever to find the one you are looking for. Sort them like how you would sort your mobile apps into folders; works exactly the same.

I recommend piling all projects you have gotten OG/WL role in, into one folder. I take it further by sorting them based on mint dates.

Now, the Million Dollar question, which project should I actually mint? Let’s ascertain that with a framework and by applying the Law of Demand & Supply.

Go through the assessment, apply your analyses, and determine whether the project is a Go or No-Go. I will not be supplementing the framework with a score count because it can be very controversial and subjective. You have to make your own calls.

What not to do

  • Do not allow DMs because, scammers. Turn off guide here: https://www.shorturl.at/eDJQ0
  • Do not click unofficial links or any links you are unfamiliar with
  • Do not connect and sign your wallet to any unofficial or unknown links
  • Do not attempt to flip NFT off secondary market as a beginner in my opinion unless your alpha is very credible and well-substantiated

Ending notes

Congratulations, you made it to the end of my guide. I hope this guide serves you well in your NFT endeavours and may you have a fulfilling journey ahead. I bid you Godspeed.

[This article was written by Ben (@Keridas) from the Chain Debrief Community.]

[Author’s Notes: This guide is designed in a concise yet comprehensive fashion to get you started on NFT as a possible money-making avenue. I shall emphasize on the word “POSSIBLE” because there are no guarantees and I shall bear no responsibility if you incur any losses. If you are here, it means you already know what an NFT is and intend to begin right away. I am writing this to the best of my knowledge and if you have any better ideas or positive inputs, feel free to raise them and I will amend or add-it-to the guide. If at any point you encounter a slang you do not understand, check out the last part of this guide; Jargons. None of my content is financial advice and I am in no way a professional. #DYOR #NFA.]

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