How to Get Started With NFTs, With Lu Li
🎙 Lu Li is passionate about NFTs and Web3. In 2015, she founded Blooming Founders, a platform and ecosystem designed to help early-stage female entrepreneurs.
💸 Lu recently started investing in NFTs, and today she gives us an overview on getting started, avoiding scams, doing your research and the type of returns you can expect. We also talk about how NFTs are building strong communities online. Please remember that investing in new and volatile markets is risky and unpredictable, so do your research and only invest what you can afford to lose.
💥 Today on The Wallet:
1️⃣ Everyone has heard of NFT’s, but not everyone knows what they are, so Lu gives us the low-down on the definition and tells us why NFT communities are growing from strength to strength.
2️⃣ The digital marketplace for NFTs grew to an estimated $22bn last year, and with its proliferation came an increase in scams. Lu tells us how to do your research before you invest, the process involved in buying and selling NFTs, and how to watch out for scams.
3️⃣ Money plays an important role in helping us achieve the life we want to live, so we talk about the importance of financial freedom and how to determine how much money you need to live your dream life.
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You can listen (48 min) and subscribe here:
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why nfts?
“Web1 is the internet that is the read-only internet. You just put stuff online, people can read it and then they can call you if they want to get in touch with you or order a pizza. Then you have Web2 where then people can contribute and create content, and that’s the read and write web. And now comes Web3.”
Before you consider NFTs, you need to understand your risk profile, because NFTs are a high-risk, volatile investment. However, if you have the spare cash and can handle the risk, the broad consensus in the tech world is that NFTs aren’t going anywhere — so you might as well give them a go.
Web3 is new-age internet — a read/write/execute (or own) web, which is decentralised. From a technological perspective, NFTs truly are revolutionary.
NFT stands for non-fungible token.“Fungible” is an economic term which refers to a good or asset that can be exchanged for another good or asset of equal value. For instance, a 5 pound note is fungible, because it can easily be swapped for another five pound note of the exact same value. If something is “non-fungible,” it means it can’t be swapped for something of completely equal value. An NFT shows exclusive ownership of a particular digital asset.
Take Vestpod as an example. In Web 3, Vestpod could issue a collection of for example 500 NFTs, which would cost something and be the founding membership price. For someone who buys the membership, if they believe that Vestpod will grow in value, it switches from being a cost to an investment.
This can be a useful way for communities to monetise, especially because people don’t want to pay for ongoing membership. The NFT ecosystem means that the original buyer wins, and so does the creator.
2. getting started and avoiding scams
You can only buy NFTs with cryptocurrency. If you don’t have cryptocurrencies, you need to buy them — you can find a range of exchange platforms that let you do this.
Once you have your cryptocurrency on your account, you need to set up a wallet — which is the tool that will hold your NFT. It’s best to do this on your laptop.
There are two ways to buy an NFT: buying it before its release (on a minting page), or you can get marketplaces are in an auction format, so you’ll need to submit a bid for the NFT you want to purchase.
You’ll normally need a minimum of £500 to invest in NFTs, which approximately equals to 0.23 Ethereum.
When you do your research, it’s helpful to follow people who are familiar with the space. Dive in and find people that you resonate with, and very quickly you’ll be a part of the ecosystem. It’s also helpful to join a few Discords (a platform where NFTs are hosted).
Always be mindful of the goal behind your NFT investments: you might be interested in art, a passive income or being a part of a community, but it’s always a good idea to stick to one goal rather than spread yourself too thin.
To avoid scams, never give out your seed phrase or secret key, always go directly to the verified website for any crypto transactions, and question everything!
3. the beauty of financial freedom
Most of us think that we need to work until we retire to be financially free, but investing in assets that continue to grow is a viable option.
For Lu, £600,000 is the amount that she’s aiming to have to add to her existing net worth, to be financially free. Lu doesn’t feel like she needs to strive for millions, because even the uber wealthy have their issues.
It’s great to feel like you don’t have to work when you don’t have to, and financial freedom gets you closer to solving your own problems that you might struggle with when stressed with overwhelm at work.
RESOURCES:
You can follow and connect with Lu at:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/houseofli/
Twitter @houseofli
Resources mentioned in the episode:
Crypto Coven: https://www.cryptocoven.xyz/
*** Our podcast partners PensionBee are also offering you a £25 pension contribution (£20, plus £5 in tax relief) when you sign up. To claim the offer, follow this link: https://www.pensionbee.com/vestpod. Capital at risk. ***