When people think of digital goods, they typically imagine something that is free or low-cost. If someone had told me five years ago that a Jpeg image could be sold for 1 million dollars, I would have never believed them. But today, digital goods and art have become a reality with the concept of non-fungible tokens or NFTs. Everyone is jumping into this revolutionary new concept. This article discusses how you can buy NFTs on Coinbase and why you should be interested in doing so.Â
- Also learn about: How to make money with NFTs
What are NFTs?
A non-fungible token is a unit of data that lives on a blockchain. It is non-interchangeable and can be sold or traded. While this may sound confusing, you can compare an NFT with a digital certificate of ownership of a piece of digital data you can own. Digital goods can be anything, starting from video clips, images, and even GIFs. You can even create your own NFTs!
Non-fungible means that the data is unique and cannot be replicated. In contrast, fungibility is the feature of an asset to be interchanged with a similar asset type. For instance, every dollar or euro living in different corners has the same value. They can be interchanged, and the value will remain the same.
Dollar bills from this year are not unique. But what if you had a dollar bill from the 1930s that is no longer in circulation and looks completely different from the ones in use? That dollar would be unique and have its own features that differentiate it from the rest of the common dollars, thus making it a rare asset.
Are NFTs a Scam?Â
Even though so many people are discussing NFTs and how they may alter how assets are used in the future, many individuals, including some informed experts, believe this is merely a bubble that will eventually burst. How come? Investors are ready to risk all of their money on NFTs, but the typical American is not. There are several facets to this. Only around 27% of Americans were either extremely acquainted with or moderately familiar with the notion of NFTs, according to a recent study of 1,948 respondents. Only 30% of respondents genuinely knew what an NFT was, even after a thorough explanation, and the remaining respondents still didn’t grasp it.
As you can see, lack of information is the first hurdle. NFTs as an investment are still not as common as gold, real estate, or equities. They still seem to the majority of people as simple JPEG pictures that may be copied and pasted.
Another frequent thought that can cross your mind might be, “What if it’s all simply a scam?” People’s heads blew up when NFTs began to sell for millions of dollars. It changed from something no one had ever heard of to something no one wanted to hear about. And all of this occurred pretty quickly. Natural law dictates that when something rises quickly, it must also fall rapidly. However, this hasn’t happened yet in NFTs. Throughout 2021 and into 2022, NFT trading volume continued to increase. More than 1.538 million NFT art sales on various platforms occurred between October and November 2021. Sales of NFTs will continue to exceed $10–20 million per week, even in 2022. Top investment professionals and corporations are continuing to promote and support NFTs.
What is Coinbase?
Coinbase is a cryptocurrency exchange where you can buy, sell and trade popular cryptocurrencies. In addition to that, Coinbase allows you to set up your own crypto-wallet where you can store any of your digital assets, including NFTs. Recently Coinbase has also started its own NFT marketplace where you can buy NFTs directly through their exchange without having to do it through another marketplace.Â
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Although this marketplace is still in its very beta version, it promises to be convenient for a lot of users. Its interface is similar to that of OpenSea. One of the biggest advantages of this marketplace is that you can even search for NFTs from other NFT marketplaces as well.
Things You Need Before Buying NFTs on Coinbase
- A Coinbase account: If you still do not have an account on this platform, the first thing you should do is create it. The system is fairly easy and takes no longer than 5-10 minutes to set up. You will need to enter your first and last name, valid email address, and personal address. After that, you must select a payment system to connect with your Coinbase account.Â
- A self-custody wallet that is connected to the platform (Coinbase will provide one for you).
- Some cryptocurrency: Most NFTs are made on the Ethereum blockchain and thus require you to own Ether to purchase the NFT and pay the gas fee.Â
Coinbase NFT Marketplace Overview
Three tabs exist in the Coinbase NFT marketplace. These include:
Discover: As the name suggests, in the discover menu, you can locate unique and popular collections of NFTs. You can also sort them based on the most comments and likes they have received. In addition, the marketplace also recommends some ‘Accounts to Follow’ where you can follow specific artists who are likely to drop exciting new NFTs.
Shop: This tab compromises all the NFTs available in the marketplace. You can filter the shop based on :
- Pricing
- Currency Type
- Collections
But if you already have decided which NFT to buy, you directly search it by providing the name of the NFT.
Insights: Finally, under the insights section, you will receive various information regarding your favorite NFTs. You will be able to know NFTs:
- Number
- Owners of the collection
- Trading volume, etc.
How to Buy NFTs on Coinbase
Whether you want to invest in a seven-figure Bored Yacht Ape NFT or just a cool-looking affordable collective that caught your eye, the NFT markets have something for everyone. So let us talk about how you can use Coinbase to buy your very first NFT.
Now that you have everything set up, it is time to make the purchase. You can buy any NFT listed in the marketplace if you have the money to do so. The pricing of the NFT is usually given at the bottom part of the token.
- Select an NFT of your choice
- Click on the Buy button (If this button is not present, then the NFT is probably not for sale)
- After clicking the Buy button, you will see much more information about the NFT.
- Make sure that you have done good research before making the purchase. That is because you can never reverse a transaction in a blockchain.
- After you have decided, click on Buy, and you will be redirected to the checkout page.
- Click on ‘Open Wallet’ to make the payment. This will trigger a cryptocurrency transaction that you need to approve.
- Once done, you can check your newly bought NFT in the Profile> Manage NFT> Owned section.
It is important to note that your NFT might not be visible at once in the Owned section. In that case, you would have to:
- Select the ‘Hidden’ tab
- Click the new NFT
- Unhide it.
The Bottom Line
Coinbase is one of the most popular crypto exchanges out there. With the recent addition of the NFT marketplace, it promises to expand and scale at large and make life for crypto enthusiasts much easier. Although it only supports Ether, it will soon start supporting other networks. If you are new to the whole NFT space and want to give it a try, you should buy NFTs on Coinbase because the platform charges zero platform fee for trading NFTs.
