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&nbsp;&nbsp;In the&nbsp;<a href="https://eng.magiceden.dev/scaling-magic-eden-part-1">last post</a> we discussed motivations and options for running your own indexer for Solana.&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.solana.com/developing/plugins/geyser-plugins">Geyser</a> has emerged as a popular mechanism for indexing on Solana, and has dramatically improved our site reliability and speed - becoming almost 30x faster from chain-to-site!&nbsp;&nbsp; Solana Validators&nbsp; &nbsp;Solana validators are nodes in the network responsible for verifying transactions and maintaining the blockchain's integrity. They perform critical functions such as participating in the network's consensus algorithm, providing RPC (Remote Procedure Call) endpoints, and staking SOL tokens to secure the network. Validators play a crucial role in ensuring the network's stability and security by continuously monitoring the blockchain and ensuring that it remains in consensus.&nbsp;Solana validators run on beefy hardware in order to keep up with the network’s high throughput. They require at least 12 CPU cores, 128GB of RAM, and an SSD hard drive with a minimum capacity of 1.5TB, to ensure fast transaction processing and participation in the consensus algorithm. These requirements contribute to the platform's high-performance capabilities and ability to handle a large volume of transactions efficiently.In comparison, the typical hardware requirements for an Ethereum node are much lower, with a minimum of 4 CPU cores, 4-8GB of RAM, and an SSD hard drive with a minimum capacity of 256GB. However, the exact specifications can vary depending on the specific use case and the network's current state.&nbsp;What is Geyser?&nbsp;&nbsp;Geyser,&nbsp;<a href="https://github.com/solana-labs/solana/pull/20047">introduced in September 2021</a>, is a validator plugin mechanism through which the information about accounts, slots, blocks, and transactions can be transmitted to an external sink. Common sinks include external data stores such as relational databases, NoSQL databases or Kafka.&nbsp;While it requires running your own validator, the Geyser interface allows you to open up the fire-hose of all updates on Solana.&nbsp;This beats fetching data from RPC by orders of magnitude, in part because there is no need for egress from your backend’s network! Geyser enables you to dump updates wherever they need to go, without the unnecessary network overhead.&nbsp;Account updates are of particular interest to us, because they are not performantly accessible via RPC. The&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.rs/solana-geyser-plugin-interface/latest/solana_geyser_plugin_interface/geyser_plugin_interface/trait.GeyserPlugin.html#method.update_slot_status">Geyser interface</a> includes a method you can implement called&nbsp;update_account. This method is called for each updated account, along with metadata like slot and whether the update came from the validator’s snapshot, or a recent on-chain update.&nbsp;<figure class="table" style="float:left;"><table><tbody><tr><td style="background-color:#333333;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;fn&nbsp;update_account( &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &amp;mut&nbsp;self, &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; account: ReplicaAccountInfoVersions, &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; slot:&nbsp;u64, &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; is_startup:&nbsp;bool, &nbsp; &nbsp; ) -&gt;&nbsp;Result&lt;()&gt;</td></tr></tbody></table></figure> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Geyser Considerations&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;Running a Validator&nbsp;Running your own validator is the most operationally complex part of setting up Geyser-based indexing. It’s gotten easier over the years, with a<a href="https://discord.com/channels/428295358100013066/837340113067049050"> strong community of validators on Discord</a> and increasingly stable releases from the Solana Foundation.&nbsp;As we discussed, running a full voting Solana Validator&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.solana.com/running-validator/validator-reqs">requires some hefty hardware</a>. If you’d like to operate your validator as an RPC node (serving read/write requests to the network), bump those specs to 256GB RAM with 16 cores. Most dApp teams are not in a position to conveniently run bare-metal, and the network cost to pipe data can be exorbitant.&nbsp;Fortunately for us - Geyser-only validators have lower hardware requirements compared to voting or RPC nodes, which makes them more manageable to operate on cloud computing platforms such as AWS or GCP.We’ll go over our validator setup in detail in a later post.&nbsp; &nbsp;Handling Throughput&nbsp;&nbsp;Ingesting all accounts provided through&nbsp;update_account&nbsp;would result in thousands of updates per second. Scaling a data-sink to this amount of throughput is unnecessary for most dApps, as most only care about a small subset of on-chain programs. Implementing a set of account filters in your plugin is recommended in order to reduce your egress.The Solana Labs Postgres Plugin has an&nbsp;<a href="https://github.com/solana-labs/solana-accountsdb-plugin-postgres">AccountSelector</a> which provides a great example of flexible account filtering:&nbsp; &nbsp;<img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/fH_uxl6j0zfuSz7LVvlPLrI2ueXUEV8UMD7jDFtJi2C7Iz86K5obu0oKWvPPmlmPJ5Y5f1wI6L23B3aw6iRbmQqfPxYFGoCvi1UYu3eDZjS8TFuCGvjeYnryhFU2mK9EJKsmr0inacQdVMlxBAsIkSE">&nbsp;It's worth noting that the configuration is loaded during validator startup, and any changes to the configuration require a restart of the validator. This restart can take up to an hour, which can be inconvenient if the configuration is updated frequently. To avoid this downtime and maintain flexibility with your configuration, incorporating configuration hot-reload into your plugin is recommended. &nbsp;Some implementations (like&nbsp;<a href="https://github.com/holaplex/indexer-geyser-plugin">Holaplex’s plugin</a>) provide additional flexibility by fetching detailed configuration (like a<a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/solana-labs/token-list/main/src/tokens/solana.tokenlist.json"> token whitelist</a>) from an external server at startup.&nbsp;&nbsp;Commitment Status&nbsp; &nbsp;Solana has 3 states for a slot:&nbsp;&nbsp;Processed -&nbsp;The highest slot of the heaviest fork processed by the node. Ledger state at this slot is not derived from a confirmed or finalized block, but if multiple forks are present, is from the fork the validator believes is most likely to finalize.&nbsp;Confirmed -&nbsp;Block has received a super-majority of ledger votes.&nbsp;&nbsp;Finalized (Rooted) -&nbsp;Block has become a root of the chain, meaning all branches on the network are descended from this block.&nbsp;&nbsp;<img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/fwwC_D_MdWiGvk0dbrWPHaQfYHhFkCh_sGbpsEPPQOWIjiqLWxV8xhCs0uLvBRhyVYTnqXO7bRkzTpsVfla-Fyjj6xU4smWA1FdT6W9ZRCmN-x5qjcBWbPY8KJ9T5oi-PhKKaU59EIj1sDwWS0qpa3M">&nbsp;Geyser emits account and transaction updates as soon as they are processed, which is beneficial for end-to-end indexing speed. However, there is a small chance (5-10%) that a processed slot may be&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.solana.com/terminology#skipped-slot">skipped</a>, so it's essential for data sinks to be aware of this and handle it appropriately.There's a trade-off to consider here - waiting for a block to be finalized before displaying the updated state to a user can result in a delay of up to 30 seconds behind the chain, while displaying new state at confirmed may only delay it by a few seconds once a transaction has been submitted to the network, with a negligible chance of being reverted.&nbsp; <img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5hsb-n75-7MjCv2MMdVYRhRzlwygFOV1I0t4nTKJIdMAGBbcl9bAGfJkd8qDzLTm07pr-96BwWAk39XFfUSJd2BbOqn6ldNyESi3pUC5xVVPLCSR-4ekjYNL1cl8oK5ZePSY_fFXzvYja9dIZTofeU"> &nbsp;We’ll go over our chosen solution for handling commitment status in a following post.&nbsp; &nbsp;Transactions Handling Considerations&nbsp;In addition to the&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.rs/solana-geyser-plugin-interface/latest/solana_geyser_plugin_interface/geyser_plugin_interface/trait.GeyserPlugin.html#method.update_account">account_update</a>&nbsp;method, Geyser also provides a&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.rs/solana-geyser-plugin-interface/latest/solana_geyser_plugin_interface/geyser_plugin_interface/trait.GeyserPlugin.html#method.notify_transaction">notify_transaction</a>, which similarly signals a new processed transaction. This can be quite useful if you’d like to fully remove your dependencies from RPC providers - with account state and transactions, you have all the information you need to power any read-dApp you’d need to build (beyond actually broadcasting transactions to the network).&nbsp;This may not be as critical as ingesting account state from Geyser however, since your backend can use any RPC provider’s&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.solana.com/api/websocket#blocksubscribe">Subscription Websocket API</a> to subscribe for new blocks, without placing additional reliability concerns / load on your account-indexing infrastructure.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Popular open source Geyser Plugins&nbsp; &nbsp;<a href="https://github.com/solana-labs/solana-accountsdb-plugin-postgres">Solana Labs Postgres Plugin</a>&nbsp;This plugin was the original proof-of-concept built by the Solana Labs team and writes transactions, account/block/slot updates directly to Postgres.&nbsp;It showcases some good examples on filtering down transactions / accounts based on configuration mounted to the validator. There’s also functionality to store&nbsp;<a href="https://github.com/solana-labs/solana-accountsdb-plugin-postgres#capture-historical-account-data">historic account data</a> in Postgres, allowing for lookback on older values of accounts.&nbsp;<a href="https://github.com/Blockdaemon/solana-accountsdb-plugin-kafka">Blockdaemon Kafka Plugin&nbsp;</a>&nbsp;This plugin is a great example of writing account updates to Kafka. It uses the&nbsp;<a href="https://github.com/confluentinc/librdkafka">librdkafka</a> library to&nbsp;<a href="https://github.com/Blockdaemon/solana-accountsdb-plugin-kafka#buffering">buffer Kafka events</a>, which can be quite useful when Kafka is experiencing temporary issues.&nbsp;&nbsp;Writing to a message broker like Kafka decouples your validator from your indexers, allowing for:&nbsp;<ol><li>Better performance&nbsp;- Geyser will not be blocked by how quickly we can index updates</li><li>Increase Reliability - Message consumer can handle database failures downstream&nbsp;</li><li>Throttling - Can smooth out large bursts of messages in times of high TPS load &nbsp;</li></ol><a href="https://github.com/ckamm/solana-accountsdb-connector">Mango GRPC Stream</a>One of the more mature open-source plugins. This runs a GRPC server and streams updates to any consumer that connects.&nbsp;It also comes with stateless “connectors” that will startup and subscribe for updates from Geyser based on connector-specific configuration, deserialize account data and write to a table of your choice.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;<a href="https://github.com/holaplex/indexer-geyser-plugin">Holaplex RabbitMq&nbsp;</a>Another great example of writing to a message broker.&nbsp;This comes with additional flavors of filters for accounts like owners, account public keys, token mint addresses, and validator startup messages (which make it easy to backfill a new set of accounts to your database)&nbsp; &nbsp;Conclusion &nbsp;In conclusion - Geyser is a powerful tool for your indexing infrastructure to allow your dApps to be as fast and performant as possible. In our next post - we’ll dive deeper into how we integrated Geyser into our backend.&nbsp; &nbsp;

In the last post we discussed motivations and options for running your own indexer for Solana. 

Geyser has emerged as a popular mechanism for indexing on Solana, and has dramatically improved our site reliability and speed - becoming almost 30x faster from chain-to-site!  

Intro To Geyser

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As the leading cross-chain NFT platform, Magic Eden handles a significant amount of daily traffic both through our core website as well as our API that we expose to the community. In 2021, Magic Eden processed over 1.5x more transactions than OpenSea, with one transaction every 1-3 seconds.

How Magic Eden handles enormous traffic as one of the most popular crypto dApps

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It’s time to announce the winners of the Magic Eden Creator Monetization Hackathon!&nbsp;In case you missed it, on October 28th, Magic Eden launched our&nbsp;<a href="https://gitcoin.co/hackathon/magic/onboard">Creator Monetization Hackathon</a>. Our hackathon invited developers to experiment and innovate with solutions enabling creators in the Solana NFT space to earn royalties and identify alternative monetization models. We dedicated $270K to a prize pool for the hackathon and are excited to announce the winners today.We want to thank the Solana ecosystem partners and Solana developers who helped us put this hackathon together. Over the course of the hackathon, there were 9 live workshops from Quicknode, Galaxe, Thirdweb, Darkblock, Raindrops, SolanaFM, Phase Labs, Helius, Horizon Labs, and a giveaway from Alchemy. The workshops helped developers utilize the tools presented and inspired innovation in their builds. Check out recordings for all the workshops&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@MagicEden/videos">here</a>. We also want to thank the group of Solana developers, creators, and builders who took time to judge and review all the submissions this past week-&nbsp; <a href="https://twitter.com/aeyakovenko">@aeyakovenko</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/evesinfinity">@evesinfinity</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/draxxts">@draxxts</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/flawmz">@flawmz</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/statikdev">@statikdev</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/voshy">@voshy</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/libertysquareHQ">@libertysquareHQ</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/baalazamon">@baalazamon</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/0xMert_">@0xMert_</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/immature69">@immature69</a>.Over 150 projects were submitted from over 500 registrations during our six-week hackathon. From all these submissions, our judges have selected 15 projects split up within 4 Hackathon tracks to award today. You can browse through all of the project submissions by track on our Gitcoin page&nbsp;<a href="https://gitcoin.co/hackathon/magic/?">here</a>.We are now pleased to announce the results of the Magic Eden Creator Monetization. Let’s give a round of applause for our winners…<h1>Future of Royalties Track - $155K Total in Prizes</h1>For the Future of Royalties track, we challenged participants to reimagine how royalties should work. Ideas can range from royalty incentivization to more complex models such as dynamic royalties. We want to empower developers with the platform and tools to come up with insightful ways to manage and motivate the payment of royalties.First place, $80,000:&nbsp;Regalia Regalia is a fully functioning royalty-tracking and fulfillment tool linked to the Regalia Oracle, which provides developers with a framework through which they can easily build their own royalty tracking tools and serves as a source of truth for royalty fulfillment.The Regalia Portal is an implementation of Regalia Oracle and is a full-fledged royalty tracking and fulfillment app for project creators and community members alike, ready for use today with plans on next steps of development outlined.Their tool suite provides developers &amp; creators with a boilerplate &amp; API framework to use as a springboard, upon which they can very easily develop their own set of royalty management tools, all while being sure that their tools will be able to communicate with others platforms that are built on top of or connect to Regalia.<ul><li><a href="https://github.com/irwynks/regalia/tree/master">Full Github</a></li><li><a href="https://regalia.live/">Regalia Portal Site</a></li><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ0x8-_rNFE">Regalia Portal Demo</a></li><li><a href="https://documenter.getpostman.com/view/19486091/2s8YzUwMBb">Regalia Oracle</a></li></ul><figure class="image"><img src="https://imagedelivery.net/E-VnZk4fwouzlzwX_qz4fg/d528e4da-d456-4c01-29c6-66f4aa2b4900/auction"></figure>Second Place, $30,000:&nbsp;CPL Dashboard&nbsp;<ul><li>CPL analyses and aggregates royalty payments across all marketplaces in realtime and makes this data available in a pretty dashboard. It also includes a fully-featured API for integration into any third party application, such as staking, verification etc.</li><li><a href="https://cpl-client.vercel.app/">Demo Site</a></li><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWD8yNUpFFE">Demo Video</a></li><li><a href="https://github.com/Xin-Dragons/">Github</a></li></ul>Third Place, $20,000:&nbsp;Decentralised Social<ul><li>Decentralised Social aims to incentivize royalties through a social system and governance. This social-graph based DAO governance tool brings transparency and aligned incentives to royalties by allowing the community and the team to put forward on-chain proposals for tasks that would benefit the project/community, which get funded directly from the DAO-governed Royalties treasury. Align ensures that consumer funded royalty payments are aligned better with a project &amp; product vision, while user reputation is gained through successful proposals.</li><li><a href="https://www.figma.com/proto/kJiqATz9lwEuiW42YcEDUU/Phase-%E2%80%94-Working?page-id=1418%3A568&amp;node-id=1560%3A337&amp;viewport=69%2C534%2C0.09&amp;scaling=scale-down-width&amp;starting-point-node-id=1560%3A">Demo Presentation</a></li><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePGniVPEF0Q">Demo Video</a></li><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePGniVPEF0Q">Github</a></li></ul>Fourth Place, $15,000:&nbsp;ToBeContinued<ul><li>There's a lack of trust and collaboration between creators in the current world. ToBeContinued is a collaboration platform for people to build with NFTs of attributes, clothes, accessories, etc. and mint the work as an NFT.&nbsp;ToBeContinued keeps track of royalties for base NFTs on its platform. This means that anytime there is a sale of a base NFT with accessory minted, the base NFTs’ creator royalties will always get properly attributed and rewarded. Thus, when the resulting NFT is being sold, royalties will also be sent to creators of the attributes.&nbsp;</li><li><a href="https://tobecontinued-magic.netlify.app">Demo Site</a></li><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwA3WKoP5r0">Demo Video</a></li><li><a href="https://github.com/karywjh/ToBeContinued-Magic">Github</a></li></ul>Fifth Place, $10,000:&nbsp;Karmabot<ul><li>Karmabot is a platform and discord bot to track, manage, and incentivize royalty payments for Solana communities &amp; creators. Karmabot aims to provide creators with the tools they need to incentivize &amp; increase voluntary royalty payments via gamification, rewards, and automated discord notifications.</li><li><a href="https://karmabot.app/">Demo Site</a></li><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cddJuQeeBdM">Demo Video</a></li><li><a href="https://github.com/anonvc/karmabot">Github</a></li></ul>We appreciate all the Future of Royalties Track submissions; specific submissions to this track can be found&nbsp;<a href="https://gitcoin.co/issue/29544">here</a>.<h1>Ancillary Revenue Opportunities Track - $75K Total in Prizes</h1>Creators should be equipped with monetization options outside of royalties alone. This track touched upon helping NFT creators to develop those additional sources of income and monetization opportunities, outside of royalties.First place, $30,000:&nbsp;AuroraLiteAuroraLite is a subscription based revenue model for Solana projects. Projects can offer their community a subscription rank that is purchasable inside their discord to support the project by paying a monthly fee (SOL).If users decide to buy this subscription they will be granted a specific role(subscription role) inside the discord that the project selected before which offers for example exclusive content/access. Using AuroraLITE projects can set up a unique subscription experience for their users and can receive a monthly revenue stream.<ul><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8MraU73NDY">Demo Video</a></li><li><a href="https://github.com/Flokyyy/auroralite">Github</a></li></ul><figure class="image"><img src="https://imagedelivery.net/E-VnZk4fwouzlzwX_qz4fg/9a9ddfc6-8c86-4411-14a9-3ad87d358000/public"></figure>Second place, $20,000:&nbsp; Web3 Music Vault<ul><li>The Web3 Music Vault gives NFT Music Fans the ability to unlock NFT music for as long as they possess an NFT or to get temporary access via a content-accessed NFT.</li><li><a href="https://web3musicvault.xyz/">Demo Site</a></li><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m58DfZnxclY">Demo Video</a></li><li><a href="https://github.com/web3-music-vault/webapp">Github</a></li></ul>Third place, $15,000:&nbsp;Creator Rent<ul><li>The creator-rent smart contract allows NFT collection owners to start a rent collection plan for their NFT collection by setting the rent collection period (ex. once a month) and a rent price. This program allows NFT collection owners to make additional revenues by token gating functionality to NFT owners who have paid their rent (ex access to discord server).</li><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKWH4vwMLC4">Demo Video</a></li><li><a href="https://github.com/cryptostuffgit/creator-rent">Github</a></li></ul>Fourth place, $10,000:&nbsp;NFT Fungible Printer<ul><li>NFT holders can create fungible copies against the original NFT, and the copied NFT inherits the original NFT's royalty &amp; creator info. With NFT Fungible Printer, the holder can be a distributor of the NFTs, and it brings a new creator &amp; ownership economy to the NFT space.</li><li><a href="https://nft-fungible-printer.vercel.app/">Demo Site</a></li><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWX1al915aw">Demo Video</a></li><li><a href="https://github.com/taijusanagi/nft-fungible-printer">Github</a></li></ul>We appreciate all the Ancillary Revenue Opportunities Track submissions; specific submissions to this track can be found&nbsp;<a href="https://gitcoin.co/issue/29545">here</a>.<h1>Bonus Bounty - Royalty Tracking API Track - $20K Total in Prizes</h1>Our partners at Coral Cube released a free royalty tracking API during the Hackathon, and we feel this can be utilized for projects to create royalty tracking developments. Additionally, to give developers more options, our friends at Helius offer an API which achieves the same result.This bonus track is awarded to submissions that successfully implement the Coral Cube or&nbsp; Helius API for royalty payment tracking purposes.First place, $15,000:&nbsp;CPL DashboardCPL utilized the Helius API to aggregate royalty payments across all marketplaces in real time. Not only does this populate the data via Helius into a clean and user friendly data dashboard, but creators can take an actionable next step with the data collected, such as influencing staking ability.&nbsp;<ul><li><a href="https://cpl-client.vercel.app/">Demo Site</a></li><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWD8yNUpFFE">Demo Video</a></li><li><a href="https://github.com/Xin-Dragons/">Github</a></li></ul><figure class="image"><img src="https://imagedelivery.net/E-VnZk4fwouzlzwX_qz4fg/bf9322c8-a2b5-4172-157b-9da540f8e300/public"></figure>Second Place, $5,000:&nbsp;SpireSpire, powered by the Helius API for royalty tracking, is a Solana-focused on-chain data platform that aims to provide in-depth data and insights to add value to the Solana ecosystem. Focusing on analyses we think are interesting, we provide a place where users and developers can regularly check for Solana ecosystem information, as well as deeper dives into specific areas.<ul><li><a href="https://github.com/spire-fyi/spire_fyi">Github</a></li><li><a href="https://spire.fyi/">Demo Site</a></li></ul>We appreciate all the Royalty API track submissions here; specific submissions to this track can be found&nbsp;<a href="https://gitcoin.co/issue/29609">here</a>.<h1>Special - Judges Awards - $20K Total in Prizes</h1>Including solutions that may not fall neatly in the categories, other solutions the judges would like to commemorate or see developed further, we created space for honorable mentions.The below projects earned special awards prizes!<img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/anlzmQAWVIu8j1eNH-W4ygAsyIL3yyyA8G-Q-ivlDXg2_uCP1lteOcjfkxXXy60kE3cQp-gHtoCKNcA3oPeFr_79n9j_klDpwJipK5QjAh_rF7gU6wjSIs_7XrVnevNySwnzt1GeqKkTQrjdzXGNJl5k2kkmZBxEf3fQsW15vDz7Odo2eeue1E521mOC0Q">Judges’ Award, $5,000: Destruct<ul><li>DESTRUCT is based on the idea of 'life-span'. Each NFT gets a 24 hour countdown which starts whenever a person buys an NFT without royalties. The countdown is terminated if royalties/fee are paid on projects website or when it's sold to another person with royalties. Monetisation for the project is based on the tweaks that can be done with the countdown and metadata: prolongation/termination of countdown, changes in metadata (rarity, attributes, benefits) based on the countdown, 'revival' of NFT through payment.</li><li><a href="https://github.com/DenisParamount/destruct">Github</a></li><li><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krO8dXZs_PE">Demo Video</a></li></ul>Judges’ Award, $5,000: Helm<ul><li>Helm is an alternative for digital content creators to Fund, Publish and Sell their digital work. Game developer? Fund your game idea by selling funders NFTs - these NFTs will have access to a revenue/royalty share of future sales. Also, publish your game on the website and access the marketplace to sell it for Sol. These funds will go back to holders of your funder’s NFT.</li><li><a href="https://github.com/thrillhouse3001/helmv1">Github</a></li><li><a href="https://helmv1-thrillhouse3001.vercel.app/">Demo Site</a></li></ul>Judges’ Award, $5,000: HelioFi<ul><li>Helio is a Web3 payments platform that used this hackathon as an opportunity to build some new key components to make on-chain, subscription payments easy to implement for creators. Pay Stream functionality was created to enable monthly subscriptions and pay-outs. Helio Play allows creators to embed a video or audio file into a Helio Pay Stream and let users unlock, pay and Play it with a single tap of their Solana wallet. In addition, Helio has built a new Discord bot that allows NFT projects to assign/remove premium roles based on such monthly subscription payments.</li><li><a href="https://github.com/heliofi">Github</a></li><li><a href="https://www.figma.com/proto/t3WUrVR1Vz1G8kWz4q5oEV/Checkout?page-id=2090%3A22003&amp;node-id=2090%3A23656&amp;viewport=1689%2C828%2C0.2&amp;scaling=min-zoom&amp;starting-point-node-id=2090%3A23656">Demo&nbsp;</a></li></ul>Judges’ Award, $5,000: Pity Button<ul><li>We all know how memeability works sometimes in the Degen culture of Solana, and the judges loved this one. Pity Button is exactly as it sounds, a pity button that creators can set up to have send sol to their project out of sheer pity.</li><li><a href="https://github.com/thebobfather2/pitybutton2">Github</a></li><li><a href="https://pitybutton.vercel.app/">Demo Site</a></li></ul>We appreciate all the submissions and hope this track helps to recognize honorable mentions!Thank you to all who spectated, built, submitted, attended, presented &amp; judged! We hope this is only the beginning of experimentation and continued development of solutions for royalties and creator monetization.&nbsp;Congratulations to the winners &amp; everyone involved!

It’s time to announce the winners of the Magic Eden Creator Monetization Hackathon

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Winners Announcement: Magic Eden Creator Monetization Hackathon

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Magic Eden

Welcome to the wild world of Discord. Originally designed for gamers, this social app has become the go-to meeting place for all sorts of niche communities - especially in Web3. Whether you are a collector interested in joining a project’s community or a creator looking to build a community around your own collection, your journey will begin on Discord.&nbsp;A Discord server will typically include a variety of channels for different purposes: announcements, general chats, swapping, selling, project roadmap, showcasing, etc. Many servers use bots to help moderate and track member access and communications. Some servers may also use verification bots, so you’ll need to connect your wallet in order to participate.&nbsp;In this post, we’ll walk you through the basics of a Discord server: from joining to navigating to participating.&nbsp;<h1 style="margin-left:0px;">Joining a Discord Server</h1>You will join a Discord server by clicking on an invite link which you can usually find in a collection’s <a href="https://magiceden.io/">Magic Eden</a> profile or Twitter bio. This will redirect you to your Discord app to accept the invite. Most Discord servers will have a few verification tasks you need to complete before joining the server, such as reading through a set of roles and reacting with a certain emoji. These tasks are set up to ensure that you aren’t a bot or a malicious actor.<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:728px;"><img src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F469b0db4-b3d8-403b-9848-f63247e157da_1600x911.png" alt="discord invite to magic eden's discord server" srcset="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F469b0db4-b3d8-403b-9848-f63247e157da_1600x911.png 424w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F469b0db4-b3d8-403b-9848-f63247e157da_1600x911.png 848w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F469b0db4-b3d8-403b-9848-f63247e157da_1600x911.png 1272w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F469b0db4-b3d8-403b-9848-f63247e157da_1600x911.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" width="1456"><figcaption>Discord invitation to Magic Eden’s Discord server</figcaption></figure><figure class="image image_resized" style="width:728px;"><img src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbbaa5009-ee62-4dec-996d-dc33b4f55427_1016x922.png" alt="" srcset="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbbaa5009-ee62-4dec-996d-dc33b4f55427_1016x922.png 424w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbbaa5009-ee62-4dec-996d-dc33b4f55427_1016x922.png 848w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbbaa5009-ee62-4dec-996d-dc33b4f55427_1016x922.png 1272w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fbbaa5009-ee62-4dec-996d-dc33b4f55427_1016x922.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" width="1016"><figcaption>You’ll have to agree to these standard guidelines in order to be let into the Discord server</figcaption></figure><h1 style="margin-left:0px;">Navigating Channels</h1>Discord servers contain several channels - each of which contain different types of discussion or information. A channel may be a text or voice channel, some of which may be read or listen-only.Because every server has its own unique channel structure, navigating a new server can take a bit of adjustment. These are a few common components to look out for:<ol><li>Start Here: The first thing to look out for is an “intro”, “faq” or “start here” channel. These channels are typically read only, with information directly from the server moderators or creators and contain information about how to interact with different channels and locate certain content.</li><li>Roadmap: Many project servers contain a roadmap, where you can keep track of project milestones, drop schedules, and owner perks. Navigate here to keep up to date with the project as a whole.</li><li>General: You will be able to see server-wide discussions and questions. This is a great place to get a sense of what is generally going on in the community.</li><li>NFT-Related: Once you’ve gotten situated with the server structure, locate the channels for showcasing, trading, and selling your collectibles. These channels will be a great resource once you’ve purchased NFTs from the collection.</li><li>Lore: Depending on the NFT collection, you may find a lore or storytelling channel. Some projects have backstories for each character. This can be a fun place to immerse yourself in that world!</li><li>Social: Finally, check out some of the social channels for casual discussion topics. These topics will vary by server!</li></ol><h1 style="margin-left:0px;">Understanding Discord Integrations</h1>The most popular type of Discord integration is a bot. Discord bots can serve a variety of functionalities within a server - moderation, price updates, verification, calendaring, role management, etc. They typically serve to automate tedious tasks or enhance channel structures. In addition to bots, some projects may use third-party integrations to further enhance the server experience.<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:728px;"><img src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F08fbaeb2-1778-420d-9f75-b95ad8609e39_346x232.png" alt="" srcset="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F08fbaeb2-1778-420d-9f75-b95ad8609e39_346x232.png 424w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F08fbaeb2-1778-420d-9f75-b95ad8609e39_346x232.png 848w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F08fbaeb2-1778-420d-9f75-b95ad8609e39_346x232.png 1272w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F08fbaeb2-1778-420d-9f75-b95ad8609e39_346x232.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" width="346"><figcaption>Example of a Discord verification bot</figcaption></figure>One popular integration to Solana projects is <a href="https://grapes.network/">Grape Protocol</a>. Grape integrated into a Discord server provides a variety of wallet-connected functionalities. If you join a server that employs Grape, you will be prompted to connect a <a href="https://blog.magiceden.io/p/how-to-choose-a-solana-wallet">Solana wallet</a> to continue. Once inside the server, you may have access to different channels depending on the presence or balance of NFTs in your wallet. This protocol enables proof of “skin in the game” member filtering, establishes token-gating for exclusive channels and introduces a variety of novel reward and moderation tools.&nbsp;Solaland’s is another verification bot offering token-gated features to enhance the server experience, enabling roles and channels that are unique to the project. These features include private channels for verified holders of the NFTs, weighted roles based on how many NFTs a user holds, and roles based on attributes of the NFTs. Another discord integration is Solabots which allows server members to claim roles if they hold certain NFTs from the collection. Their Wallet Role Bot allows server members to claim roles if they are the owners of certain wallet addresses. Both of these integrations update roles automatically as items are sold.<h1 style="margin-left:0px;">Common Discord Scams to Know and Avoid</h1>Like any great tech-enabled endeavor, NFT projects are at risk of being scam targets. In the NFT landscape, there are a variety of tactics used to scam individuals of tokens, NFTs, and other valued assets. Here are some common ones to be aware of:&nbsp;<ol><li>Moderator impersonation: sometimes scammers will pretend to be a server mod and DM you, asking for compromising information about your wallet or assets. A legitimate moderator will never ask for personal information, verification, or seed phrases in public or private chat.</li><li>Fake Sales: these Discord servers often include a place for individuals to connect and trade assets directly. Peer-to-peer trades (i.e. ones not mediated by a platform like Magic Eden) should be done with great caution and due diligence, as many scammers will try and sell you fake versions of collection NFTs. Server moderators and owners cannot do anything to resolve a fraudulent trade should you fall victim, so act wisely.</li><li>Leaked Information: some scammers may phish for compromising information via DM, requesting private keys or passwords. You never need to disclose your private key for a transaction (that’s what public keys are for!), and if you are prompted to do so, it is a scam. Giving an attacker your private key could allow them to access and drain your wallet of funds/assets. Not good!</li></ol>Discord is a great way to connect with fellow collectors, project members, and enthusiasts. It can help bring your NFTs to life and introduce you to new friends along the way. Try it out for yourself, and of course, do so with both curiosity and caution!

Originally designed for gamers, Discord is now the go-to place for NFT communities. Learn how to use, navigate and participate in a Discord server. 

Newbie's Guide to NFT Discord

Auctions for one-of-one art pieces are gaining popularity on Solana. NFT collectors flock to attention grabbing <a href="https://magiceden.io/auctions">auctions</a> shared on Twitter and in Discord servers. They're much more exhilarating than your regular ol' auction house (sorry not sorry Christie's). Behind it all, the Solana blockchain is facilitating a golden age of opportunity for all artists, especially small and newer artists. Through auctions, NFT collectors are supporting NFT creators in a massive way. Understanding how auctions work on Solana can help new artists price their pieces correctly and get rewarded fairly for their work.NFTs (non-fungible tokens) on Solana are <a href="https://blog.magiceden.io/p/2021-solana-nft-recap">relatively new</a>, and generative profile pictures remain dominant. The one-of-one space is just starting to get the attention it deserves, which is rewarding for everyone involved. The audience on Solana is eager to spend on quality art from up and coming artists. It’s exciting for auction bidders to find value in great contemporary art from under-appreciated artists on Solana.<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:728px;"><img src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6a1a8d35-0665-463c-8d54-e2dd59932565_1600x847.png" alt="" srcset="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6a1a8d35-0665-463c-8d54-e2dd59932565_1600x847.png 424w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6a1a8d35-0665-463c-8d54-e2dd59932565_1600x847.png 848w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6a1a8d35-0665-463c-8d54-e2dd59932565_1600x847.png 1272w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6a1a8d35-0665-463c-8d54-e2dd59932565_1600x847.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" width="1456"><figcaption>Creators and artists can host both English and Dutch Auctions on <a href="https://magiceden.io/auctions">Magic Eden</a></figcaption></figure><h3 style="margin-left:0px;">1/1 via Auction vs. Buy Now</h3>Both seasoned and first time NFT artists can use auctions. Unlike Ethereum where there’s a high minting cost in ETH gas fees, Solana’s transaction fees are close to none. There are reasons to sell one-of-one art through instant buy but in the vast majority of cases, an auction is the best idea for NFT artists and collectors.The main reason why: pricing. It’s insanely difficult to gauge the proper value for your digital&nbsp;art. Furthermore, a fixed price drop can carry with it the cadence of lower quality and value for both the artist’s work and the collector’s investment. Through auctions, bidders naturally come to an agreed upon value for the piece. They can bid their perceived value for your digital work of art and win if it is the largest value.Auctions also develop an interest on their own that an instant buy doesn’t generate. By seeing what others are bidding on, potential buyers can see genuine interest in an artwork backed by real monetary value (in cryptocurrency). Each bidder helps the creator build an audience, contributing to the attention placed on the auction. NFT creators and collectors have unusually aligned incentives dealing with one-of-one art on Solana.<h3 style="margin-left:0px;">How do auctions work?</h3>There are two types of auctions for NFTs on <a href="https://magiceden.io/auctions">Magic Eden</a>: Dutch and English.For one-of-one art, English Auctions are used in almost all cases. Dutch Auctions are used for many of the largest NFT sales.<h4 style="margin-left:0px;">Pricing</h4>Pricing is the most important information about any auction. All pricing information should be available to buyers before placing bids in order to make an informed decision. Here are some key terminology to know:Starting Price is the price that the auction starts at.Tick Price is the minimum increment by which the bids must change by, either increasing for English Auctions or decreasing in Dutch Auctions.Royalties are the percentage that the artist will receive from any secondary sale. On Solana, this is built into the metadata of the NFT itself.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h4 style="margin-left:0px;">Dutch Auction</h4>A Dutch Auction starts with a high asking price, and is lowered by the tick price at predetermined intervals until the participant accepts or the reserve price is met. More simply, the price decreases until someone buys. Tick size is crucial here; smaller ticks help the seller find the most value for their art. As the number of participants increases, so does the chance of a bidder accepting the asking price and FOMO results in quicker and higher value sales.&nbsp;Pros: Controlled speed, Revenue increases with # of participantsCons: Loss of return with time, Technically capped<h4 style="margin-left:0px;">English Auction</h4>English Auctions have a low starting or reserve price. Bids are ascending in order, the tick size higher than the last bid placed until the standing bid is not challenged. If the reserve price is not met, the piece is either unsold or the reserve is lowered, or a lower bid may be allowed depending on the auction’s rules. Because all bidders can see the bids of others, they are incentivized to bid up to their true perceived value without regard to other’s decisions.&nbsp;Pros: Transparency for all buyers to bid true value, good for buyers and sellersCons: Bidder could overpay “winner’s curse”, pricing could hurt returns for seller<h3 style="margin-left:0px;">How can NFT artists foster genuine relationships with collectors?&nbsp;</h3>To attract collectors, attention is key: more awareness of an auction leads to more bidders collectively agreeing on fair value for the auction. On Solana, there are many ways to meaningfully engage with collectors. Even if a bidder doesn’t win that auction, you can give them a participatory NFT commemorating the experience. Holding a participatory NFT may grant collectors special access to a Discord server for your art, or it could just be proof of support.&nbsp;A lot of the lessons from our article <a href="https://blog.magiceden.io/p/nft-marketing-101-magic-eden">NFT Marketing 101</a> apply here. Starting a Discord server alongside a Twitter account is highly recommended: Twitter has great reach, and Discord has great depth of connection. One important question to answer is, how will your collection be organized? Collections following a certain theme are typically named and numbered, and generally one big collection will gain more notoriety than many smaller distinct collections. One-off collab NFTs can be part of the same big collection, and follow a separate naming and numbering system! In most cases it will be best for the artist to keep their entire collection together. A great move is making honorary 1/1 art for a popular collection, as <a href="https://twitter.com/zen0m">Zen0</a> did for <a href="https://twitter.com/TheChimpions">The Chimpions</a> on <a href="https://magiceden.io/auction/zen0_chimpions">Magic Eden</a>!While it’s a fast growing and exciting time for Solana NFTs, it’s still important to set realistic expectations with modest pricing to start. Having your first mint start at 10 SOL is not quite setting yourself up for success. Instead, start with an initial price under 1 SOL, with smaller tick prices. Many more bids will come in, each a public appreciation of your work. Enjoy the journey, because this is just the start of artists being recognized and rewarded for their work.&nbsp;

Understand how artists and creators can use NFT auctions to amplify their art.

Intro to Digital Art NFT Auctions on Solana

Successful, sold-out NFT mints can come in many ways. For first time NFT collections and creators, it’s important to carefully consider what is best for your NFT project and feasible to execute, to ensure your project gets off to a strong start. Without a smooth mint, negative sentiment and FUD will almost certainly creep up if NFT collectors have concerns around mint fairness or execution. With more first time NFT users coming to Solana, the minting experience should be user-friendly to get them on NFTs (we're all for onboarding!)Whether you're minting through an NFT platform, like Magic Eden, or on your own, here are some of the most common NFT minting approaches and their advantages to NFT collections:<h3 style="margin-left:0px;">Stealth Mints</h3>Generally, a stealth mint approach releases the minting smart contract at the time of or shortly before the NFT mint goes “live” to the public. Some projects may claim to be “stealth” while using it as a marketing tactic to lead to the launch itself. Marketing a stealth mint is counter-intuitive as a stealth launch should fly under the radar all the way up to the public release for open-minting.Stealth mints are utilized to prevent bots from having access to the smart contract and mint link ahead of the drop time to make tampering more difficult. It also promotes fairness and ensures equal opportunity for all those in the community interested in minting as a project is less susceptible to individuals deploying bots to “mass-mint” rather than allowing a fair launch!&nbsp;Most of the time, stealth mints are discovered by individual, DAOs or groups of NFT collectors on Twitter. Usually, stealth mints will target the attention of well-known players with the hopes of getting their attention and thinking that they may pass it along to their followers.&nbsp;To share a stealth mint: Reach out to key players on social media through DMs and give a quick rocket pitch. Once discovered on Twitter, the focus shifts to Discord where word of mouth discussions and mass invites occur in large quantities in the 24 hours leading up to mint. Friends in other Discord servers will often share the stealth mint’s Discord with one another which quickly attracts many new eyes in a short period of time. Therefore, your project’s Discord should have more detailed information.&nbsp;<h3 style="margin-left:0px;">Standard Mint</h3>A standard mint is a pre-announced mint, whereby the mint address and information are made public ahead of the mint time. These were common in the early days of Solana but with Solana’s increased popularity and entry of nefarious players, standard mints are less common.&nbsp;Standard mint advantages: It allows people to “audit” or look at the smart contract before your NFT mint to verify the legitimacy of the team and collection. It may be easier to build trust. It also allows your project to effectively market your NFT collection and ensure that you have your desired target audience and community size before going through with the launch. A stealth mint, in comparison, can be a bit more risky with these elements.<h3 style="margin-left:0px;">Free Mints</h3>The only cost to free mints on Solana are the transaction fees. Initially popularized on the Ethereum blockchain due to high gas fees (ETH gas fees easily surpasses the value of minting NFTs), free mints were an inexpensive way for creators to get their project into the hands of NFT collectors. This proved to be a great way to create awareness, launch a derivative project or capture secondary market fees, because everyone loves free stuff!Free mints are somewhat less common in today’s Solana environment for a variety of reasons. Primarily due to inexpensive transaction fees, the primary obstacle they were looking to evade is moot. Not to mention, creators invest big into their NFT projects and would want to at least cover costs.&nbsp;Is a free mint for you? Consider it if you're a first time NFT creator or you don’t have a strong social media following and want to entice individuals to explore your NFT collection. You could also use a tiered pricing model. For example, the first 100 mints are free and then there’s a mint price for the rest. Although you may be the real deal and not a scam, a golden rule is to use a burner wallet when it comes to minting NFTs, so advise your community accordingly.

Successful, sold-out mints can come in many ways. We explore some of the most popular minting approaches and their advantages. 

Which Type of NFT Mint Should Creators Use?

Whitelists and presales are a promise of future access to an NFT project come mint time. They are pretty popular amongst Solana-based NFT collections. Given that the Solana NFT ecosystem heavily relies on community, implementing whitelists and presales rewards your earliest and most loyal members as opposed to a public sale where an NFT mint is open to everyone. Additionally, it serves as free marketing as people share it on social media and try to get on the whitelist. It can also help build a large NFT community on Solana organically.<h3 style="margin-left:0px;">Benefits to NFT Whitelists &amp; Presales</h3>NFT projects often use whitelists and presales in their infancy as it is much more challenging to entice people to follow you on Twitter or join your Discord server when you have 10 followers, as opposed to 10,000 followers. The whitelist “promise” comes in a variety of forms, ranging from free mints or discounted mints, to preferred information or pricing, or simply a guarantee of access to the NFT mint come launch day.Implementing whitelists for NFT mints helps to bring individuals into projects at early development stages before marketing starts and hype begins to build. NFT Projects have found ways to limit the number of whitelist spots or time to join to unlock whitelist perks which can create a flourish of NFT collectors joining a community in a very short period of time to try and achieve preferred status. One common way that NFT projects incentivize active community members prior to granting whitelist status is through invite contests (e.g., if you invite 10 people to the Discord server and they accept) and Discord level rankings (based on post frequency).<h3 style="margin-left:0px;">Challenges to NFT Whitelists &amp; Presales</h3>However, issues have arisen whereby whitelist links or presale access to NFT projects have been misappropriated to members of the public who were not whitelisted and should not have had access to the NFT presale. This has led to projects selling out before the general public is able to mint the NFT, creating FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) around the project as it hits secondary markets. To combat this, NFT projects request wallet addresses of all whitelisted members and create a separate minting contract to only allow whitelisted wallet addresses access to the NFT mint. This is effective but is more technically demanding and time-consuming.If you’re thinking of a discounted or free mint (either via a direct NFT mint or through airdrops), know that there’s potential impact to your NFT project when it lists on secondary markets. Some NFT collectors will join every community and Discord server they can find, chasing the potential reward of a lower mint cost or a slight head start to mint the next big NFT project. These members who only care about early/discounted access, are not truly interested in the project and their sole objective is to flip and make a quick profit. Thus, diluting your project's value in crypto. As a result of these NFT flippers, you run the risk of establishing a floor price below public mint&nbsp;price for your NFT project. For example, if 100 people are given a free NFT and the public is asked to pay 1 SOL for the remaining 900 NFTs, you run the risk of those with early access trying to flip their free NFT for a small profit (.5 SOL) which then establishes a secondary market floor price below the public mint&nbsp;price and adversely affects those other 900 people.Of course, a strong project can easily overcome this hurdle but it is important to consider the economic impact NFT presales and whitelists can have on your project post-mint. The same risk exists with uncapped whitelist minting in the presale period, whereby an NFT flipper may mint a large quantity of NFTs with the intent of instantly selling them for a slight profit post-mint, creating a large floor value slightly above mint price, and potentially hampering secondary market value.<h3 style="margin-left:0px;">NFT Consumer Safety</h3>Come mint day, NFT project owners need to be especially wary of malicious actors trying to take advantage of those in the community. These attacks are especially prevalent when there is an NFT whitelist or presale in place as members of the general community are looking for any advantage they can get and may be less careful at vetting links. Scammers may pose as legitimate members of the NFT project team with access to the presale and send direct messages to community members on the NFT project’s Discord server.Therefore, it is essential to announce EARLY and OFTEN to your community, that they should not open or trust any links provided that do not come directly from your NFT project’s Twitter or the announcement section on your Discord server.

Wondering if you should do a whitelist mint for your NFT project? Here's what every NFT collection should know.

Primer to NFT Whitelists & Presales For Your NFT Collection

So, you’ve heard of NFTs. Perhaps, you’re wondering why NFTs are such a big deal… here’s the lowdown:<h3 style="margin-left:0px;">What is an NFT?</h3>An NFT is a digital asset stored on the blockchain. The term itself, NFT, stands for non-fungible token. To be non-fungible means that an asset is unique and non-interchangeable. This means that every NFT is a 1/1, a uniquely identifiable asset with a visible history of ownership. If I purchase an <a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/og_flowers">OG Flowers</a> NFT, for example, that digital image is added to my <a href="https://blog.magiceden.io/p/how-to-choose-a-solana-wallet">Solana wallet</a> and I have verifiable ownership of it. Someone could right click and save it but no-one owns the rights to the original, a unique instance on the blockchain, besides me.&nbsp;You’ve probably seen some popular collections of NFTs, most of which look like a jpeg. Not all NFTs are images though! The NFT itself is a customizable unit - NFTs can contain any digital file format including photos, videos, <a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/cyberkeys">gifs</a>, <a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/cassets_audio">audio</a>, and even documents.<h3 style="margin-left:0px;">How are NFTs Stored?</h3>Data storage on the blockchain is quite expensive, so the files for most NFTs are actually stored off-chain through a system called IPFS. IPFS (interplanetary file system) is a peer-to-peer hypermedia protocol that stores files in a secured and distributed manner. When an NFT is minted, the ID that points to this file on IPFS will be stored on-chain.&nbsp;When an NFT is listed on <a href="https://magiceden.io/">Magic Eden</a>, a user transfers their NFT to Magic Eden’s smart contract which then handles the buying and bidding functionality.<h3 style="margin-left:0px;">Where do NFTs derive their ‘value’ from?</h3>On a fundamental level, NFTs are valuable because they are non-interchangeable. When it comes to pricing, it all comes down to the perceived value given to an item by prospective collectors. For example, certain NFTs are more rare than others, which can lead them to trade at higher prices than other items in the collection. Some NFTs grant access to unique opportunities that make them more valuable.&nbsp;To the creator, NFTs are valuable because they allow them to create and share their work in a way that gives them both credit and rightful commission for their sales. An item’s royalty percentage can be built into its smart contract, which guarantees that the creator will automatically and perpetually receive a royalty every time that NFT is traded in its original marketplace. On Magic Eden, this royalty amount is set by the creator and can vary by item.<h3 style="margin-left:0px;">But — wait a minute, you’re a collector! What is the value to you?</h3>Collectors have all sorts of different motivations for purchasing an NFT. Here are a few reasons:<ol><li>Digital Ownership: at its most basic, motivation to buy an NFT is motivation to claim ownership over a piece that no-one else can. If you really enjoy the work of a collection, it is an easy way to own a piece that speaks to you.</li><li>Creator Support: if you are a fan of a creator, purchasing an NFT from their collection is a great way to show support for their work.</li><li>Token-Gated Access: some creators offer unique experiences or opportunities to owners of their NFTs. Ownership may provide VIP access to unreleased works, or allow you to attend members-only IRL events. For example, artist and producer Chief Keef released an <a href="https://4nem.com/">access card NFT</a> for his new album ‘4NEM’. Owners of these NFT cards will get exclusive access to unreleased works, merch, content, and events.</li><li>Project Participation: owning an NFT from an interactive project can allow you to have a say in the project roadmap or play a certain role in a game. For example, the <a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/neonexus_commercial">NEONEXUS Commercial</a> collection includes properties that you can purchase to take part in a soon-to-be-released cyberpunk city game.</li><li>Trading and Speculating: some people collect NFTs that they think will appreciate in value over time. Typically seeking to make a profit, they may be buyers who hold for long periods of time or traders who elect to swap frequently in order to acquire more valuable pieces.</li><li>Community Membership: joining a project ecosystem can allow you to connect with like-minded collectors, make new friends, and signal your affiliation with a larger community. You can participate in the project discord, set your NFT as your Twitter profile picture, and/or get involved in conversations about the project both online and IRL.</li></ol>Now, go on and <a href="https://magiceden.io/collections">browse</a> Magic Eden. Find an NFT project that excites you!

Here's the lowdown on the what, the how and the why of NFTs. 

Introduction to NFTs

Before you read on, keep in mind that:<ul><li>Marketing for an NFT project is a commitment to your community</li><li>An engaged community leads to a more successful project</li><li>Building trust through transparency and honesty is essential</li></ul>So, how do you stand out amongst the sea of NFT projects?Seasoned NFT collectors look for three things in every project: art, utility and community! You could master all or some of these things. Either way, to get the word out about your project and build community, you’ll need to get the hang of Twitter and Discord.Engage with the NFT community on Twitter and promote your project’s unique selling point. Your discord server is where you’ll form deeper connections with your community. Demonstrating quality and originality across the right channels will excite the right audience for (and after) your mint!<h2 style="margin-left:0px;">Twitter</h2>Your Twitter profile is the first place to connect with the audience you’re looking for.<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:728px;"><img src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F92d09712-7a53-4527-8fa6-855ac7ddc129_593x291.png" alt="" srcset="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F92d09712-7a53-4527-8fa6-855ac7ddc129_593x291.png 424w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F92d09712-7a53-4527-8fa6-855ac7ddc129_593x291.png 848w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F92d09712-7a53-4527-8fa6-855ac7ddc129_593x291.png 1272w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F92d09712-7a53-4527-8fa6-855ac7ddc129_593x291.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" width="593"></figure><a href="https://twitter.com/TheChimpions">The Chimpions</a> has set-up their profile as good as it gets when it comes to economy of characters. Everything on their profile is informative about the project and adds to building hype. Keeping your project simple to understand also makes it easy for your fans to share with their friends.<h4 style="margin-left:0px;">Engagement</h4>Interacting with Solana NFT influencers like <a href="https://twitter.com/TraderKoz">@TraderKoz</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/0xCelon">@0xCelon</a> is a good place to start on Twitter. If you engage like you would normally, providing value with a promising project, eventually you will get noticed. You don’t have to spend resources you might not have doing things like giveaways. Giving away your NFT might even devalue it in the eyes of a potential investor, fairly or unfairly.<h4 style="margin-left:0px;">Growth</h4>There are no shortcuts to growth. Incentivize your audience to help get the word out! Organic growth is the most sustainable way to go. With consistently good content, focused messaging and timely engagement, your tweets and posts will eventually garner enough interactions to make it impossible to ignore.<h4 style="margin-left:0px;">Hype</h4>At the start, the biggest milestone for each project is mint day. It’s important that everyone knows the facts about your launch. So, make it easy for your audience. Supply and price should meet market demand for your NFTs to ensure a successful mint. To stand out, underpromise and overdeliver. <a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/shadowy_super_coder_dao">Shadowy Super Coders</a> didn’t instantly sell out, and less than two months later they became the biggest project on Solana.<h4 style="margin-left:0px;">Roadmap</h4>After mint, listing news should be communicated ASAP. Staying active after the mint is important; you never want to appear as though the project is abandoned! Communicate and be transparent with your community. Twitter updates will let the community know that the team is still active and delivering.<h2 style="margin-left:0px;">Discord</h2>Discord is more customizable and personal than Twitter. Make it the perfect spot for your community to hang out. Consider giving special perks to the earliest members of your server — make those first relationships count!Investors often check out the vibe of the Discord server before buying/minting an NFT. More projects are using whitelists like <a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/nekoverse">Nekoverse</a> and The Chimpions to give their communities rewards for being early.<h4 style="margin-left:0px;">Organization</h4>Discord servers are as great as they are set up to be! With the right mods, bots, permissions and channels, you can handle any sized community. Remind your community to turn off the ability to receive DMs so they can stay safe. And, organize your channels so it’s easy to navigate! For an example, check out our Discord <a href="https://discord.gg/magiceden">here</a>!<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:728px;"><img src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46fa3fa8-39df-4efe-9827-efd0aaf54e37_2072x1344.png" alt="" srcset="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46fa3fa8-39df-4efe-9827-efd0aaf54e37_2072x1344.png 424w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46fa3fa8-39df-4efe-9827-efd0aaf54e37_2072x1344.png 848w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46fa3fa8-39df-4efe-9827-efd0aaf54e37_2072x1344.png 1272w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F46fa3fa8-39df-4efe-9827-efd0aaf54e37_2072x1344.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" width="1100"></figure><h4 style="margin-left:0px;">Communication</h4>Try to recruit the most active community members as moderators for your server. It’s also a great idea to have a private chat where mods and the team chat on concerns regarding the server. <a href="https://twitter.com/thugDAO">ThugDAO</a> is known for having the community contribute back value to the <a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/thugbirdz">Thugbirdz</a> project. You can find similar success with regular communication and engagement.<h4 style="margin-left:0px;">Engagement</h4>Discord communities need to be paid attention to thrive. Handled deftly, the server and community can become a selling point for potential members. For example, upon entering the <a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/jambo_mambo">Jambo Mambo</a> server, you are immediately greeted by multiple people and instantly become a part of their community.<h2 style="margin-left:0px;">Twitter Spaces</h2>The more Spaces you can get into, the better for your project! Listeners often make deeper connections through Twitter Spaces than through tweets. A recent success story is 1/1 artist <a href="https://twitter.com/b2kdaman">Valentine Panchine</a>. After speaking in the right Twitter Space, his art is now among the most sought-after on Solana.<h4 style="margin-left:0px;">Voice</h4>In this market, it is almost expected to hear at least one voice from a project. Revealing the voice of a team member is a safe way to soft dox and develop trust with your community. Leading up to mint day, try to have one team member regularly in a Space on the main account. Kylie of <a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/pesky_penguins">Pesky Penguins</a> is an example of a voice that earns her community and project more reputability.<h4 style="margin-left:0px;">Momentum</h4>Your project is not done upon sell-out! So, keep attending Spaces and build more relationships within the ecosystem. Collaborations with reputable projects will go far to boost your project’s reputation and keep the NFT community interested. Large accounts in the space like <a href="https://twitter.com/MagicEden_NFT">ours</a> will regularly co-host Spaces to give exposure to exciting new projects. Feel free to reach out to us, your project could be up next!<h3 style="margin-left:0px;">Marketing Checklist ✅</h3><figure class="image image_resized" style="width:728px;"><img src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4ec178e4-d5e9-420a-9231-dddd64f4ada4_1700x2200.png" alt="" srcset="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4ec178e4-d5e9-420a-9231-dddd64f4ada4_1700x2200.png 424w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4ec178e4-d5e9-420a-9231-dddd64f4ada4_1700x2200.png 848w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4ec178e4-d5e9-420a-9231-dddd64f4ada4_1700x2200.png 1272w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F4ec178e4-d5e9-420a-9231-dddd64f4ada4_1700x2200.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" width="1100"></figure>

A crash course to marketing your NFT project. Let's get your project out there!

NFT Marketing 101

If you are new to NFTs, setting up your Solana wallet is an important place to start. Your wallet will be your access point to all things NFT: it is where you exchange tokens, purchase NFTs, and store these assets.&nbsp;Your wallet contains two key components:<ol><li>Your unique Solana address (public key) which you can share with others to receive funds and digital assets</li><li>Your private key, which makes sure you are the only one who can access and transact with those funds and assets. Think of this as your password.</li></ol><h3 style="margin-left:0px;">Software vs. Hardware</h3>A wallet can be either hardware or software. Among Magic Eden users, a software wallet is a popular choice - it is an easy and free way to transfer and store your funds and assets. These wallets are typically available as a browser extension and/or phone app, which you can easily connect to Magic Eden.&nbsp;For those interested in an increased level of security, a hardware wallet is a great option. Your private keys will be stored in a physical device and you will need an additional password to access the funds and assets stored there.<h2 style="margin-left:0px;">Choosing your Wallet&nbsp;</h2><figure class="image image_resized" style="width:728px;"><img src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8f96f406-b866-44af-a9b0-ddde94ffa1e3_2396x1202.png" alt="" srcset="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8f96f406-b866-44af-a9b0-ddde94ffa1e3_2396x1202.png 424w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8f96f406-b866-44af-a9b0-ddde94ffa1e3_2396x1202.png 848w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8f96f406-b866-44af-a9b0-ddde94ffa1e3_2396x1202.png 1272w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8f96f406-b866-44af-a9b0-ddde94ffa1e3_2396x1202.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" width="1100"></figure>When connecting to a wallet for the first time, you will notice that Magic Eden connects to several different Solana wallets -&nbsp;Phantom, Slope, Sollet, Solflare, Clover, Ledger, Solong, and MathWallet.Let’s explore which of these wallets is right for you:&nbsp;<h3 style="margin-left:0px;">Phantom</h3><a href="https://phantom.app/">Phantom</a> is an easy-to-add browser extension with an intuitive user interface. It’s currently supported by all major browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Brave). Phantom is currently only available as a browser extension, with the mobile app still in development.&nbsp;Phantom is a non-custodial wallet, meaning your private keys are stored on your device so that only you have access to the wallet’s contents. It supports linking to a hardware wallet, for those interested in having both.&nbsp;Phantom is one of the most popular wallets available in the Solana ecosystem right now, with a wide range of functionalities and users at every expertise level. It connects to nearly every Solana dApp and is a great option for those new to MagicEden!<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:728px;"><img src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F59ad175c-3519-4818-9c5f-8a43715a785b_1280x800.png" alt="" srcset="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F59ad175c-3519-4818-9c5f-8a43715a785b_1280x800.png 424w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F59ad175c-3519-4818-9c5f-8a43715a785b_1280x800.png 848w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F59ad175c-3519-4818-9c5f-8a43715a785b_1280x800.png 1272w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F59ad175c-3519-4818-9c5f-8a43715a785b_1280x800.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" width="500"><figcaption>Source: Chrome Web Store</figcaption></figure><h3 style="margin-left:0px;">Slope</h3><a href="https://slope.finance/">Slope</a> is a cross-platform non-custodial mobile Solana wallet. Slope, unlike Phantom, offers both a mobile application and a browser extension. Slope also uniquely supports both Solana and Ethereum assets, and allows users to import existing Ethereum addresses directly into Slope wallet.&nbsp;Slope is a great option for those who prefer a mobile experience. Magic Eden is on Solana but if you also interact with Ethereum-based applications and exchanges, Slope is a great all-in-one option!<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:728px;"><img src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda3c9caa-c24f-47cc-a132-fb0482390a5f_640x400.jpeg" alt="" srcset="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda3c9caa-c24f-47cc-a132-fb0482390a5f_640x400.jpeg 424w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda3c9caa-c24f-47cc-a132-fb0482390a5f_640x400.jpeg 848w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda3c9caa-c24f-47cc-a132-fb0482390a5f_640x400.jpeg 1272w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fda3c9caa-c24f-47cc-a132-fb0482390a5f_640x400.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" width="518"><figcaption>Source: Chrome Web Store</figcaption></figure><h3 style="margin-left:0px;">Sollet</h3><a href="https://www.sollet.io/">Sollet</a>, unlike the other wallets on this list, is a totally open-sourced wallet. It is designed for advanced Solana users and developers, and provides some useful developer functionalities. However, it offers less support and a less optimized user interface. In fact, when navigating to Sollet’s website, you will see a pop-up directing you to Phantom or Solflare for better user support and functionality. Sollet offers both a web app and browser extension.<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:728px;"><img src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe90d515d-6060-4f2d-9c14-5ae73c4a5407_640x400.jpeg" alt="" srcset="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe90d515d-6060-4f2d-9c14-5ae73c4a5407_640x400.jpeg 424w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe90d515d-6060-4f2d-9c14-5ae73c4a5407_640x400.jpeg 848w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe90d515d-6060-4f2d-9c14-5ae73c4a5407_640x400.jpeg 1272w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe90d515d-6060-4f2d-9c14-5ae73c4a5407_640x400.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" width="512"><figcaption>Source: Chrome Web Store</figcaption></figure><h3 style="margin-left:0px;">Solflare</h3><a href="https://solflare.com/">Solflare</a> is a cross-platform non-custodial wallet for Solana users - it is available in mobile and&nbsp; browser. It’s a popular alternative to Phantom with similar functionalities such as staking and hardware wallet support. It’s a good option for those interested in hardware integration and mobile functionality.<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:728px;"><img src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F11b520df-b716-4ee4-9d93-43395c83fe47_640x400.jpeg" alt="" srcset="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F11b520df-b716-4ee4-9d93-43395c83fe47_640x400.jpeg 424w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F11b520df-b716-4ee4-9d93-43395c83fe47_640x400.jpeg 848w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F11b520df-b716-4ee4-9d93-43395c83fe47_640x400.jpeg 1272w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F11b520df-b716-4ee4-9d93-43395c83fe47_640x400.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" width="522"><figcaption>Source: Chrome Web Store</figcaption></figure><h3 style="margin-left:0px;">Clover</h3><a href="https://clover.finance/">Clover</a> is a DeFi-focused cross-platform wallet, with support for Solana along with 8+ additional chains. Clover includes NFT support, gas-saving transfer functionalities for EVM based assets, and a DeFi app store. This wallet is a great option for the crypto-savvy, multi-chain user with an interest in DeFi applications as well as NFTs. Clover is available as a browser extension, mobile app, and web app.<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:728px;"><img src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F71e731ac-7e3d-4766-b106-4bc413d31c5b_640x400.jpeg" alt="" srcset="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F71e731ac-7e3d-4766-b106-4bc413d31c5b_640x400.jpeg 424w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F71e731ac-7e3d-4766-b106-4bc413d31c5b_640x400.jpeg 848w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F71e731ac-7e3d-4766-b106-4bc413d31c5b_640x400.jpeg 1272w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F71e731ac-7e3d-4766-b106-4bc413d31c5b_640x400.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" width="524"><figcaption>Source: Chrome Web Store</figcaption></figure><h3 style="margin-left:0px;">Ledger</h3><a href="https://www.ledger.com/">Ledger</a> is a hardware wallet for crypto asset storage and exchange. It comes in two different models, the Nano S and the Nano X, costing $60 and $120 respectively. It integrates easily with software wallets such as Phantom and Solflare. It provides storage for a variety of assets (SOL, ETH, BTC, etc.) and is a great option for those interested in a more secure wallet option.&nbsp;Hardware wallets can be confusing for beginners, so you may wish to opt for a software wallet instead. For those actively trading with a substantial number of assets, however, this hardware wallet is a great option for increased asset security.<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:728px;"><img src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa18f9a0c-672a-47f5-959d-0a90fc4566e7_1421x844.jpeg" alt="Ledger Live - Securely Supporting ERC-20 Tokens | Ledger" srcset="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa18f9a0c-672a-47f5-959d-0a90fc4566e7_1421x844.jpeg 424w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa18f9a0c-672a-47f5-959d-0a90fc4566e7_1421x844.jpeg 848w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa18f9a0c-672a-47f5-959d-0a90fc4566e7_1421x844.jpeg 1272w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa18f9a0c-672a-47f5-959d-0a90fc4566e7_1421x844.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" width="506"><figcaption>Source: Ledger</figcaption></figure><h3 style="margin-left:0px;">Solong</h3><a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/solong/memijejgibaodndkimcclfapfladdchj?hl=en-US">Solong</a> is currently offered only as a browser extension. Solong offers a clean interface for users to interact with Solana dApps and assets. Solong also includes the in-app ability to mint new SPL tokens.&nbsp;Solong is not nearly as popular as wallets such as Phantom and Solflare, and isn’t updated quite as often.<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:728px;"><img src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3f105152-23be-4da0-b696-278a6ef2e1eb_640x400.jpeg" alt="" srcset="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3f105152-23be-4da0-b696-278a6ef2e1eb_640x400.jpeg 424w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3f105152-23be-4da0-b696-278a6ef2e1eb_640x400.jpeg 848w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3f105152-23be-4da0-b696-278a6ef2e1eb_640x400.jpeg 1272w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F3f105152-23be-4da0-b696-278a6ef2e1eb_640x400.jpeg 1456w" sizes="100vw" width="512"><figcaption>Source: Chrome Web Store</figcaption></figure><h3 style="margin-left:0px;">MathWallet</h3><a href="https://mathwallet.org/en-us/">MathWallet</a> is a multi-platform wallet offering both mobile and browser. It also supports connection to hardware wallets. It is a versatile wallet offering support for over 86 public chains. MathWallet has their own dApp store, native token, and staking and swapping capabilities.&nbsp;MathWallet is not as well known as some of the others on the list, but can be a great option for those involved in a variety of crypto projects due to its multi-chain support.<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:728px;"><img src="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1a47a43d-1eea-4d38-b387-359cef414da8_542x939.png" alt="Solana Wallet operation guide — MathWallet - MathWallet Official - Medium" srcset="https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_424,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1a47a43d-1eea-4d38-b387-359cef414da8_542x939.png 424w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_848,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1a47a43d-1eea-4d38-b387-359cef414da8_542x939.png 848w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1272,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1a47a43d-1eea-4d38-b387-359cef414da8_542x939.png 1272w, https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1a47a43d-1eea-4d38-b387-359cef414da8_542x939.png 1456w" sizes="100vw" width="194"><figcaption>Source: MathWallet Official</figcaption></figure>

Before you dive into NFTs and Web3, you'd need a wallet to explore the Solana ecosystem. 

How to Choose a Solana Wallet

Still in the early stages but a lot has happened in 2021. Here are some of its defining moments!

2021: A Year Of NFTs On Solana

Community is the secret sauce to successful NFT collections. We’ve covered how creators can <a href="https://blog.magiceden.io/p/pesky-penguins-keys-to-community">build authentic communities</a> but as a holder, where do you start? We ask our SOL NFT community:<h3 style="margin-left:0px;">What is community to you?&nbsp;</h3>A sense of belonging. It's weird, but every collection does have its own personality and brand. It's that feeling of belonging that is at the core of community. - <a href="https://twitter.com/MakeItAGoodNFT">@MakeItAGoodNFT</a>At its best, a community will support and strengthen its members, who then empower their community in return. It's a positive feedback loop! - <a href="https://twitter.com/faintdotwav">@faintdotwav</a>We’re all in it together, and that’s why this is so much fun. Essentially, NFTs transformed investing into a multiplayer game. I like investing, but it turns out that I absolutely love investing when I do it with a group of like-minded people. I like sharing both victories and defeats with my peers, and this comradery is how I define community. - <a href="https://twitter.com/gaius1337">@gaius1337</a>A good community breaks boundaries and creates a place for ANYONE to collaborate and "make it" together. - <a href="https://twitter.com/Miles_NFT">@Miles_NFT</a>It’s when a collective culture begins to emerge and underpin a project. The people drawn to the project do so because they connect with the perceived spirit, artistic expression or manifesto put forward, but they’ll stay because of the group dynamic that’s fostered.&nbsp; - <a href="https://twitter.com/CRYPTOLITJESUS">@CRYPTOLITJESUS</a><h3 style="margin-left:0px;">How did you pick your NFT communities?</h3>I look for dedicated members who stick through ups and downs and solid leadership that delivers. Anyone overpromising is a giant red flag for me. I much rather have a realistic roadmap that I know can be achieved with the manpower most of these projects have. - <a href="https://twitter.com/DOOMille">@DOOMille</a>I think there are three main pointers to look out for: Leaders &gt; Community &gt; Brand. We are always attracted to people that are like us OR people that we want to be like. Looking at the leaders is always good way to see if the community is for you. - <a href="https://twitter.com/Miles_NFT">@Miles_NFT</a>Personally, I love communities with not too many people, high trust among members, smart discussions, kindness, and a lot of activity. I like having a relationship with each member, and enjoy calling such a place ‘home’. As an investor, I believe that for a project to be successful, the community needs to stay fun over a long period of time which is achievable by being both distinct and active. A successful community should initially aim for 100 raving fans, not 10k people sitting in a discord without participating. - <a href="https://twitter.com/gaius1337">@gaius1337</a>I look for a few things: Does the discord have helpful bots? Are the people positive and friendly? Can I grow the brand... am I aligned with it spiritually? For Pesky Penguins, we have "noot noot", an easy way to engage with other members. That was key... how to create easy camaraderie. - <a href="https://twitter.com/MakeItAGoodNFT">@MakeItAGoodNFT</a>I look at the discord server discussions, if it's only about floor price, price action in general, it's a red flag. If it's about building cool stuff, passionate and active community members having a lot of fun, and brainstorming ideas about the project, it's a win. -&nbsp; <a href="https://twitter.com/cryptonent">@Cryptonent</a><h3 style="margin-left:0px;">Where should holders start in order to contribute to an NFT project?</h3><ol><li>Recognize the vision that the project seeks to accomplish and make sure that vision aligns with your own. Embody that vision and represent it to the fullest, in your personal way. - <a href="https://twitter.com/faintdotwav">@faintdotwav</a></li><li>You really need to hang out on discord for a while to see if that's something you even want to do. After that, just ask questions and start sharing your insight. No matter what your idea, just put it out there. If there’s something good in it, somebody will usually pick up on it. - <a href="https://twitter.com/CRYPTOLITJESUS">@CRYPTOLITJESUS</a></li><li>Start with whatever you’re good at. You’re an artist? Create a derivative with your own art style or, write a song about the project. Developer? Collaborate with the community and build something to share with everyone. Social media manager? Be a mod, engage with the community, help new people on the ecosystem. Trader? Share your analysis alpha with the community. - <a href="https://twitter.com/cryptonent">@Cryptonent</a></li><li>Ask yourself: How can I improve this? The beautiful thing about Web3 communities is that there is no boundaries. If you see an error in the FAQs, re-write it and send it to the team. If you see someone having trouble with an issue? Offer help. If you do this long enough, you'll provide one thing that everyone is looking for: value. - <a href="https://twitter.com/Miles_NFT">@Miles_NFT</a></li><li>Lots of holders will disappear in alpha chats and other verified only channels... but the real value add is being in general (on discord). Showing people the community is alive and what it's about. Offer to "blow them up on twitter" alongside the rest of the community as a light hazing ritual. Anything that welcomes them when they come in the front door. - <a href="https://twitter.com/MakeItAGoodNFT">@MakeItAGoodNFT</a></li><li>Something easy that anyone can do is be kind. By making each member feel welcomed, the community flourishes. - <a href="https://twitter.com/gaius1337">@gaius1337</a></li><li>Foster collabs between the devs and the community. It's really important to work alongside the devs. Help them communicate with the community. Ask clarifying questions. In general, the more you can foster collabs between the devs and the community, the healthier the project. &nbsp;- <a href="https://twitter.com/MakeItAGoodNFT">@MakeItAGoodNFT</a></li></ol>

NFT holders share what community means to them and how YOU can start contributing to your newly-joined NFT community.

How To Be A Community Member

You will frequently see some sort of recommendation followed by “DYOR – this does not constitute financial advice” disclaimer as a means to avoid any backlash if you do decide to listen to them and lose money on the project.&nbsp;The reality is, for anything you plan on buying or investing in, you should always perform your own due diligence. NFTs are no different. It’s best to be cautious because you alone are responsible for your investments and financial well-being!&nbsp;But, following these steps has helped me be more successful in identifying quality projects while avoiding rugs...<h3 style="margin-left:0px;">Preliminary evaluation</h3>Firstly, ask yourself: Do you like the art, collection size, mint price and foundational project elements? Here are some important questions to consider:&nbsp;<ol><li>What is the value proposition of a project?&nbsp;</li></ol>Is there future utility (a game, a token, an airdrop, breeding mechanics, exclusive access/membership etc.)? As the space evolves, the presence of differentiators continues to become more and more essential to success.<ol><li>How have similar collection sizes performed recently?&nbsp;</li></ol>Compare in terms of hype, following, and mint price. Too many projects struggle to correctly price their mint and it can ruin the project before it even gets off the ground.<ol><li>What is the community like?</li></ol>Is there a large and ACTIVE twitter following or only a couple hundred people on Discord? Having a huge number of followers isn’t essential to success but it does offer credibility. Equally, be aware of followers-for-pay scams and programs that can artificially inflate numbers.<ol><li>Are there any identical projects out there?</li></ol>Whether on a secondary market or an upcoming mint. Is it just a copycat or is there something unique that adds value? If you can’t answer that question, it’s probably worth passing.<h3 style="margin-left:0px;">Assess the project's potential and team</h3>Look at the project’s website. Key factors to evaluate include the roadmap, project team, overall thoughtfulness and quality of the site. It is usually pretty easy to tell if a site was thrown together for a quick cash-grab. A team that spends a lot of time making sure their website (and socials) are all consistent, clear and free of errors is often indicative of the quality of the project.&nbsp;If a team’s baseline website and marketing materials are high quality, it is more likely than not they will apply the same type of diligence on future items on the project’s roadmap.Roadmap: A well-articulated plan can put collectors at ease before buying into a project. Every collector has their own criteria they look for in a “good” roadmap: royalties, utility, project tokens, charity donations, merchandise, community spaces and many others. There is no right or wrong answer here. Your evaluation should be aligned with what you are looking for as a collector.Team: Is the team public about their identities (e.g. links to their Twitter, LinkedIn, Discord)? Creators doxxing themselves isn’t required but having a positive reputation in the crypto world goes a really long way, even if the person chooses to remain anonymous. I look for team members with past Crypto/NFT experience, relevant skill sets/backgrounds and a passion for the project.&nbsp;<h3 style="margin-left:0px;">Evaluate their Twitter and Discord</h3>With so many ‘paid promoters’ of projects out there, it can be challenging to evaluate the authenticity of projects. Identifying projects with large followings and communities versus the projects that only appear to have large projects and communities can be difficult and require time and effort.It is more important to look at the quality of the followers by getting a feel for their level of engagement than it is to look purely at the numbers.&nbsp;Twitter: As an example, check out how many people are replying to tweets as opposed to the number of retweets (which can be easily bought). It is also important to scroll through some of the likes and retweets and validate that the accounts are real, have real profile pictures, a bio, and are regularly tweeting from their own accounts (not just entering in paid promotions and giveaways).Discord: Similar to Twitter, bots can easily be bought as part of paid promotions. I like to check the general chat channels and see active discourse from many engaged users, as well as evaluate the number of “online” users as a percentage of total members of the server (paid bots often default to offline after the initial ‘join’). I aim to see between 10-30% online depending on the project size and time of day.<h3 style="margin-left:0px;">Don’t underestimate your gut feeling&nbsp;</h3>There are so many scams and rugs out there, even some that are really well put together, and may even get past the first three steps above. You need to trust your own instincts. If a project seems too good to be true, it probably is. ALWAYS use a “burner” wallet with only the amount of SOL required to cover mint cost plus fees (with no NFTs in it).&nbsp;Some projects have stealth mints with limited warning and sell out instantly, so it can be challenging to get a feeling for the authenticity and requires quicker decision-making. While others have slower mints that allow you to evaluate minting progress and perform a deeper dive into Twitter and Discord for confirmation of a project’s legitimacy.

Here’s how you can evaluate an NFT project and (hopefully) pick winners

How To Do Your Own Research (“DYOR”)

Perhaps you’ve seen some NFTs floating around, as Twitter profile pictures, on platforms like <a href="https://magiceden.io/collections">ours</a>, or shared between friends and you’re curious to try your hand.&nbsp;Maybe you’re an aspiring artist interested in embarking on a creative project. Or, you’re an influencer interested in building a creative narrative that your followers can own a piece of. Whatever your story, launching an NFT collection can be an incredible opportunity to embark on a uniquely digital artistic journey and connect with your community in a whole new way.&nbsp;Mind you, a successful launch is no small task. It often requires several unique considerations that a traditional art collection may not have. What makes an NFT project so special is the entire experience built around it: the digital assets, the Tweets, the landing page, the community, the perks, etc. The process may be daunting, but it can be incredibly rewarding.&nbsp;Before you launch your first collection, here are four things you should consider:&nbsp;<h3 style="margin-left:0px;">Narrative</h3>To start building that narrative, consider developing common threads between each piece - a cohesive design style, repeating elements, recognizable characters. These threads will not only bring cohesion to the project but will help build a signature brand with familiarity and distinguishability that community members can rally around. Many NFT artists elect to include consistent color schemes and textures in each collection piece, some great examples include <a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/0xDrip">0xDrip</a> and <a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/mutable_self_by_labyrinth">Mutable Self</a>.&nbsp;If you are interested in developing a character collection, consider what elements you might include to craft a signature look. For inspiration, take a look at some of the most identifiable character brands on Solana such as <a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace?collection_symbol=galactic_geckos">Galactic Geckos</a> with their staple eyewear and reptilian heads or <a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace?collection_symbol=aurory">Aurory</a> with their humanoid figures and unique accessories.<h3 style="margin-left:0px;">Interactive</h3>An NFT Collection doesn’t have to be static! Consider crafting a story or building a fantasy world in which the characters are assets. Check out <a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/169_pixel_gang">169 Pixel Gang,</a> a project featuring collections of purchasable characters that will be featured in an animated sitcom funded exclusively by holders. Fans have a chance to own and directly contribute to the production of the show. Offering incentives to holders is another great way to build a community around the collection and add value to its pieces. This could look like offering IRL incentives (event tickets, merch, etc.), access to exclusive digital experiences, active ownership in project-funded items, or membership in a flourishing online community.<h3 style="margin-left:0px;">Presence&nbsp;</h3>Prior to launching, you will want to leverage your networks to get the word out about your collection. Utilise Twitter and grow a pre-launch following. You’ll want your narrative to really shine through here: tell a story with your tweets, post-launch date countdowns, or hype up rare pieces in the project to grow brand interest. Consider tapping into your personal and secondary networks to help build your following - you never know who might be interested!&nbsp;Get people talking, and not just to you! Find ambassadors willing to spread the word organically and build interest in your work. Consider establishing a community on Discord where enthusiasts can gather to meet, share memes, and discuss your upcoming launch. You can bring your work to life by empowering holders to engage with one another. You are creating a community experience, after all!<h3 style="margin-left:0px;">Logistics</h3>NFTs are not just pictures, they are digital assets stored on-chain, so they have some unique properties you will want to think about as you design your project. For instance, will you release your NFT in batches? What’s your collection size? How many will each user be allowed to mint?&nbsp;If you are going to have users mint randomized and unique characters, for example, you will need to decide how many total NFTs you’d like to have in circulation. This number will be partially dependent on the number of feature combinations you can make (you don’t want to mint duplicates!).&nbsp;

So, you want to launch an NFT collection? Start here. 

4 Things to Consider Before Launching an NFT Collection

Whether you’re a beginner with zero knowledge or you have more experience, here are 10 things you should know:<h4 style="margin-left:0px;">1. Wallets</h4>I personally recommend using the Phantom wallet for Solana and Solana NFTs. I believe they have the best product by far. One common mistake newer community members often make is only using one Phantom wallet. I have 10 wallets that use the same recovery phrase enabled by seamless switching between wallets within the Phantom interface.Each wallet serves a different purpose:<ul><li>‘Cash’ wallet: Stores all of my liquid $SOL and has no NFTs. I do not use it for anything other than storing $SOL and sending/receiving from my other wallets.</li><li>Mint wallet: Prefunded with the exact amount of $SOL I require for minting. I immediately transfer my newly minted NFTs out after minting.</li><li>“HODL” wallet: Stores the NFTs that I don’t plan on selling any time soon.</li><li>Short-term wallet: A trading wallet that stores NFTs that I plan on potentially/selling listing soon</li></ul><h4 style="margin-left:0px;">2. Research (DYOR)</h4>Vet each project you plan to invest in thoroughly. Performing a thorough review enables you to get a feel for the project’s direction and is a key step in identifying potential red flags indicative of a rug and other fraudulent activity.Follow the project’s Twitter, join their Discord and browse their website. Review and understand key project information, interact with the community, and ask questions to project leaders and community mods!<h4 style="margin-left:0px;">3. Secondary Markets</h4>Assessing secondary markets after minting is extremely important. It’s often an opportunity to find some very good deals if you can wrap your head around rarity early.Magic Eden is my favorite because of its screening process and user functionality. If a rarity tool is not available yet, Magic Eden has great filtering tools where you can see how many NFTs containing specific traits are listed for sale. Typically, the less of a trait listed, the rarer it is and the more it will be worth.Always be careful of how volatile the secondary markets are when projects are newly listed. It is as easy to lose money as it is to make money.<h4 style="margin-left:0px;">4. Taking Profits</h4>Contrary to common messaging, taking profits is not a crime in the “diamond hands” and “HODL” Web3 world we operate in! It’s really important to set sell targets BEFORE you buy, so you don’t let your emotions take over.Let’s be honest, almost everyone in this space is looking to make some money (in addition to supporting the awesome communities, charities, art and tech) which means it’s essential to carve out time to re-evaluate your portfolio.Challenge yourself by asking the right, tough questions to evaluate if it’s time to take some profits:<ul><li>Are you overly invested in one project?</li><li>Do the reasons you bought in the first-place still ring true?</li><li>How is your overall financial well-being?</li></ul><h4 style="margin-left:0px;">5. Bankroll/Budget Management</h4>Everyone starts with and has different budgets and goals. Know what yours is and what you are willing to lose. Develop a plan on how to successfully manage your budget.A good rule of thumb is to never spend more than 25% of your bankroll on a specific project as it will help to alleviate risk and overreliance on only one project for your success.When you are first starting out, establish a reasonable amount for you to invest and stick to this amount. If you find you’re losing money, take the time to understand what’s going wrong, and work to correct it.<h4 style="margin-left:0px;">6. Advice</h4>If something seems too good to be true, it probably is.Not to be cynical, but apply a lens of scepticism to all of the “free” advice that you receive on Twitter and Discord. I’ve met some amazing people, learned a ton and received countless amounts of excellent advice from the various communities I belong to, but internet strangers giving advice typically have one priority… and that’s their own financial well-being, not yours.Absorb everything but respectfully question it. That’s how we make each other better!<h4 style="margin-left:0px;">7. Find a Partner</h4>It is extremely fun to have someone you can trust and talk to in the Solana NFT community. It allows you to bounce ideas off one another, talk about new projects, and act as a second set of eyes and ears on all of your favorite projects.Try to find a friend who is willing to journey with you. It will make things a lot more fun if you guys are in it together!<h4 style="margin-left:0px;">8. FOMO</h4>For anyone that has been in the NFT space for however long, FOMO is most likely a feeling you know all too well. Chances are you have been caught up with ‘chasing’ and more likely than not have been burnt by it. I know I have.Ultimately, avoiding FOMO comes down to discipline.You’re not going to identify the next great project every time, and that’s OK! If you feel you’re missing out, take some time to evaluate the project and understand what caused the boom! Is it likely to continue or is most of the benefit priced in already?It’s OK to miss out on a project, there will almost always be another one around the corner. Accepting that is a big hurdle to overcome!<h4 style="margin-left:0px;">9. Don’t overreact</h4>Markets move quickly but cryptocurrency and NFT markets move faster.Panic selling when you see floor price dropping is the worst thing you can do because you lock in losses and sell out of your precious NFTs that you worked so hard to research and acquire.Take a deep breath, understand why prices are declining and figure out what’s the best way to proceed. Make a rational decision, not an emotional one.<h4 style="margin-left:0px;">10. Have fun</h4>Trust your instincts and have fun!This should be fun. If you are stressed out or do not think this is healthy for you, take a step back or walk away.There are truly some amazing people who are looking to help others, change the world through charity donations, and genuinely help other strangers make money and learn. For a lot of us this isn’t a full-time job, but more of a side-hustle or hobby, so enjoy it! Always trust your instincts and happy trading!<hr>I hope you found this helpful. Feel free to hit me up on Twitter (<a href="https://twitter.com/The_SOLo_Dolo">@The_SOLo_Dolo</a>) if you have any specific questions about any of these points or have ideas for future topics you would like me to cover!Written by The Solo Dolo 🪄

Essential tips for newcomers to NFTs and the Solana ecosystem

10 Things I Wished I Knew Before Getting Into NFTs

In this video, we go through Magic Eden's Creator Portal, a place where NFT creators can submit their NFT collections for listing on Magic Eden.&nbsp;<div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-XeUXGunaZg" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>NOTE: Magic Eden's Creator Portal is still in development and may include changes to the interface. Approval is subject to Magic Eden's content guidelines: <a href="https://bit.ly/3GVnoas">https://bit.ly/3GVnoas</a>&nbsp;

How to List Your NFT Collection

"Hey, how do I buy NFTs on Solana?” You’ve heard it. We’ve heard it. Solana NFTs are here, and the ecosystem is proliferating—and fast. So how is the experience compared to, say, buying NFTs on any other chain?Well, if you've ever bought a non-fungible token on Ethereum, then you're all too familiar with the potential costs and speed. In other words, if you enjoy spending a small fortune on gas fees, then Ethereum is the way to go.&nbsp;Sure, the blockchain network's got some big names like NBA Top Shot and Axie Infinity under its belt. And that's just a taste. Flexing dozens of major projects, Ethereum is hands-down the granddaddy OG of digital collectibles. Yes, Solana is a new chain, and yes, this means there&nbsp;are&nbsp;fewer collections... for now.&nbsp;But if you've engaged with any protocols on Solana, then you already know what the future&nbsp;feels like. (Just take the&nbsp;<a href="https://raydium.io/">Raydium decentralized exchange</a> for a spin, and you’ll quickly notice that there’s literally zero friction.) So, want to know if Solana can handle NFTs like it handles everything else? (Hint: Oh boy, it does.) And the whole process is as smooth as eggs. 🥚&nbsp;But is there a&nbsp;best&nbsp;way to go about buying NFTs on the Solana chain?&nbsp; This article assumes you already know what a non-fungible token is. (i.e., a unique token that represents a record of ownership over an asset). Now let's go over a few essentials to make sure you're covered before breaking into NFTs on Solana land.&nbsp;<h1>Where to buy NFTs on Solana</h1><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/y-sLxhCU-9gJT_dWCps98q9BTfIANb6v7MJETfJVfPRD4m_Q3vtrj_NHM_p0GlMIi6ph7RoXcr4UaOiy_knorZ7OigkdPay3IlYzJxkhx3UarTWd8Hrx2zkxNQpFR38d0frmy3Gi">Image credit:&nbsp;<a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/D0ad5ow9isg">Liza Rusalskaya&nbsp; |&nbsp; Unsplash</a>&nbsp;Before we put the cart before the horse, let's talk about the basics. It's a good idea to go over the tradeoffs between Solana versus Ethereum. Then we’ll guide you through buying an NFT on Magic Eden.&nbsp;<h2>Why Solana vs. Ethereum</h2>Two words: Gas prices. Ethereum gas fees have been insane lately. Is anyone surprised? It makes total sense that an auction-based model would lead to increasingly expensive bidding wars over block space as the network gets more and more congested.&nbsp;&nbsp;User experience is also another clear differentiator. Ethereum can lag. Your transactions can grind to a halt. Not so on Solana. The process is so smooth, they might as well rebrand Solana to "Butter". (Mm. Butter.)&nbsp;Sure, we can chalk up Ethereum's slow and expensive design to the cost of decentralization. And that's fair. But this is where Solana presents a clear advantage. You can argue till you're blue in the face and the cows come home. That doesn't change the fact that Solana can provide its users the speed and low cost that Ethereum currently can't. (Thank you, Proof-of-Stake [PoS] and Proof-of-History [PoH] consensus mechanisms!)<h2>Primary Marketplace vs. Secondary Marketplace</h2>If you're somewhat green to buying NFTs in general, there is one thing we should clear up right off the bat. As with investing in cryptocurrencies, when you're buying NFTs, it's always best to come in early. And so, the original purchase point of an NFT is the primary marketplace. In this case, it's the website where you can mint an NFT from the collection. When you mint from the source, all you have to cover is the mint price and the gas fees. And on Solana, gas fees are peanuts.Compare that to a secondary marketplace like an auction house. That's what NFT platforms are, in a nutshell. Some of them feature curated collections, whereas others provide an open market, or some sort of hybrid.&nbsp;Let’s take <a href="https://magiceden.io/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Magic Eden</a> as an example for a second. (Ah yes. It's shillin' time.)&nbsp;On a serious note, Magic Eden is&nbsp;the&nbsp;online marketplace of choice for Solana NFTs. What makes Magic Eden different? We’ve got an active team that listens to the community, and we prioritize, above all else, our mission of offering the very best NFT buying experience for users.&nbsp;On Magic Eden, you'll find different sections, like live auction listings, where you can bid against other users, and fixed price sale options too.&nbsp;<h2>Let's buy a non-fungible token on Solana</h2>So! Ready to buy an NFT? Follow along with this step-by-step guide on how to buy NFTs on Solana.<h4>Step 1. Get yourself a crypto wallet.&nbsp;</h4>You're going to need more than one wallet. So save yourself buckets of tears and anguish by getting a notebook. This is where you'll write down all your private keys and seed phrases.&nbsp;There are chain-agnostic wallets like MathWallet and Torus Wallet. There are also dedicated chain wallets like Phantom and Solflare for Solana, or MetaMask wallet for Ethereum.&nbsp;As far as digital wallets go, what makes Phantom so special? Well,&nbsp;this&nbsp;particular cryptocurrency wallet doesn't just store your digital assets. Phantom can also display your NFTs. Sound good? Great.&nbsp;Here's a video on how to get your Phantom wallet set up:<div class="raw-html-embed"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BiZJDWgxIvs" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>If you're a stickler for security like us, then get yourself a hard wallet. Seriously. Sure, it can get tedious having to input your pin every time you want to make a transaction. So here's you might use it:For your serious HODL assets (the ones you don't plan to touch for a very long time), consider storing everything on your Ledger. (Alternatively, you can check out the Trezor, which also comes highly recommended.)&nbsp;<h4>Step 2. You've got to have SOL.&nbsp;</h4>SOL, the native token of the Solana blockchain, is what you're going to need to pay for your blue-chip NFTs. It's easy enough to get your hands on some SOL. Just head over to any one of the major exchanges, like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EaXpVrLfRg&amp;t=13s" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Binance</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnWHNcYmvW0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Crypto.com</a>, Kraken, or Coinbase.&nbsp;Here's a screenshot of a near-empty wallet depleted of SOL. (Bad wallet!)<img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/pJ8-B9d9VrYl-KHtQwKdaqoiK-c8GJN4VNMCcF1fCyEV4HDPLIKl3G-yd0Rw9cA5iWksla20085Yg3Bc2fp5JbmYoThLq2TL-Z-5hU60TUnY6q_AbQ9B60IUJRyVAHMOV2r6oQJx" alt="Image credit:&nbsp;Valerio Puggioni&nbsp; |&nbsp; HODL Content">Image credit:&nbsp;Valerio Puggioni&nbsp; |&nbsp; HODL Content Now let's get some SOL in by clicking "Deposit" and copying the wallet address. This is the address you'll send your SOL to from the exchange.&nbsp;<img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/bKVzpnx0D8l-o0wAdO8arCxPMXzU9ILChraUat4s7Xqd4lLsv8p1N6c6gg7NJGxvjtHLYyYSxe6--U1TQoqlcQJIkjhBkuVmtJLU-Eq2RoH127DDplPxofxahGFYLiRrbrAN9HwY">A minute later, and here we are. (You’ll find it hard to get used to Solana’s incredible speed anytime soon.) Now that we're armed with some SOL, let's go explore the marketplace and buy an NFT.In case you're stuck, though, here's a quick video showing you <a href="https://youtu.be/BiZJDWgxIvs" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">how to move your SOL over to your Phantom wallet</a>.<h4>Step 3. Buy an NFT on Solana!&nbsp;</h4>Once you've got some SOL in your wallet, head over to your future favorite NFT marketplace, Magic Eden. Browse one of the&nbsp;<a href="https://magiceden.io/">amazing collections featured on the platform</a>. Yes, it can get quite overwhelming going through the extensive number of collections. Surprised? We were, considering how new Solana is, and NFTs on Solana are even newer.&nbsp;If you're not 100% sure which collection you want to drop your first SOL on at this moment, that's okay. (We're working on a guide for that.) In the meantime, here are two awesome tools you can play around with: howrare.is and solanafloor.com. Use them to assess popular and up-and-coming NFT projects as well as their metrics.But let's assume we already know what we want. For this demo, we'll be going with a Scoogi purchase. The first thing you want to do is connect your wallet. (It's as easy as pressing the "Connect wallet" button on the top right-hand corner.)<img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/rGld0puLqH6-nhpTxfhAR7FPtcm2CL88WbRA-QkD_cWjWUejiEoIZUTCMLKazL5xFEYK9ISyaTpMHG3oikjxUhgbiXlx3THT_uw14azmgMjPbU4LwCbcvvjeYWuBO0CDqMiG-WRf">The main page of the collection features important data like the current floor price and the average sale price. Once we've picked a Scoogi we like, we can click on it. This will take us to its specific page, where we can review data like the piece's price history. Here's how long it takes in real time from the moment I press "Buy Now" to the transaction actually going through. Note the "Make an offer" button. And for auctions, don't forget to note the reserve price.&nbsp;Sure, this process took slightly longer than roughly 3 seconds. But hey, it was still&nbsp;seconds&nbsp;compared to Ethereum transactions, which can take aaaaages.&nbsp;<h4>Step 4. Confirm that the Scoogi is in our Phantom wallet.&nbsp;</h4>So now that we've purchased our Scoogi, let’s see you how we can view it in our wallet.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://imagedelivery.net/E-VnZk4fwouzlzwX_qz4fg/fa2127a8-ee22-4c65-9ee1-ab6e6d94b600/public"></figure>And there you have it. A visualization of your crypto assets. Easy as pie. 🥧<h1>These scams will steal your SOL</h1>We're working on a dedicated guide covering NFT scams, but for now, these two are the big scams you should keep an eye on.&nbsp; Rug pulls.&nbsp;This is a big one, and it's not unique to Solana either, or even to NFTs. Rug pulls are a bane of crypto, and it's not even funny how commonplace they've become. This is one reason Magic Eden chose to have creators doxxx themselves. That way,&nbsp; our platform could protect the community and give users a safe and comforting NFT shopping experience. And although doxxing in no way actually guarantees that the creators won’t rug, this move does add an extra layer of security and comfort.&nbsp;Phishing scams.&nbsp;An NFT marketplace on Ethereum was a recent target of a phishing attack. Here's how it went down. The hacker targeted the owners of popular NFTs like Bored Apes. Then they emailed the owners with a link telling them to click on the update. Once they clicked the link, the hacker was granted access to their NFTs. (Can you really fault the marketplace for that?)&nbsp;So here’s a friendly reminder:&nbsp;<a href="https://contenthub.magiceden.io/how-to-do-your-own-nft-research-dyor" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Always&nbsp;Do Your Own Research</a>. No matter what others tell you, in the end, it’s your capital.And keep this principle in mind: Where there is value, capital accrues. And where there is capital, there will be scammers, so protect yourself. If safety really is a priority for you, get yourself a hard wallet.&nbsp;Now that you know how to buy NFTs on Solana, go out there and enjoy a safe and fun shopping experience, you!&nbsp;

Want to know how to buy NFTs on Solana? If you're new to the Solana chain, or NFTs, just follow this step-by-step guide on buying Solana NFTs. 

How To Buy NFTs On Solana

The NFT space can be tough to navigate. One minute, your NFTs are smashing through floor prices like Odin’s hammer. You start to believe your own hype, that you're the best NFT trader the world will ever know. The next phase? Your non-fungible tokens are in the dumpster. (Hey, it happens to the best of us.)In this article, we answer the million (potentially billion) dollar question: How do you value these digital assets?&nbsp;Get ready to take some notes because what you’re about to read might change your life. As they say in the swimming business, "Let's dive right in."<h2>The Different Types of NFT Projects and How to Value Them</h2>It's hard to find the gems from the thousands of different NFT projects, because they literally come in all shapes and sizes. For the purpose of this article, we’ve simplified them into seven distinct categories.&nbsp;Let’s look at them below.<h3>1. Digital Collectibles as NFTs</h3><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/MwDD8oWY3zh3Jrztgme9IBOEwkSy7DPMkGz78QklV20eYVo9GWnmMFrYxD_ojUlvl6axIqKkBMiWcNBE-j9Cbs4f8VRGupS6xZLRIFNbwfd6_-UHnmqOKwOW6AX0uwqkmBOWLmq4">Image credit:&nbsp;Tanyo GochevThe broader collectibles market has grown a ton over the last few years. In 2021, a LeBron James rookie card&nbsp;<a href="https://www.si.com/nba/2021/04/26/lebron-james-rookie-card-sets-record-most-expensive-basketball">sold for more than $5.2 million</a>, showcasing the huge surge in demand for sports collectibles.&nbsp;It’s no different in the NFT world. Digital NFT pieces like&nbsp;<a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/turtles">Turtles</a> have surpassed more than 69k SOL in total sales volume, so there's a clear demand for digital collectibles on Solana.&nbsp;So what makes collectible NFTs so valuable? If looking at their real-world counterpart can tell us anything, it’s that&nbsp;rarity is king.&nbsp;The LeBron James rookie card is valuable, first because collectible sports cards are valuable and LeBron is recognized as one of the best ever. Second, there are only 23 cards like it in the world. Apply the same logic here. If you find the right collection, the rarer your digital asset, the greater its value.<h3>2. Art NFTs</h3><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/0W18Op7A_Qb_7XCvgxWUlDwjABNrOJf9mWHU348z_ahKcEEUaUkqORiOqqU5JX4rTHQGraWfGX1hCojFG6K62f-GX_jMCxZJ6qFh2IIrBJYNrmSTifw6C6D1jSTHMa-G1oBUAlyD">Most NFT artworks you see on the secondary market are what we call "generative art”. Generative NFTs combine two powerful elements: technology and human creativity. So by definition, any NFT that’s created using a computer is generative.More established SOL NFT projects like&nbsp;<a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/solana_monkey_business">Solana Monkey Business</a> (SMB) and&nbsp;<a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/thugbirdz">Thugbirdz</a> can be called generative works of art. And they’ve spawned countless derivative projects.So what makes these original projects valuable compared to their spinoff cousins? Most art NFTs offer a little more utility than simply acting as a sweet profile pic.&nbsp;For example, an SMB NFT gives you access to a community of SOL NFT pros. And if you own a Thugbirdz, you get to join their DAO. So if you’re looking to become an NFT art collector, you have to dig a bit deeper to discover what else the art NFT is offering (yanno, besides the art).<h3>3. Access Pass NFTs</h3><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/QwgBd4CQvtximvFrn57u2ngnYGVHi107M3KZpmpUEAJnSA7iQfPNyzQh8646RlaNuCyNzUh67JOkU65aVFM5A0FCPghsXvihJMwQu_yqmEYhXHtFSypRq3wxq6WTAtlLQ1xjiSiA">NFTs are a novel technology that will disrupt traditional spaces like the ticketing industry, since they can be used to authenticate proof of ownership over pretty much anything.&nbsp;After all, the value of a ticket depends on what type of access it grants, right? For example, a ticket to a high-level networking event is understandably more expensive than an event hosted at your bookstore for a local author.And the same is true for access pass NFTs. An example of an access pass NFT collection on Magic Eden is&nbsp;<a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/portals">Portals</a>. These NFTs won't give you access to a specific event; instead, they are your key to an entire Solana-based Metaverse, thus giving them value. One Portal NFT has a market price of 55 SOL (at the time of writing).To become a successful ticket NFT trader, you have to understand what access they grant and how valuable that access is compared to other ticket NFTs.<h3>4. Music NFTs&nbsp;</h3><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/gisVpYtGbudefB6HEenoFxdBsxJ2rZ2W8rQ2Jwwcs6G4kCV5vdCB6tFjaBBvM6IgQjYxkuB7xSkkVjtLkViI5qut1fB3FZS-Z0jZXrGIpE_JnEK8P1teYC_W-wIv3V-dTJ_cPAWg">One of the biggest problems in the music industry is how record labels treat their artists. Musicians are forced to sign multi-year contracts that pay out peanuts for the amazing creative work they put out. It matters little if their album is the next&nbsp;Thriller.&nbsp;The label will&nbsp;always&nbsp;make more than the artists do.&nbsp;Music NFTs change this dynamic.Artists don’t&nbsp;need&nbsp;to sign with a record label. With Music NFTs, artists&nbsp;become&nbsp;their own label. They can publish their album as an NFT collection. And the best part?&nbsp;They&nbsp;get to set their own royalty rates so they receive royalties on&nbsp;every single secondary sale&nbsp;of every music NFT they’ve ever created. In other words, music NFTs allow artists to get paid by their fans directly, without requiring an intermediary.&nbsp;It’s early days, but it seems to be working wonders already.&nbsp;Daramola, a digital artist, has launched&nbsp;<a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/the_supply_chain_project">The Supply Chain Project</a> on Magic Eden. It’s an NFT project for the 4th solo studio album of the same artist. It’s a relatively new project but it has already done over 2400 SOL, which at the time of writing this piece are worth more than $200k,&nbsp; in total sales volume. These are solid numbers for a 4th studio album.<h3>5. Gaming NFTs&nbsp;</h3><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/wuMXMsYJ01k7bP27L2EgWwVEtSuv7Xmee4sk68OqywAVcvPONtPnqiDHixS_TbHZeieM6N46WG7bfSre_5zOdG8ZHq_m3_E9TAE-os36d8cenFbMvkq2HK37Met6Yn8_k7TxpP67">For years, gamers have been complaining that newer games are blatant cash grabs that are designed to squeeze every last penny from their lint-filled pockets. The games might be “free to play”, but to make any meaningful progress in the game, you better get ready to pay up. This is a major problem because gamers are putting their money into games without getting any ROI whatsoever.Gaming NFTs can help fix this issue. They grant gamers actual ownership of their in-game assets, which gamers are free to sell and trade. Adding this mechanism to a video game changes the entire in-game economy, so that playing games becomes a profitable experience.There are a few attributes that make in-game items valuable. The first is the number of active players (i.e., Metcalfe’s Law). The more players a game has, the more digital items it needs, and in turn, the more value they accrue.&nbsp;<h3>6. Virtual Land&nbsp;NFTs</h3><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/OiVPXScwOxXbeA9YJ4EE-FIFJ0QJu9Ovfgv9KoeU1TsJ6uHlbTU8a1WY4pvXlFJS3kRgbgkfyVPCEHOiCQZ18mFXh4hH-7mtRQqk6mdakS3lJIcwhCp9Yjw0flo64BUIXL9hzkib">If you went back to the 2010s and told someone that people will be spending millions of buckaroos buying and selling virtual real estate, you’d probably end up staring at padded walls.&nbsp; Yet, today, land NFTs can help you become a virtual real estate mogul. (We’re working on a guide on virtual real estate, but for now, a few interesting projects worth keeping an eye on are Portals, Chillchat, and Sovana.)&nbsp;Real estate NFTs have various use cases. You can rent out your space or use it to build something on top of it. Maybe a digital office space or a blockchain video game that you can charge your visitors to play, perhaps? Whatever the idea, it's up to you and your imagination.&nbsp;But how do we value these digital plots of land? The real estate industry has a popular phrase: “Location, location, location.” And the same is true for land NFTs. A digital land NFT near popular fashion brands will cost more than land that doesn’t have those.I mean, if&nbsp;<a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/lux_real_estate">one Lux real estate NFT</a> costs $300, but the&nbsp;real&nbsp;treat is that you could be&nbsp; next-door neighbors with Snoop Dogg, how much is that NFT really worth? (It’s also worth thinking about the maintenance costs (there are none) and the noisy tenants who complain all the time (again, none!).&nbsp;<h3>7. Profile Picture NFTs&nbsp;</h3><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/FQ_7LwornOCsqIKZinPbwA6drA-b3DlFY9TH_fTq1RlunWMPlIorZ4595mQvnA-Wvs57wpzuyw70h46V_9wFBxOKa0ZVYDeSdlng6cKm1XtMpI5FFgHEWudrYVqZ6E0LQHvETCo9">Profile pictures (PFPs), also called pixelated avatars, have blown up over the past year. They are all, in a sense, based on status: the more exclusive your NFT, the harder your clout.So when evaluating PFP NFTs, we have to look at the size of the community, the rarity of the NFT, as well as its historical price movements. It would be prudent to look at how trendy they are as well. If you see a lot of people using the NFT as a profile picture, that’s a sure bullish signal.<h2>What makes a promising NFT project? What are some potential red flags?</h2><h3><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/KYl6Fpwa6aiUDV6DHLV4bGJvcraafmwWivZeYrK8IgegLvzbzSsXesOyIdHN112QwUUlKvymSfv9o9omWs50PmfRGzuTrRjcjb67Ddv0SkWgxYzxcFhpVdyz1Wrq5GBAI6Qf-GVO"></h3>Image credit:&nbsp;<a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/2RRq1BHPq4E">NeONBRAND |&nbsp; Unsplash</a>Finding the answers to NFT valuation questions will separate the normies from the pros. And we’re here to help turn you into a seasoned valuation pro.Having said that, here are the five most important factors that determine the long-term potential of an NFT project.<h3>Utility in relation to price</h3>Valuing NFT projects is all about the relationship between the project's price and its utility. When looking at different NFT projects, ask yourself, "If I invest, will I get utility from this NFT, more utility than the price I paid for it?" If the answer is "No", stay away from the project.NFT utility comes in many different forms. For example, the&nbsp;<a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/magicticket">Magic Ticket gives you access to the MagicDAO</a>, so you can contribute to Magic Eden. Other projects like&nbsp;<a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/stoned_ape_crew">Stoned Ape Crew</a> are more focused on generating passive income for their holders via staking.🚩&nbsp;Red flag alert<ul><li>A project is minting at an unreasonably high price (ex: 10 SOL) for the utility it provides.&nbsp;</li><li>The team thinks roadmaps are “silly”.</li><li>The project is being promoted by an influencer with a shady track record.</li></ul><h3>The quality of the community</h3>It's relatively easy to figure out whether an NFT community is healthy. A quick look at their Discord chat should give off a vibe. If you see tons of people who are excited and contributing to the project, that's a bullish signal. Another thing: Check if the founders are active on their Discord.And check out if any high-profile names hold the NFT. Quick example: Just look at&nbsp;<a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/degenerate_ape_academy">Degenerate Ape Academy</a>. NFT lovers want a piece of this project because they’ll gain access to like-minded people in the community.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 🚩 Red flag alert&nbsp;<ul><li>Watch out for people chatting about sweeping the floor price in the project's Discord. That's a form of market manipulation due to the artificial increase in price. A high-quality project doesn't have to "sweep the floor price".</li></ul><h3>The uniqueness of the project</h3>To know how unique a project is, you have to follow the NFT space closely. In general, as soon as a certain format succeeds, people try to copy it. And that’s fine. But that's why it's so hard to find unique NFT projects that are worth a damn. For every Degen Ape Academy, there are hundreds of derivative projects in the woodworks.🚩 Red flag alert&nbsp;<ul><li>If a project is talking about being the new or the next “Insert Successful NFT collection name”, that's a brow raiser. Projects that do this are rarely as successful as the original.</li></ul><h3>How realistic is the roadmap?</h3>The roadmap is crucial to a project's success. And while not all successful projects have a roadmap, a good one sets the tone for what you can expect from the project.&nbsp;However, it can easily be used as a tool for manipulation. One thing that gets everyone excited is an ambitious roadmap. Who&nbsp;doesn't&nbsp;love investing in the promise of a financially prosperous future?&nbsp;(Give me $10 today, and I’ll return $1000 tomorrow. Simple math, right? Except the $1000, in this case, is the roadmap that will never be delivered.)And that’s the problem. Experienced NFT scammers prey on normies who get excited over a roadmap that promises the world. So, as a rule of thumb, look for projects with a realistic or even conservative roadmap. You want a project that delivers on its promises, not one that promotes hype it can’t deliver.🚩&nbsp;Red flag alert&nbsp;<ul><li>The project's team is overly optimistic over the roadmap they set out.</li><li>They constantly revise their roadmap and move the goalposts.</li><li>The project’s team starts falling behind, and messages on social media become increasingly infrequent.</li></ul><h3>Who’s the team behind the project?</h3>The most critical part of your NFT research is to study the project's team. You need to familiarize yourself with them because you're investing your money in their ability to execute their roadmap. So look those founders up!&nbsp;Find their LinkedIn profiles, and check their past work experience and how successful they were. Are they experienced in the crypto space? Is this their first NFT project? These questions matter a lot when you’re on the lookout for promising projects.Keep in mind that there are exceptions to this rule. Not all successful NFT projects have doxxed founders. In fact, some of the most successful projects are anonymous. Still, knowing who is behind a project and getting familiar with their track record makes it that much easier to trust someone with your money.🚩 Red flag alert&nbsp;<ul><li>You don’t see the team interacting much with the community on Discord or Twitter.</li><li>The team might be connected to some shady influencers.&nbsp;</li><li>They might “casually” chat about sweeping the floor.</li><li>The project's team is 100% anonymous, and no amount of digging reveals any hint of successful past projects.</li></ul><h2>It’s time to evaluate your favorite NFT projects</h2>You’re now a crypto investor. Do you feel prepared to navigate the complex world of NFTs? You’re familiar with the different types, understand what makes them valuable, and know what to look for in a project.&nbsp;Now, it’s time to put it all into practice.&nbsp;Start researching and working on your NFT collection. You've got thousands of NFTs to browse through on&nbsp;<a href="https://magiceden.io/">Magic Eden</a>, the NFT marketplace with the most liquidity on Solana. And remember to focus on the real-world value of these NFT projects.Here’s to your next blue-chip valuation! 🥂

There are 1000s of NFT projects on Solana, but how can you assess their potential? This guide covers exactly that.

NFT Projects: How To Analyze Them Like A VC Pro

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have caught on like wildfire this past year. And NFT scams have trailed close behind. Does this mean that NFTs themselves are scams? Nope. That's like saying art is a scam because someone made a forgery of the Mona Lisa.&nbsp;Sure, NFT scams have proliferated. But that's because where value accrues quickly, so do the vultures. And in a new and rapidly maturing industry like ours, is the presence of scams really that surprising?&nbsp;This article doesn't dive into the question of whether NFTs themselves are a scam. (They're not.) Now that we've got that out of the way, let's take a look at some&nbsp;actual&nbsp;scams that occur in the crypto space, and how you can protect yourself as a collector and investor. &nbsp;&nbsp;<h2>Most common types of NFT scams</h2>Most NFT scams are actually scams that first appeared in the real world in some form. The scammers then moved over to crypto, and now, to NFTs. So, we can think of NFT scams as simply a continuation of the various types of scams we've seen in the past.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h4>Discord</h4>Direct messages (DMs) on Discord servers are notorious for scams. (The same applies to Telegram and Twitter.) Say you join the official channel or group of one of your favorite NFT projects. Every once in a while, you can be sure to receive an invite from some "admin" of the highly coveted NFT project. He can't wait to tell you about that special NFT whitelist spot you won. ("Just click on this link to mint your NFT!").&nbsp;Don’t do it.&nbsp;No matter how shiny that button may look. No matter how much drool you’ve got to wipe off your chin. That’s the button that&nbsp;should&nbsp;read, “Click here to say goodbye to all your assets.”<img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/RZRluDPO9JEgg1lRCqe4398qVT8D1-I4jag6N7VPSS6QeJwIvHxmIBlG5ufAfeH2MttzIuLQZelULBk0V9ESbd1YOBHl7TtCpZNuvpkieFEmcatXWtSP70H2uvLBF_r3G80ZMydxRBNQT6waqA">Image credit:&nbsp;<a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/atDjsEY_YYs">Ella Don&nbsp; |&nbsp; Unsplash</a>&nbsp;If you haven't tuned your settings properly, do so right away. Disable your DMs to protect yourself from these web3 opportunists. Real quick, this is how you do it.&nbsp;<ol><li>Go into your user settings.&nbsp;</li><li>Under the “User Settings” tab on your left-hand sidebar, click on “Privacy &amp; Safety”.&nbsp;</li><li>Under “Server Privacy Defaults”, make sure to uncheck “Allow direct messages from server members.” You’re all set! &nbsp;</li></ol><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/6fIA9ft1oRxPjjhYjsH7_7J2s7q3gOXvLwpGolyynfKCCplKAre_YDYEModJERoPXLaRqyJdDfhU7_wqFoB7ORAKVbomP0nOXv5t426hU7277ZIKL4s1PgBspoZZLLnrUwkWtmcEmfCDeBqEJA">Image credit:&nbsp;Valerio Puggioni&nbsp; |&nbsp; HODL ContentAnd assume&nbsp;everyone&nbsp;is out to scam you and steal every digital asset you own, unless proven otherwise. FYI: They're out to get your private keys (i.e., your seed phrase and password to your crypto wallet) as well. So make sure that your private keys&nbsp;stay private, as the name suggests.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h4>Rug Pulls</h4>Ah. The staple of NFT project scams. Have you ever heard the adage, "Underpromise and Overdeliver"? Here, it's "Overpromise and&nbsp;don't&nbsp;deliver."&nbsp;Let's go with a made-up example. Say a friend tells you about this amazing crypto game, "Salmon Wars", with 100X potential, but you have to buy in&nbsp;now. It isn't a fully functioning game&nbsp;yet, but the limited character NFTs go on sale every 2 weeks. The roadmap looks solid, with promises of land sales coming soon.And the white paper? Oh, it sells you on all sorts of magical promises! You get to be one of the many Salmon warriors with varying characteristics. Legendary. Rare. Unique. Muscular crustaceans. Sexy sea urchins practicing voodoo. There's PVE and PVP. You have Profession quests too.&nbsp;If all this sounds familiar, that's because GameFi = many elements of traditional RPG + DeFi elements. And if this is all that the roadmap's got to offer, you’ve got to ask yourself a question. What's so special about&nbsp;this&nbsp;game compared to all the other NFT games about sea creatures going to war?&nbsp;&nbsp;Whatever your assessment, consider this:&nbsp;Rug pulls go to zero.&nbsp;So&nbsp;<a href="https://contenthub.magiceden.io/how-to-do-your-own-nft-research-dyor">make sure to DYOR</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h4>Airdrops</h4>Do you like gifts and free stuff? Us too. If you’ve ever opened your wallet, and to your surprise, you found six figures worth of tokens you’ve never heard of before, no one could blame you for thinking you were the beneficiary of an amazing airdrop... but for what, exactly?Run a quick Google search of the tokens. You just might find news about investors who attempted to cash out these tokens, and would quickly find all their funds drained from their crypto wallet. So a word of caution: Fake giveaways work for a reason, but the&nbsp;real&nbsp;giveaway is taking place with your assets.&nbsp;So when you do see these “amazing” tokens in your wallet, the best thing you can do is hide them. If you can’t hide them, don’t interact with them. There are also plenty of platforms and protocols that do allow you to hide scam tokens, so if you don’t have this option, consider moving to a place where you do.&nbsp;<h4>Tech Support</h4>This scam is common on Reddit and Discord. Post a question on a crypto subreddit, and within minutes, you’ll receive messages from "Solana technical support". (Replace with any other chain or wallet or protocol. The result is the same.)&nbsp;<img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/LF733Z7RCTf3JKKB00SSbQVeF309J7iXEeWWhqeCe6v6S1uRDsZ6jzHfM8MbVmxftWkKMtIqcuGcQe5WRWKbhCyHF2dttRvYwcRcF_xwAB-BkwqcNls6Y1fje8eCZ8brdY999W600NpbDJZbqg">Image credit:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/grayscale-photo-of-man-and-woman-hacking-a-computer-system-5380659/">Tima Miroshnichenko |&nbsp; Pexels</a>This type of scam involves scammers impersonating a helpful authority figure. They offer to assist you with your issue, and somewhere along the line, you’ll unwittingly share your seed phrase.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h4>Suspicious links</h4>Clicking on suspicious links is related to what's known as a phishing scam. These links are usually found in emails but can also be sent through Discord. (That's how one Opensea user had his wallet drained of his Bored Ape!)&nbsp;Scammers can also send you this type of message on social media. Alternatively, these links can be found on websites that are a carbon copy of the original. The intent is to fool visitors into connecting their wallet, so that the scammers can drain their funds. (Not SAFU.) (By the way, we’re coming out with a glossary of NFT terms soon, but this crypto slang term originated when Binance was allegedly hacked, and CEO Changpeng Zhao reassured everyone with the typoed tweet, “Funds are safu”. The rest is history.)&nbsp;<h4>Imposters</h4>One day, on a day like any other, a popular NFT marketplace on Ethereum listed the works of Serbian artist Milos Rajkovic for auction⁠—but there was one problem. They had no connection whatsoever to his works being auctioned off. In fact, Rajkovic had never even created an NFT before. In case you were wondering, the NFTs have been delisted.&nbsp;<h4>Fake Influencer Promotions</h4>This type of promotion isn't a straight-up scam, but it is unethical at best. In fact, quite a few celebs like Kim Kardashian and Floyd "Money" Mayweather are getting sued. The allegation is that they were promoting NFT scams on their social media accounts.&nbsp;Then there's people like Melania Trump, who recently sold one of her own NFTs for a whoppin' $185,000. What she failed to realize is that all on-chain transactions are traceable. So when the data showed that it looked like she had bought her own NFT, the community went into an uproar. She denied it, but you can't deny on-chain data. (The same wallet address that bought the NFT sold the NFT.)<h1>How to protect yourself from NFT scams</h1>We're human. (Well, most of us anyway.) We make mistakes. That's normal. Having said that, there are precautions you can take to make sure you minimize your chances of costly human error.&nbsp;In Kevin Mitnick's book "The Art of Deception", the author states that the greatest vulnerability to companies is people. What he meant was that people can be easily persuaded into giving up valuable data via social engineering.Mitnick acted as a consultant to such companies and helped train teams on data protection. You can take similar steps to protect your assets as well. Making yourself aware of the existence of these scams is the first step to protecting yourself. Exercising vigilance goes a long way as well. Scammers count on us to trip up and make human errors, and some of us often do, costing us dearly.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<h4>Want an extra layer of protection? Go with a hardware wallet.</h4><h4><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/2v72sZAW2-tTVM2Z9ca2y63yJvsTrEqD18aFSLcV2m3_ZtWvOBJZybSYPp_UtVzYpd5kuIs_AObFhknLZnNZKhnqI4fIXhJhpN_jv7Be_aBvXTGyXtYiha0-xD3IZUzufCOzZWDiiTVb8SRKow"></h4>Image credit:&nbsp;<a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/VLZ6YOEIN-w">olieman.eth&nbsp; |&nbsp; Unsplash</a>Hardware wallets store your private key, so that if it's not connected to your computer, the most a hacker can do is stare at your account balance. In other words, you add an additional layer of protection.&nbsp;The Ledger hard wallet does a great job. Trezor is another popular option.&nbsp;If someone drains your funds from your wallet, you can't call the police. You can't take them to court, so there's no legal recourse. But if you think you're better off in real life, think again.&nbsp;Next time you find out that the Van Gogh you purchased is actually a fugazi, try to walk into a police station and file a report. But wait. Even before buying it, you'll have a hard time verifying whether it's even authentic. According to Art historian Thomas Hoving, various types of forged art make up to 40% of the market! Insane.So now that we've covered the main NFT scams out there, here’s how you can protect yourself: Remain vigilant of these scams, and pay attention to the details. Most of these scammers rely on you slipping up when you’re tired, like by not double-checking the URL of the website you’re on.&nbsp;<h2>In closing: Be the skeptic</h2><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/oQyjKdj_n1NpBaGq-Ir0b-CdIS7nJ-zUULV9cfbVl6Hjguk3jVXGeeXeNf_S1VY0ZrRk8gxs5cIDn9bOGbm3TgxfFGjF4c11q5fttoP7B7Qw8bfuHMastO0kxlhhziVv0DjfEcvBZSi0wW-FSQ">If an NFT project sounds too good to be true, it probably is. And this rule of thumb applies not just to NFTs, but to all crypto (probably to life too).&nbsp;It can be hard to ignore the siren call of extravagant promises of giveaways. Yet, the millions of dollars that have been lost are proof of that. So are the news headlines showcasing individuals who've suffered great reversals of fortune inside of a day. (And what a day that must have been.)&nbsp;So keep your cryptocurrency wallets close to your heart, and your crypto assets even closer. By becoming your own bank, you are assuming the very same security responsibilities of your banking institutions. But hey, as long as you remember to protect your neck, you can enjoy a fun shopping experience.&nbsp;And the added bonus? You'll never have to be&nbsp;that&nbsp;person at the party everyone's talking about, who lost their entire net worth due to some stupid link you clicked on. Right?

NFT scams are scary. The best way to protect yourself? Knowing what to watch out for. This guide covers several common NFT scams people have fallen for.  

NFT Scams: What Are They, And How Do They Work?

In 2021, while most of the world was still in lockdown, a handful of crypto natives and retail investors made a killing buying and selling digital real estate. Business was booming.&nbsp;But how did we end up here?We put our Sherlock hat on, grabbed our pipe and trench coat to go out and do a little investigating ourselves. Would you be shocked if we told you that digital real estate had been around… for years!?&nbsp;When you think about it, domain names, online ads, and websites are all pieces of digital real estate that are being traded daily. Arguably the biggest Bitcoin bull, Michael Saylor, has made more than $100 million, simply from selling domain names. Talk about a savvy businessman.In this article, we’re focusing on the next evolution of digital real estate: virtual property in the Metaverse. This might be a heavy concept if you’re new to this, so let's unpack this.<figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:50%;"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/FEhU7WWJwLJ3P4Tk9PgqVfRCeAxqL9TrDdG-nodaqu2wvlRvimvPYpARLvrJ5oKSV0lRCPWbC7rZZkpz4EylOvO4wMFH7CGaMl9N9uhaaNEay2Ba___R7fhG_ro3Dr0RqMw149QzjPWsvOsAvQ"></figure>Image credit:<a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/VkRq5w3asCA">&nbsp;</a><a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/T29AcrDfWsY">Ameer Basheer&nbsp; |&nbsp; Unsplash</a><h2>What's the big deal with digital real estate?</h2>When crypto natives talk about digital real estate, they typically refer to virtual property in a digital world, where the components are sold off as NFTs. What's this virtual world we’re talking about, you ask?&nbsp;Well, there are many.One way to think about digital real estate NFTs is as portals to different virtual worlds. Some worlds are similar to the physical one we inhabit, with busy corporate offices, exclusive social clubs, and gated communities with tennis courts and swimming pools. Other places are more futuristic, allowing you to buy virtual property in a Cyberpunkish landscape. In these metaverses, you can own a piece of virtual estate using a digital currency like SOL.All of these projects are built around the concept of a metaverse. Crypto heads like to toss that word around like a bored baseball. But here’s a secret: Most of them don't have the faintest clue what it means.&nbsp;So let's define it.<h2>What's the Metaverse?</h2><figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:50%;"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/8DEDR6mEKPu9NtqKVcHqstPqPqMC_cyy36439Tamp6de6sAfwrDBisZGc2s6P0kqJBF1DplNc4C4vENM8Kx7O33iuU8koHLQeUxz_MPD2cKbx7uI0nUYdQuNyGLRqTlUgfUwEF_BWKdY8e-zMw"></figure>Image credit:<a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/VkRq5w3asCA">&nbsp;</a><a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/VU3Gmeks-LY">Christine Sandu&nbsp; |&nbsp; Unsplash</a>When we speak of one Metaverse, we’re referring to all the metaverses that exist collectively. See, there are many metaverses, and we can pick and choose which ones we want to inhabit.So, the Metaverse is an alternate virtual world where people can interact in countless ways. It could be a coworking space or an immersive 3D game.&nbsp;The term gained considerable traction following Facebook's rebrand into “Meta”. We all watched Mark Zuckerberg's video, and thought, "So the platform that we used to play FarmVille on is now a virtual world? Not very subtle, Mark."<figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:75%;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ToHZSD0tFwm9db6hzvDAbU4E-huR4t-LFw9on0qc7GE3TCStmtvEzlZ2FTzgl2qCfNlNuJ7Kgi8CygRvfHcP_1ylfv_xtk3qBi1g50Od5nXBBO_psVWDA9E09x1O00D_LPSbWgiIUi3WMx2xjA"></figure>Think about all the things you do on a weekly basis, whether it’s hustling to get those dolla dolla bills (dolla dolla bill y’all), or having a blast with your friends in the kitchen for your weekly poker sessions. The vision for the Metaverse is to grant you the ability to do all those things, but in a virtual setting.&nbsp;And you can do so much more.&nbsp;Remember your friends Tom and Jerry from your World of Warcraft days? You know, the ones you spent countless hours with online because no one would talk to you in real life. So you wallowed away the hours chatting and beating in-game bosses that come in all shapes and colors… all without ever meeting them.&nbsp;Well, in the Metaverse, you finally&nbsp;can meet them and play your favorite game immersively, providing you and your friends with an even richer in-game experience. This obviously won’t be the&nbsp;only&nbsp;use case for the metaverse. Buying virtual property presents another massive opportunity. If you want to become the Metaverse version of Mr. Monopoly, grab your top hat and monocle. After all, buying virtual plots of land and renting them out to earn recurring passive income can make you a Metaverse tycoon.&nbsp;We have to make one thing crystal clear, though. Not all metaverses are created equal, and that’s by design. See, there are different metaverses that will serve specific use cases.&nbsp;Centralized players like Microsoft and Meta are building their metaverses around virtual work and immersive gaming experiences. It's likely that you'll have a digital avatar that represents your real-life version, with all of your awesometacular swag.Crypto metaverse projects on Solana offer the same utility as on other chains, but have one clearly distinct advantage for savvy investors: Better money-making opportunities. This leads us to the next logical question:&nbsp;Why might someone buy a virtual plot of land? Isn't&nbsp;real&nbsp;real estate the "real deal"?&nbsp;<h2>Why invest in digital real estate vs. "real" real estate?</h2>As we mentioned early on in this article, investing in virtual plots of land presents a booming opportunity. So much so that the entire Metaverse space is valued at a whopping<a href="https://brandessenceresearch.com/technology-and-media/metaverse-market-size">&nbsp;$209</a> billion! But let's see how that holds up against the traditional real estate business.<h3>Digital real estate is just getting started</h3>The U.S. housing market had decades to reach its current market valuation of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.zillow.com/research/us-housing-market-total-value-2021-30615/">$43.4 trillion</a>. That figure puts into perspective just how massive an opportunity digital real estate is.&nbsp;Even if it reaches just 1% of the U.S. housing valuation, that means the digital real estate market would reach a $4 trillion dollar valuation. For context, that would be 4X more than Meta’s current valuation. (Stick&nbsp;that in your robot pipe, Zuck.)&nbsp;Digital real estate has only been around for a few years, so you can bet your pretty Satoshis that a ton more exciting opportunities are coming out of this space. While speculating with digital real estate NFTs remains a risky venture, purchasing digital land will allow you to explore the space and gain exposure to any potential upsides.<h3>Digital property has no maintenance costs</h3>Owning digital land comes with zero maintenance costs. This is probably the greatest advantage that digital property has over the real estate business. A digital asset like that has&nbsp;no&nbsp;water leaks,&nbsp;no&nbsp;broken furniture, and definitely&nbsp;no&nbsp;termites. (Did we mention, no annoying tenants who complain all the time? What a win!)&nbsp;Real estate investments may generate passive income. (The same can be said of digital real estate investments, though!) The difference? The real stuff comes with maintenance costs, which tends to increase the more expensive the property is.&nbsp;Look at any celeb’s house. While we all dream of living in a $20 million mansion, no one actually dreams about covering its maintenance costs. (Oh yes! $5000 for newly insulated window panels in the upstairs bathroom please.) Even the pool boy can get quite expensive when you own several of them.<h3>Digital plots of land are a gateway to better passive income opportunities</h3>Yeah, yeah. We hear you, real estate investors. Buying and renting things like a rental property also generates passive income. But it's hard to automate and become something more than your typical landlord (like a&nbsp;real&nbsp;lord) unless you scale considerably, which means buying a lot more property, and in turn adding significantly to your costs.Buying digital land presents enormous income potential as well as cheaper customization options, with none of the time-consuming activities that come from owning real property.&nbsp;What do we mean by customization?&nbsp;In the traditional real estate market, if you want to customize your house, you have to pay for costly renovations and buy new furniture, decor, what have you.&nbsp;Not so in the world of virtual reality. If the project allows it, you can&nbsp;completely&nbsp;customize your estate, from the way it looks to the people it hosts. It could be anything from a fancy-schmancy corporate office with a polished mahogany desk to a rave party house decked out with a DJ set, body paint, glow sticks, and everything in-between.&nbsp;Word to the wiseInvestors in digital and real estate share one maxim: Location, location, location. Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates live in the same neighborhood. (Coincidence? We think not!) Becoming their co-resident will cost you a lot more than buying a family house in downtown Seattle. The same holds true for digital estate. If you want to become a successful virtual estate investor, purchasing properties in a popular neighborhood with a lot of foot traffic is a must.&nbsp;<h2>How to invest in digital real estate</h2>Investing in digital real estate is much easier and way quicker than doing it in real life. Real estate deals can take forever to get finalized. (Jumping through bureaucratic red tape can be a nightmare.) For example, closing on a house could take up to 60 days, depending on the type of house and the real estate transaction.&nbsp;Buying digital real estate on Magic Eden, though? Couldn't be any more different. Let us walk you through the process. In its entirety, it shouldn’t take longer than 5 minutes if you’ve already got some SOL in your wallet.If you don't, Magic Eden's YouTube channel has two great videos on how to buy Solana: one for<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EaXpVrLfRg">&nbsp;Binance</a> and the other for<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnWHNcYmvW0">&nbsp;Crypto.com</a>. Pick your adventure and get started!Once you’re ready, here’s how to invest in digital real estate in 5 simple steps:Step 1: Navigate to<a href="https://magiceden.io/">&nbsp;Magic Eden's website</a>.Step 2: Look for a project you like.<figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:75%;"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/jD5Q4MvNBEx_hKgAM-sdNDoceACiGtrLrCS2bL9r_7hAlJzGEIxYWYCLLlR5EmWcQjncOivS2_eg9cagut-9l9Okw_P29HLBRx1ixFTfZCb057hz2UBYistwp-ALoIwDUlpixdnBUZfSTAqhmg"></figure>Image credit: Tanyo GochevThis is the most crucial part of the process. This part will either make or break your career as a metaverse property mogul. That's why it’s essential to know exactly what you're looking for, because different projects offer various opportunities.For instance, buying a<a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/lux_real_estate">&nbsp;LUX NFT</a> gives you access to a metaverse that combines social and gaming elements. Compare this with a project like&nbsp;<a href="https://www.magiceden.io/marketplace?collection_symbol=solsteads_surreal_estate">Solsteads</a>, which grants you an estate for hosting virtual art.For the purposes of this article, let’s buy a LUX NFT.Step 3: Log into your wallet.&nbsp;Let’s use the Phantom wallet for this article. If you’re not familiar with it, here's a<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiZJDWgxIvs">&nbsp;quick guide</a> on how to set it up.<figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:75%;"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/7f5pQPzkev_CqF0-sUJXF96wm4c2e_op0PsHkuGv0t9waw5luNP4qTUo4w4FNmPmUQgHG3n9l2TiAskFX8scghMHnWP5mMGpIDAYJBlUsfFyeyepHNbrscAtLa2W4CgjJJwXj-o8A_DRcpZ-Fg"></figure>Image credit: Tanyo Gochev &nbsp;Step 4: Find the right NFT by studying the attributes of the property.<figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:75%;"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/HkbpGA_W88FCW3tl8nVa0uO9gdZIvM-SU1TEof7CX08-lXdSk8ChxhjjVa9_lItY2_vCK_ACyDtNjD40vzU-iSiAtjOB6vj-lAYSyen-d_HyCr_3ISVXZOtjcia-cTvmLS5aXoxATxys2AwVhw"></figure>Image credit: Tanyo GochevThe color of the card determines the type of property we are looking at. A green one represents an apartment, a red card stands for a duplex, gray signifies a condo, light brown is the color assigned for penthouses, and a white card gets you a mansion.Let's start small and buy an apartment.Step 5: Connect your wallet and press “Buy Now”. And you're done!<h2>Become a digital real estate mogul in a booming industry&nbsp;</h2><figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:75%;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/TJSg28t6wU37MdYsfslPSyIAI6EBeJcKmIPqwsFE3cSavdYjzunOGoZwVdMrKbj0-t5JSjjrsJAXM9d1n0BCFEJ8N5jAGgzLODV9c2DMgVBKa6K62cItJvMiy6KBuyH4TGEGnrBoHrwURNftQA"></figure>We’re still very early in the digital estate space, especially on Solana. Projects like&nbsp;<a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/lux_real_estate">LUX</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/portals">Portals</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/sovana">Sovana</a> are the first generation of Solana-based metaverses, and more like them will follow suit soon enough. So it makes sense for us to dip our clammy hands in and buy up some sweet, sweet digital estates.&nbsp;Doesn't have to be a big investment either. All old school lords of the land started out with a single unit and slowly built up their portfolio. You can follow the same strategy and become even more successful, given that you'll be operating in a nascent industry.So start small by buying just a single digital estate NFT, and go from there. That purchase will help you get some skin in the game, and take advantage of any additional opportunities that may arise. And we can guarantee that there will be plenty of those, especially on Magic Eden.

Digital real estate investing is already a billion-dollar industry. Here's your guide to becoming a virtual real estate mogul.

Digital Real Estate Investing: How to Become a Metaverse Property Tycoon

The timing of this article couldn't have been better. Yes, the crypto market is in a downturn. Some would say it's akin to a dumpster fire. But what about NFTs? Turns out, as an alternative asset class, NFTs are in the middle of a bull run.&nbsp;In fact, the valuations of blue-chip projects have increased massively. NFT collections like<a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/degenerate_ape_academy"> Degenerate Ape Academy</a>, <a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/degods" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">DeGods</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/solana_monkey_business">Solana Monkey Business</a> are crushing it on the<a href="https://magiceden.io/"> Magic Eden marketplace</a>.Since you're reading this article, we assume you already know what NFTs are. Like him or not, as the OG of investing, Warren Buffett has this to say: "Don't invest in something you don't understand."&nbsp; So if you don't know anything about NFTs and don't understand the hype around them just yet, <a href="https://contenthub.magiceden.io/introduction-to-nfts">this article</a> breaks it all down for you in simple terms.But since we’re here, in this article, we discuss how to make money with NFTs, the legal and ethical way. No scams. No rug pulls. Nada. So if you're looking for tutorials on how to scam people with NFTs, this ain’t it, chief!Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s look at how we can make money with NFTs.<h2>Why Invest in NFTs, rather than crypto?</h2>“Aren't NFTs and crypto the same thing?” No, and in fact, since crypto is fungible, and NFTs are not, they can be viewed as opposites. Sure, they’re both built on the blockchain, but that's where the similarities end.&nbsp;Since NFTs are non-fungible tokens, this means that no two NFTs can ever be identical. We can also think of NFTs as proof of ownership over a digital asset. So it’s not feasible for NFTs to be exchanged with one another, assuming equal value. For instance, 1 NFT from the Degen Ape Academy isn't equal to 1 NFT from the <a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/defi_pirates" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">DeFi Pirates</a> NFT collection.Compare this against cryptocurrencies and physical cash, which are fungible. This means that they can be traded for one another, and are equal in value. For example, one Bitcoin is always equal to one Bitcoin, and thus, they’re interchangeable.Now that we’ve gotten this out of the way, let's move onto the topic at hand: Why invest in NFTs when you can invest in crypto? Aren't these markets correlated?&nbsp;In this new and limited time period that cryptocurrencies and NFTs have coexisted, many papers have been published on the topic. Turns out, there's little spillover between these two asset classes. And in fact, NFTs seem to stand alone as an asset class compared to crypto.Moreover, they enjoy a negative correlation to cryptocurrencies. When the broader crypto market takes a dive, the value of NFTs goes up. This can be due to several reasons.&nbsp;First, when the crypto markets are down, the blockchain network fee is lower, thus rendering NFT trading more affordable. Second, NFTs can be used as a store of value, in a manner similar to traditional works of art, which have performed well in terms of value retention over time.<figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:75%;"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/r7lB5OYCyjOZXcN0yU_NNdqCF1sAVVA2J6KtIRGen4rjMlLA4-LmldUXFurN5o01j91iH84RHVHn5MI_U4Yhyjt1BTTWTDTH81M1h-xf_tPDNRBsoOi83KeD3Ag8YNOb3TUSY5rqQhQCnu_0EQ"></figure>Image credit:&nbsp;<a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/JjjSPPzzpkU">Tezos&nbsp; |&nbsp; Unsplash</a>However, while investing in NFTs can be considered a hedge against the broader crypto market, it doesn’t come without its tradeoffs. For example, investing in an NFT can require a much greater commitment than simply investing in a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin.&nbsp;Your mileage may vary, of course, based on the NFT you purchase, but in general, when you buy an NFT, what you're actually buying is access to a community of holders, and that can be a good thing, depending on what you’re looking for.&nbsp;You could network with people from all walks of life anywhere around the world and talk to them about your shared passions. But NFT projects that require a time commitment are a lot more challenging to manage and track. You'll need to stay in touch with the NFT community, follow the project's floor price, and track the price movements in the broader crypto market.For example, if you're buying a crypto gaming NFT, you'll need more time and money upfront. Afterward, you'll have to invest hours into playing the game, so that you can get back your ROI.Obviously, investing in a cryptocurrency meant for HODLing is a lot easier to manage. (Buy SOL, hold SOL. Easy!) All you need to do is track the price and buy the dips.&nbsp;Although investing in NFTs may require greater commitment, it can get quite lucrative because of the myriad brands getting involved, from recognizable sports brands like Overtime’s<a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/bracketx"> BracketX</a> and NBA Top Shot to actors like Johnny Depp and celebrity-backed projects like Alejandro Salomon’s&nbsp;<a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/rude_golems">Rude Golems</a>.That's because NFTs are revolutionizing several industries concurrently. For instance, NFTs are gaining incredible popularity among singers, rappers, as well as singing rappers. That's because musicians make very little money from their works, with the record labels siphoning off most of it. Artists can secure 12% in royalties&nbsp;if&nbsp;they are lucky. 🤢NFTs have changed the game. Just look at Steve Aoki, who claims he’s made more from NFTs this year than he did from 10 years of making music. With every sale of your digital token, secondary and otherwise, you receive a percentage of royalties forever.&nbsp;And the best part? You, as the artist, have the ability to determine how much you should make per sale. (On Solana, stay tuned for Wuki’s Wobblebug project. You can&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/wobblebug">check out the official Wobblebug twitter account</a> for more info.)There are also amazing NFT projects for writers.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Neil-Strauss/e/B001H6NT1I%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share">Best-selling New York Times author Neil Strauss</a> created the first decentralized book that will reside exclusively on the blockchain. Anyone can read it, but to actually own it, you have to buy one of Neil's NFTs.&nbsp;<h2>How to Make Money with NFTs</h2>While NFTs have countless applications, the limits of which are quite possibly our own imagination, making money from them is actually quite straightforward.You have three main approaches to profit from these virtual assets:<ol><li>Trading</li><li>Staking</li><li>Creating</li></ol>Let’s look at each one closely.<h2>Trading NFTs</h2>Trading NFTs is one of the easiest ways to make money. You don't even need to be familiar with the blockchain technology on which they operate. Hell, you don't even need to understand art theory, or any of that fancy mambo jambo.To become a successful NFT trader, though, you will need to follow the industry closely, so that you can wrap your head around the space and the narrative forces driving it.But hey, since you’ve got to start somewhere, this is an excellent place to start. So here's how you can trade NFTs.Step 1: Buy Crypto.Buying NFTs is not like buying stocks. There’s no fiat on-ramp, so you can't just input your credit card deets and deposit funds directly into an NFT marketplace. (Wen lord!)&nbsp;Instead, to start trading NFTs, you'll need to get some funds into a digital wallet. If you’re comfortable using an exchange,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.coinbase.com/">Coinbase</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EaXpVrLfRg&amp;t=13s">Binance</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://youtu.be/XnWHNcYmvW0">Crypto.com</a> are the best options for buying crypto. (In our example, we’ll be using SOL.)&nbsp; Step 2: Choose the right network.For our purposes, the right network is Solana. Sure, Ethereum remains a popular option, but it also comes with eye-gouging transaction fees.&nbsp;Solana, on the other hand, is economical and settles transactions fast. We recommend working with Solana here, especially if you're a beginner. It’ll be a lot lighter on your wallet compared to the other chains, and the user experience is shockingly smooth.&nbsp;Step 3: Get a digital wallet.Now that you’ve got some SOL, you need to arm yourself with a crypto wallet to become a fully qualified NFT trader. This is where things can get a little funky. Be extra careful when sending crypto from one cryptocurrency wallet to another. This isn’t your typical transaction where, if you mess up, you can call your bank to reverse the charge. (Try calling blockchain support!)&nbsp;If you mess up a crypto transaction, there’s a real good chance you’ve lost your crypto and won't get it back. (Here's&nbsp;<a href="https://contenthub.magiceden.io/how-to-choose-a-solana-wallet">a short article</a> on the best wallets you can use for Solana.)Step 4: Choose a marketplace and connect your wallet.<figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:75%;"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/fMFdU7RDavSPOg7kell-NawvETPiutI0DdHZ7NCrLrYSp6Ae-EIwEjK708dGWzzN43sry8vaMPtmTRqxKgeaDN9uiqFWwMzgN_npRKlziqxXjsGIYZ42rGbeZ91g4-MIzEojFNZApREPbXhxvg"></figure>Image credit:&nbsp;Tanyo GochevThere are tons of NFT marketplaces you can choose from, with many more launching each day.&nbsp; But for Solana NFTs, <a href="https://magiceden.io/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Magic Eden</a> offers the smoothest experience for traders.&nbsp;It's super simple to get started on Magic Eden. Simply click the "Select Wallet" button on the top right-hand corner to connect your wallet, and you're ready to buy NFTs.Step 5: Buy an NFT.We’ll need to find the “right” collection for you to get started. This largely depends on your goals. Are you here to turn a quick profit by flipping NFTs? Or are you here to play the long game?&nbsp;Once you figure out the answer to this question, you'll need to research different collections. It helps to think of the type of NFT as well. Do you want to flip real estate? Art? Trading cards? Crypto gaming collectibles?Let’s assume we’re going with an art NFT. Here's how you can buy an NFT on Magic Eden once you’ve connected your wallet:<ul><li>Click the “Collections” button on the left to review the most popular NFT collections on <a href="https://magiceden.io/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Magic Eden</a>.</li><li>Choose a collection you like, and click on it.</li><li>Buy an NFT from that collection by clicking the “Buy Now” button. That’s it!</li></ul>Step 6: Start selling your art NFTs. Now that you have your first NFT, it's time to start trading. And to do that, you'll need to list your NFT on a secondary marketplace. For our example, we’ll be using <a href="https://magiceden.io/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Magic Eden</a> (obviously). Here's how we list our NFT for sale. Click on the button in the middle, between “Sell” and your wallet address, to view your profile.<figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:75%;"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_Vvv74GuuXkQjFBtKlz7Zzt5Rmbio-wF-haatceXqonNjlD6dD6nP_uRTzdM2_0zw0uDFvdZHn38NA2ErJUbCZyDgXs57oXS7Q47BOIqmTgfuYW5E4BjRIy4MYqoBk6S91T-Pp_jUZXfFt23kA"></figure>Image credit:&nbsp;Tanyo GochevList the NFT you want to sell by clicking on the “List now” button.<figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:75%;"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/g2giNt17fLgbKIYp63b8AJgBE8HPDw1pAGhrqa31oDuwCFC8nppxEvnKRCGzz-b1aGnAtH_nldRElBGf5xBuSItIlKfQeHlbYE4sd6tXzSc0MjCo_vH_xY6s7JdTLaYAGFIFs89YcYIVcCrqbg"></figure>Image credit:&nbsp;Tanyo GochevInput the amount of SOL you want for your NFT, and approve the transaction.<figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:75%;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/KXMwR8-Mt9QGTOYFvGwhv7qFXQJViqzmik8e_gF6_m1Yo6FsaELCPrwT1ebdi0jzARBAk5fHS6CdRtu5MmoLsfpRuwoxFcAfaR26_dzPcJPVFiASLc7SAMpqdXY-SrhUbCL4mk6k-9FIgDZmpw"></figure>Image credit:&nbsp;Tanyo GochevIf you see a green checkmark, this means you’ve listed your NFT for sale successfully. Now you can repeat this process as many times as you’d like. Just remember to keep track of your profits and losses.Happy trading!<h3>Staking NFTs</h3>NFT Staking is another way to make money from NFTs. But how does one go about staking their NFT?&nbsp;Well, all it means is that you’ve got to deposit or “lock” your NFT into a smart contract to generate yield. The longer the lock-in period, the greater the rewards. Most projects allow staking for periods of 1 month, 3 months, and even up to a year or two.Staking your NFT isn't as straightforward as trading, though. Not every digital artwork can be staked, for example. What NFT stakers do is identify NFT collections that do allow staking.&nbsp;But before you go off on your quest for the next NFT staking project, keep in mind that staking an NFT is a major time commitment. You should be a true believer because you're willing to lock your NFT in for a prolonged period of time. Make sure you<a href="https://contenthub.magiceden.io/how-to-do-your-own-nft-research-dyor"> do your own research</a> before you start staking your NFTs.<h3>Creating NFTs</h3>If you think you’re the next undiscovered Van Gogh, this section is for you. Some of us want to make money with NFTs and&nbsp;really&nbsp;study the space. And creating an actual NFT will teach you more than reading any article can.&nbsp;The ease of creating an NFT largely depends on your industry. For instance, if you’re a digital artist, a writer, or a musician, you’ll have different types of NFT considerations and options available to you.&nbsp;But you don’t need to feel overwhelmed by all the options. Regardless of how complicated it may sound, making an NFT is actually a fairly straightforward process.&nbsp;Here's how you can create your very own NFT on Magic Eden.<figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:75%;"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-MIfUzGEZuG-TYmA5-7dNmdeXrl1eG0Z85mRulEqB83lVaOXEKyX6q6KLaN5ZPlELpBbxFI5Ik55eswXYYV96AXKSwfEHbinvBWrC3sJbR6d2clgsSRUTEnUrqDCeRgVlJUhwR7Uu9zpcEyO0w"></figure>Image credit:&nbsp;Tanyo GochevStep 1: Click on the “Creators” button to view your options.Step 2: Apply.If you’re actually thinking of getting a team together that wants to launch an NFT collection on Magic Eden, click on the “Apply for launchpad” button. (The button invites you to fill out&nbsp;<a href="https://airtable.com/shrMhMDpcvt9nB6cu">this form</a>.)&nbsp;If you’re a digital artist who wants to run auctions for your artwork, click on the “Apply for auctions” button to access&nbsp;<a href="https://airtable.com/shrIw72NYGw5YJtDR">this form</a> instead.&nbsp;Want to create a collection quickly? Then click on the “Apply for listing” button. Let’s use this last scenario as an example.<figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:75%;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Bccq3jhYEFvsE54-04KJj1acisOinDdMJbmFf3FqtPmcjiFESdqC7TTNRHnFOxLA4lgHDfgXVe9R5STV5TjxciZrh_lATC9x2plYRomhx11qbKl-FcIZIeByof8O9ksF7F3HLyX-6Pd4VgzSKQ"></figure>Image credit:&nbsp;Tanyo GochevStep 3: Click the “Create New Collection” button.<figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:75%;"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/IHkkAuNK5fct9I5c3mqHWq9LxeAUoQe_gV_zaqZGMu1MKuMSUUOg4cL54xHoCyG98zPSYBpcno8TuW6vbYs_J9uo3xVXSCcUMiTKChrVWsVv1PJyIi66EG4IgOlukI7_iaLITN1wARcXeony-w"></figure>Image credit:&nbsp;Tanyo GochevStep 4: Fill out the application.<figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:75%;"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/K7xxcPLHhcnexTmYrO8P72jt0AtdgQH67DaSLDOGLXtMTiDx9MVDGW8nXPI9DbUSzcJPcuRfJWaolm5qu7RPB5gRaDt9V9XiJZO5AaqkhN2aRG41Rd9DiR_qM2R30C99VNkl8B7ZLYLPmd8Fpw"></figure>Image credit:&nbsp;Tanyo GochevStep 5: If you’ve done everything correctly, you’ll see your collection in this tab.&nbsp;And now, all you’ve got to do is wait for approval from the Magic Eden team. Once it’s approved, your collection will go live.<h2>How&nbsp;not&nbsp;to make money with NFTs</h2>Making money from digital assets like crypto and NFTs is a novel activity, but it looks like we’re in it for the long haul. In this short period of NFT dominance we’ve been experiencing this past year, people have shown us time and again that buying “the right NFT” could change your life.&nbsp;Literally.Quick example? How about these<a href="https://time.com/6093982/nft-art-teens-money/">&nbsp;18-year-olds who became millionaires</a> with NFTs? Sure, while not everyone can become a millionaire, turning a profit with digital assets can be highly lucrative. You just have to follow the space like the other NFT traders, who invest hours into crypto Twitter, only to miss amazing mints like the one for&nbsp;<a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/famous_fox_federation">Famous Fox Federation</a>. (Argh no!)&nbsp;But hey, it happens to the best of us. If you find a collection you like and you’re confident that it’ll succeed, set your alarm for the sale. Try to get whitelisted. It isn’t easy to get on a coveted list, but it’s worth a shot!&nbsp;Who knows? That mint might be the one that changes your life forever.&nbsp;

Investing in NFTs is tricky, considering how many collections there are. Read on to find out how to make money with NFTs. 


How to Make Money with NFTs

When dealing in crypto, on Solana or any other chain, there’s always the risk of having your wallet compromised. This can happen by connecting to a malicious contract, clicking on phishing links, or becoming exposed in other ways.As Solana becomes more popular, it’s increasingly important to educate the community on security best-practices, which is why we created the multi-wallet system and security toolbox you’ll discover in The Solana Security Playbook.Inside we, the Joe Shmoes team, lay out a 3-step process for keeping your assets safe from hackers and scammers.<h2>The Hack</h2>Why is security important? Hear it from <a href="https://twitter.com/0x_fxnction" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">0x_fxnction</a>, a founding member of <a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/joe_shmoes_notsoaverage_club" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Joe Shmoes</a>, who recently had over 2,000 SOL stolen from his wallet.Recently my wallet was compromised for 2,349 SOL, roughly $240,000 in value at the time.Poof… gone.Due to the transparency of the blockchain, <a href="https://twitter.com/zachxbt" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">@ZachXBT</a> was able to track the hacker as he attempted to “wash” the dirty money by transferring it through multiple wallets, a wormhole, and peer-to-peer swaps.With the help of Zach, we were able to recover ~$50k by alerting the vendors to freeze the funds while they were in escrow.The rest of the funds have yet to be recovered, and probably never will be. It’s extremely rare to recover anything at all; I was fortunate to even get a portion of it back. While I thought I had decent practices to keep my wallets secure, this theft made me realize that there are more vulnerabilities I wasn’t prepared for.This ignited a fire in myself and the Joe Shmoes team. We went into a deep inquiry about how to ensure this does not happen again — to me or anyone else.This Security Playbook is the result of our research, development, and hard-learned lessons.<h2>Do you have…&nbsp;</h2>One Phantom wallet that you use for everything? Do you use a single wallet to mint, trade, and store NFTs and to send, receive, and hold Solana? This is the most risky wallet setup.Multiple wallets with the same seed phrase tied to all of them? Although slightly better, this leaves a major hole in security.Multiple wallets, each with unique seed phrases? Do they all have specific purposes?If you are in the first or second group, this Playbook was written with you in mind.If you are in the third group, you’re on the right track. This Playbook will take your security to the next level by introducing you to ways of allocating your assets between specific wallets, with an added layer of security provided by tools created by the Solana community, such as <a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/famous_fox_federation" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Famous Fox Federation</a> and <a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/joe_shmoes_notsoaverage_club" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Joe Shmoes</a>.<h2>The 3 Steps</h2>Step 1: Get A Piece Of PaperWhen setting up a new wallet, the first and most important step is to maintain the privacy of yourseed phrase, as it is the key to your wallet.To Store Your Seed Phrase Safely…● WRITE IT DOWN ON A PHYSICAL PIECE OF PAPER. PREFERABLY MORE THANONE TIME.● Never put it in a note or document on any of your devices.● Never airdrop it.● Never copy or paste it, because it has to get stored in the cloud in order to paste.If your seed phrase is uncovered, then your wallet is compromised. Maintain security by keeping it out of the cloud and off digital devices. Ideally, it’s only located on a piece of paper that’s hidden in a private, ideally locked, physical place.Step 2: Create 4 WalletsWithin the Solana ecosystem, you have multiple wallet options to choose from, including Phantom, Sollet, and Solflare. Phantom is the most popular and user-friendly option (and what we recommend).The second step is to create 4 separate wallets with completely different key phrases (not just a new wallet in the same Phantom wallet).The 4-Wallet System🔒 1. Cold Wallet- Stores your most valuable assets🔒 2. Minting Wallet- Holds SOL only when minting NFTs🔒 3. Trading Wallet (aka “Hot Wallet”)- Connects only to Magic Eden for actively trading NFTs🔒 4. Staking Wallet- Connects only to verified staking contracts that you trust<h3>Wallet #1: Your Cold Wallet (AKA “Storage Vault”}</h3>To set up your first wallet, you’ll need a hardware device, such asa Ledger, that acts as a ColdStorage Vault for your SOL reserves and any valuable NFTs that you’re not listing yet.Ledger Live is a great choice because they offer direct support for Solana.When Buying A Ledger…● ONLY BUY A BRAND NEW LEDGER FROM THE OFFICIAL COMPANY WEBSITE.● Never buy from Amazon or any other major retailer.● Never buy from a store or a secondary market.● Never accept a ledger as a gift.Your Cold Wallet Is For Storing…● NFTs you are not listing, especially your most valuable NFTs● All SOL that you are not actively using mint, trade, or stakeYou will never connect this wallet to any contract – that’s what the next wallet is for.<h3>Wallet #2: Your Minting Wallet</h3>The second wallet you’ll need is for minting NFTs. When you connect your wallet to an externalcontract, such as one used to mint an NFT, there is a risk of the contract being malicious. This isa universal law of all external contracts.Your Minting Wallet Holds…1. The SOL needed to mint NFTs, at the time you’re ready to mint them2. A tiny amount of extra SOL needed to cover transaction fees to…○ Mint the NFTs○ Send them to your Cold Wallet or Hot Wallet (which we’ll cover next)After Minting, Send…1. The new NFTs to your Trading Wallet (if you’re listing them), or to your Cold Wallet (if you’re HODL’ing them)2. All leftover SOL back to the cold vault, leaving no SOL in your minting wallet. If you’re looking to flip the NFTs you minted quickly, you’ll use your third wallet, which is your Hot Wallet.<h3>Wallet #3: Your Trading Wallet (AKA “Hot Wallet”)</h3>You’ll connect your Hot Wallet wallet to Magic Eden, and only Magic Eden, in order to buy and sell Solana NFTs. Do not connect it to any other websites besides Magic Eden. If you do so, you risk connecting your wallet to a malicious contract. Do so at your own risk (only with your Minting or Staking wallet, which we’ll cover next).Your Trading Wallet Holds…● NFTs you are ready to sell now or very soon● NFTs that hold minimal value (in other words, NFTs that you’re ready to let go of, or wouldn’t mind losing if your Hot Wallet gets compromised)The last wallet is used for staking your NFTs.<h3>Wallet #4: Staking Wallet</h3>This Wallet is used only for staking your NFTs, which can be used to earn rewards for holding.When an NFT project you’re HODL’ing introduces a staking system that you’d like to participate in, you’ll move those NFTs from your Cold Wallet to your Staking Wallet.Likewise, if you’d like to stake an NFT you recently purchased with your Hot Wallet, send it to your Staking Wallet.We also advocate for multiple staking wallets if you are staking valuable NFTs from multiple collections.You’ll then connect your Staking wallet to the contract (once you’ve discerned that it is verified and trustworthy).Do Not Connect Your…● Cold Wallet to anything at all● Hot Wallet to anything other than Magic Eden (or only well-verified sources)With an investment of 60 minutes of your time and between $59-$149 (depending on which Ledger you choose), you can set up the 4-Wallet System and trade more safely on Solana.Want to beef up your security even more? Keep reading for Step 3.<h2>Step 3: Use Tools For Solana Security</h2>To supplement your security with additional layers, we recommend these security tools built by your <a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/famous_fox_federation" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Famous Fox Federation</a> and <a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/joe_shmoes_notsoaverage_club" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Joe Shmoes</a> frens:<h3><a href="https://twitter.com/SolanaShield" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Solana Shield</a> by Joe Shmoes</h3>A ‘2-factor-authenticator’ like system for your hot wallet.When activated, this tool automatically transfers SOL out of your Hot Wallet(s) and into your Cold Wallet. This means that no SOL would exist in your hot wallet for transactions to be made, even if your Hot Wallet becomes compromised, essentially rendering a hacker unable to access your funds.<h3><a href="https://famousfoxes.com/revoke" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Revoke Tool</a> by Famous Fox Federation</h3>A tool to revoke access to all contracts that you’ve given permission to.This helps to keep your wallet safe from old contracts that could potentially be used maliciously.<h3><a href="https://famousfoxes.com/foxysend" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">FoxySend</a> by Famous Fox Federation.</h3>Easily send NFTs in bulk to and from your Cold Wallet.This saves time and hassle when needing to move many NFTs quickly between wallets.<h2>Conclusion</h2>While there’s no ultimate, risk-free solution to wallet security on ANY blockchain, the practices we laid out will reduce your exposure to malicious actors and reduce losses if they occur.We hope this guide gives you practical steps and peace of mind along your journey through crypto.It’s worth noting that, while this multiple-wallet setup is how to optimize for security and mitigate risk, this may not be the best or most complete solution out there.We’ve opened a channel in the <a href="https://discord.com/invite/joeshmoenft" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Joe Shmoes Discord</a> that’s focused on security to allow this discussion to continue. <a href="https://discord.com/invite/joeshmoenft" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Join the conversation here</a>.

There’s always the risk of having your wallet compromised when dealing with crypto. The Joe Shmoes team lay out a 3-step process for keeping your assets safe. 

The Solana Security Playbook

Want to learn how to send your ETH to Solana and swap for SOL? It sounds like it should be a pretty straightforward process. Yet, this is surprisingly one of the most common questions that pops up on our radar. And if you're relying on centralized services and crypto exchanges, it&nbsp;can&nbsp;get needlessly complicated.Not to worry though.<figure class="image image-style-align-center"><img src="https://imagedelivery.net/E-VnZk4fwouzlzwX_qz4fg/79ff73c9-ee60-42b6-06be-7618a0945600/auction" alt=""></figure>That's why we're here. To keep it simple, and to deliver solid intel so that you can load up on some SOL with ease.Now, why would you want to learn how to move your ETH to Solana? Well, maybe you've heard that Solana's transaction costs are peanuts compared to Ethereum. Or maybe it's because Solana Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) have been booming, and you want to catch some sun in time for Solana Summer. ⛱️Whatever your reasons, here’s the lowdown on the hard way&nbsp;and&nbsp;the easy way on how to move your ETH to Solana and swap for SOL. (By the way, it’s the exact same process in reverse, if, for whatever reason, you’d like to swap your SOL from Solana to ETH.)Let's go!<h2>The normie way to move your ETH to Solana: Cross-chain swapping via centralized exchanges</h2><figure class="image image-style-align-center"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/ubHHnsbv2J3htYTCKGjxG3J6vS1p40P8PUcWL0LHJITwNRI8l-WIOSC2Q_-2iwbUlbTAt3v3xp7eAC1cjaPv2Vxf9zY4mMGXaxcMJyWag9ZBYvirXirrjZCgZXAFDSDbR-hqdl2Wrqzbowmheg"></figure>Let's cover the hard way on how to move your ETH to Solana and swap for SOL first. Not familiar with decentralized finance (DeFi) instruments? Then you'll most likely have used this process for your ETH–SOL exchange. And&nbsp;the process involves using a centralized exchange (CEX).Step 1. Transfer your ETH from your Ethereum wallet (e.g., Metamask) to a CEX, like Binance or KuCoin.&nbsp;Step 2. Trade your ETH for BTC, USDC, or another trading pair that's available for ETH on the exchange. (Make sure it's also available as a SOL trading pair.)&nbsp;Step 3. Take your newly traded cryptocurrency, say USDC, and swap it for SOL.&nbsp;Step 4. Withdraw it from the CEX by inputting your deposit address for your Solana wallet of choice.&nbsp;Since we're assuming you want to fill your wallet up with SOL to get your hands on some Solana NFTs, we recommend Phantom Wallet. It's the most NFT-friendly wallet on Solana. You can view your NFT collectibles from inside the app itself!&nbsp;But if you’re having doubts, here’s a guide on&nbsp;<a href="https://contenthub.magiceden.io/how-to-choose-a-solana-wallet">how to pick the right Solana wallet for you</a>.This process is as straightforward as it can get when you move your funds while relying on centralized platforms. However, there are two main issues that surface here:1.&nbsp;Transaction fees.&nbsp;Despite being incredibly popular tokens, a direct ETH–SOL exchange pair is unavailable. This means you're left trading and transferring assets more than once. In other words, you suffer not just the exchange trading fees, but the costly ETH gas fees as well (depending on network congestion).&nbsp;After all, you've got to move your ETH from your wallet onto the exchange. And once you've swapped to SOL, you've got to move it off the exchange again. Not to mention exchange rate variability. (You're more than likely leaking funds with every transaction.)&nbsp;2. Sometimes, withdrawals will be impossible.&nbsp;On occasion, you'll find the "Withdraw" button grayed out. It can get frustrating, because there's no way to cancel your withdrawal request.&nbsp;And just because they're centralized doesn't mean you get to talk to a human. Most of these exchanges don't provide any form of support, whether it's real-time chat or email with a few days' response time.&nbsp;What this ultimately means is that your assets are frozen at the discretion of the exchange. They'll release the funds when everything looks good on&nbsp;their&nbsp;end.&nbsp;In other words, if you’d like to use this approach, you’ll need to plan in advance. You wouldn’t want to miss your&nbsp; mint deadlines or whitelists for projects you've been looking at. This remains a popular option for beginners in the space.&nbsp;<h2>The degen way to move your ETH to Solana and swap for SOL: Using Sollet.io</h2><figure class="image image-style-align-center"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/qOFSw-IP87kSgY1yvEn2BhF7J_5PdsJjRitcJoPxFKT6sMsY1e49oV6lrvcO2P_gnU4EBzRSO6kpIh-WQbfmj-fIiIUkepVgG1_lSkgwL1G7JLgtSuqyqXqnyRDrAZ2Lija5xNQeDQOyjkrzAA"></figure>This approach requires that you create a Sollet wallet. It’s not beginner friendly, and you’ll even receive a recommendation to use Phantom wallet or Solflare when you first try to create a Sollet wallet.&nbsp;First, make sure you’ve got enough ETH in your Metamask wallet to cover the transaction fees.&nbsp;Step 1. Go to sollet.io.Step 2. Click on “Receive”.&nbsp;Step 3. You’ll see two tabs, one for SOL and another for ETH. Click on “ETH”.Step 4. You’ll be prompted to connect your Metamask wallet. Go ahead and complete this step. (If you don’t see the button, chances are you don’t have enough SOL in your wallet. Please deposit some SOL first to cover transaction fees.)Step 5. Enter the amount of ETH you wish to convert, and click “Convert”.&nbsp;Step 6. That’s it. Yes, despite Sollet being promoted as a wallet for devs and advanced users, this process is actually the most convenient when it comes to moving your ETH to Solana and swapping for SOL.&nbsp;Want to stick to using your <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiZJDWgxIvs&amp;t=1s" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Phantom wallet</a>? Read on because we cover this in the next section.&nbsp;<h2>The OG way to move your ETH to Solana: Using the Wormhole</h2><figure class="image image-style-align-center"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/9in2XYMAh3adkhrXeeX01OerY4vNnhy-wulcyVLWrVHy01HP9dMtY6zE9jcjpHeizhT79YPyQ6mji-WX_MT1X4mHiXZoLJJ7o_XzTz9xv6TuCO9-dbFgzxyJ4nu_RBRacUDDtA0hJ_ReZYyeYg"></figure>Wormhole also lets you wrap your NFTs and use Portal to enable cross-chain NFT transfers. After all, NFTs are tokens as well, just with different token standards. Now, here you might be wondering, why might someone want to bridge their NFTs onto a different chain anyway?Real quick, here are a few reasons:&nbsp;- Your NFTs gain greater exposure to different marketplaces and their users on separate chains.&nbsp;- In times of volatile price movements in the crypto market, your NFTs may do a better job retaining value.&nbsp;- Lastly, you can sell your NFTs on the chain of your choice, rather than being limited to the chain you acquired the NFT on. (Want to learn more about trading NFTs? You can do so right&nbsp;<a href="https://contenthub.magiceden.io/nft-projects-how-to-analyze-them-like-a-vc-pro">here</a>.)&nbsp;<h4>Now let's go over how NFT bridging works step by step:</h4>Step 1. Visit this&nbsp;<a href="https://wormholebridge.com/#/transfer">link</a>, the official link for the token bridge.Step 2. Once you're on the site, you'll notice three tabs under the site heading. Click on the one labeled "NFTs".Step 3. It's time to pick your network. Since we're bridging over from Ethereum, that's the network we're selecting here. You'll also be prompted to connect your Ethereum wallet. (Let's stick to Metamask and Phantom wallet for this example too.) Before you begin, make sure you've got enough ETH in your wallet to finalize the transaction.Step 4. Select the NFT you wish to transfer, and click "Next".&nbsp;&nbsp;Step 5. In this step, we select the recipient chain. (That's Solana. 😉) Once you're ready, click "Next".Step 6. We're nearly there. All you've got to do is click "Transfer", and then "Redeem". Finally, once you approve all the wallet signature requests that pop up,&nbsp;voilà! You'll be able to see your NFT in the Collectibles section in your Phantom wallet.&nbsp;&nbsp;All in all, it's a super simple way to bridge your NFT assets over from Ethereum to Solana. (Read about&nbsp;<a href="https://contenthub.magiceden.io/nfts-on-solana-vs-ethereum">Solana vs. Ethereum NFTs here</a>.) Think you lost your wormhole tokens? Not so fast...Once you initiate a transfer, you should not move away from the page. But for whatever reason you do (maybe your cat jumped on your keyboard), don't panic. Not all hope is lost. Your tokens and your NFTs are still recoverable, which is mucho awesome. Here's a quick&nbsp;<a href="https://docs.wormholenetwork.com/wormhole/tutorial-recovery-workflow#redeem-workflow">step-by-step tutorial from Wormhole</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;<h2>Ready to move your ETH to Solana and step into the Solana ecosystem?</h2>Solana and Ethereum have become the two most popular blockchains for NFTs. However, Solana has recently come to surpass Ethereum when it comes to trading volume. (If you’d like to read more about&nbsp;<a href="https://contenthub.magiceden.io/how-to-buy-nfts-on-solana">how to buy NFTs on Solana</a>, we’ve got a guide for that. 😉)&nbsp;Now that we've gone over in depth how to move your ETH to Solana and swap for SOL, try out Wormhole, and tell us on&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/MagicEden">Twitter</a> how you found the process.Still struggling? Worst comes to worst, you can always use your precious fiat currency to buy some SOL directly off an exchange. There’s no shame in that!

Want to know how to swap ETH for SOL while prices are low and bearish? Swap your ETH for SOL the easy way, and start trading NFTs on Magic Eden in no time.

 How to Swap ETH to SOL

NFT Music… Think the fine art space is a lot more profitable than the music industry? Fine art, even in the non-fungible token (NFT) space, is selling like hot cakes and leaving music in the dust.&nbsp;Yet, the numbers tell a different story.While the fine art space is worth around $50 billion, music is valued as a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2021/09/16/2298162/28124/en/Global-Music-Recording-Market-Report-2021-2030-Featuring-Universal-Music-Group-Sony-Music-and-Warner-Music.html">$57 billion industry</a>. Still, during the 2021 NFT bull market, the only subject that popped out of every corner was art NFTs. Music non-fungible tokens stayed well under the radar.That's why we wanted to do them justice here. Most people associate NFTs with jpegs of apes, selling for millions of dollars a piece. But is that really all there is? See, NFTs empower creators of all shades, including musicians. And they offer up-and-coming artists a new avenue to monetize their work.But before we get into all that, let's answer a basic question.&nbsp;<h1>What are music NFTs again?</h1>When it comes to music NFTs, there are a few misconceptions we should clear up from the get-go. Some view music NFTs as a crypto alternative to buying tracks from streaming platforms. (Talk about oversimplifying the potential of these magical tunes.)Whenever you buy a track from iTunes, for example, what you’re actually buying is the&nbsp;right&nbsp;to listen to the track. There's no underlying asset to own. Music NFTs are the exact opposite.A song is composed of many layers: From the beats and lyrics to the financial contracts and royalties. Artists can sell a song as a single NFT, or sell each layer&nbsp;as its own&nbsp;NFT. With music NFTs, anyone can listen to a song, but only the buyer has ownership.&nbsp;… which leads us to the next reasonable question.“Why would someone buy a song when they can just listen to it… for free?”This is the musical equivalent to the question, "Why would I buy this jpeg when I can right-click and save it?" The answer is simple. Music engages people on a visceral level. While not everyone collects art, pretty much everyone with some SOL has a favorite song.&nbsp;And think about how passionate music fans are. They’re literally willing to travel abroad and pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for event tickets and merch. So spending a little money to support their favorite creator's NFT project?&nbsp;Now, that’s a no-brainer.<h1> How do you sell music as NFTs?</h1>&nbsp;Music NFTs don't work the same way as art NFTs do. One reason is because the art space doesn't have such strict copyright laws like the music business. Any playback of a song is copyright-enforceable, which has made the lives of many Youtubers needlessly complicated.And don't get us started on music's supply chain. Visual artists can sell direct-to-consumer. But in the music industry? Gatekeepers sit behind their fancy polished mahogany desks, putting their hand out every time musicians try to connect with their fans.&nbsp;Clearly, the traditional industry's current model is broken.Music NFTs fix these problems by granting the artist complete creative control. Artists can sell songs, albums, royalties, and even exclusive content as NFTs. These digital tokens can unlock new revenue streams for them. Empowered by blockchain technology, musicians could build more successful and sustainable careers.&nbsp;For most artists, streaming services like Spotify are a way to get&nbsp;discovered, not paid. The top 10% of artists generate +99% of all Spotify streams (!). To top it all off, streaming platforms are&nbsp;<a href="https://consequence.net/2021/10/spotify-amazon-pandora-apple-streaming-royalty-rates/">trying to lower current royalty rates</a>, so that their musicians can earn even&nbsp;less&nbsp;in the future.&nbsp;No Bueno!A musician earns $0,00437 per stream on Spotify, so you'll need to generate 1000 streams to afford a single Big Mac. In other words, this model creates an artificial cap on how much a musician can earn, and makes it near-impossible for small artists and emerging talent to get the attention they need and succeed.&nbsp;NFTs (potentially) remove streaming services from the picture altogether. Now, artists can release songs as NFTs and set their own royalty rate per sale. NFTs grant musicians complete control over their income streams. With music NFTs, artists effectively become their own management label.&nbsp;Music NFTs have a wide range of potential use cases. You can sell your NFTs as tickets to concerts or exclusive meetups. (Or both.) You might also consider releasing your upcoming album as an NFT, giving your fans direct ownership rights to your music.&nbsp;Now that we’ve covered how music NFTs work, let’s go over a few projects to get your inspiration running.&nbsp;<h1>Music NFT collections that will get your creative juices flowing</h1> The music NFT scene is still in its infancy, so perceptibly solid projects are hard to come by. We gathered the best music collections on Magic Eden to show you how much you can do with music NFTs.&nbsp;<h2><a href="https://magiceden.io/creators/thesupplychain" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Supply Chain Project</a>&nbsp;</h2><figure class="image image-style-align-center"><img src="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_banners/1507493181641969664/1655503590/1500x500" alt="Image"></figure>Daramola is an award-winning songwriter and music producer, and he’s the brains behind this project. He’s got production credits on tracks featuring chart-topping artists like Kesha and Becky G.His Supply Chain Project is a one-of-a-kind music and PFP community based around Daramola’s visual and audio experience. It's part of Daramola's fourth studio album. It has five collections:<ul><li><a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/the_supply_chain_project">SVPLY CHVN Female Bots</a> - PFP NFTs of female robots based on the female character from the album.</li><li><a href="https://www.magiceden.io/marketplace/svply">SVPLY CHVN Male Bots</a> - PFP NFTs of male robots based on the male character from Daramola’s upcoming album.</li><li><a href="https://www.magiceden.io/marketplace/svplychvnjohnle">SVPLY CHVN x John Le Airdrop</a> - an NFT drop done in collaboration with John Lee airdropped to all female bots holders.</li><li><a href="https://www.magiceden.io/marketplace/svplychvnvoxelmonkes">SVPLY CHVN x VOXEL MONKEs Airdrop</a> - an NFT drop in collaboration with fficial Voxel Monkes aidropped to all female bots for x utility.</li><li><a href="https://www.magiceden.io/marketplace/svplypvrtls">SVPLY CHVN x Portals Citizens Card</a> - all female robots got a special citizens card for the Portals metaverse that gives them access to a pod. These pods would be custom designed spaces for the SVPLY CHVN project with art pieces and assets that represent the brand. Upon release of the Daramola’s fourth album, the holders of this NFT would be able to stream a pre-released version that would be airdropped to all pods.</li></ul>&nbsp;<h2><a href="https://magiceden.io/creators/pixelbands" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">PixelBands</a></h2><figure class="image image-style-align-center"><img src="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_banners/1439666168210595853/1654560448/1500x500" alt="Image"></figure>This is the first Solana NFT project to combine generated pixel art&nbsp;and&nbsp;music. Users can purchase a unique PixelBand member NFT, representing a guitarist, drummer, pianist, or bassist. Each NFT has a unique sound that you can play via the Phantom wallet.&nbsp;When someone sells an NFT on the secondary market, the artist receives 50% of the royalties. In the first week with PixelBands,&nbsp;<a href="https://contenthub.magiceden.io/music-nfts-on-chain-pixelbands-wuki">one musician earned more than his monthly salary as an EMT.</a> (Amazing.)&nbsp;<h2><a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/soundsrare" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sounds Rare</a></h2><figure class="image image-style-align-center"><img src="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FKkJ-xSVEAI45Y6?format=jpg&amp;name=large" alt="Image"></figure>Sounds Rare NFTs are a type of digital membership card. By becoming an owner, you gain access to a variety of rewards. They include ownership of several song rights, which you may receive as airdrops directly into your wallet.&nbsp;How does that&nbsp;sound?&nbsp;<h2><a href="https://magiceden.io/marketplace/wobblebug" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Wobblebug</a></h2><figure class="image image-style-align-center"><img src="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_banners/1317385210254651393/1658196676/1500x500" alt="Image"></figure>Wuki, a Grammy-nominated artist, has an NFT project called Wobblebug. An alter-ego with a unique sound. Interested parties can buy and stake their NFTs, earning $WOB, the utility token of the ecosystem. Owning $WOB gives you access to a members-only club of musicians and NFT aficionados, live music streams and shows - a sure win in our (music) books.<h1>&nbsp;</h1><h1>Getting started with music NFTs on Magic Eden</h1><a href="https://magiceden.io/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Magic Eden</a> receives more than 10 million unique monthly visitors, so if that’s the platform you’re going with, you’ll gain access to the largest NFT audience.&nbsp;Here's how you can start the process of launching your first music NFT collection on Magic Eden:&nbsp;&nbsp;<h3>Step 1: Think about how you can provide your fans with more than an audio file.&nbsp; &nbsp;</h3>As with NFT projects in general, music fans have been burned by music NFTs. They bought into projects by their favorite artists, only to be left naked, holding nothing but an NFT from an abandoned collection. Many musicians have used NFTs for short-term gains, instead of looking at the long game.&nbsp;Instead, think about how you can provide your fans with something more than an audio file. Maybe you might let them hear in on a couple private live sessions, host exclusive meetups, or grant access to a shared community.&nbsp;Make sure your first collection is well thought out because that first NFT drop? That happens just once.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h3>Step 2: Create a story around your NFT.</h3>&nbsp;Crypto enthusiasts don't buy music NFTs because they offer an amazing life-changing experience. They buy them because of the story behind them. So what’s the story around your NFT project?&nbsp;Are you going to release your first song as an NFT? Or are you going to launch your second album as a collection? Whatever it is, you've to find the right angle and build a narrative for your drop.Another way to go about this is to identify a part of your catalog that already has an existing fanbase. If you've done some previous work that’s gotten a few ears to perk up, it would be way easier to organize a drop around that than to start from zero.&nbsp;<h3>Step 3: Add extra utility.</h3>The main focus of your NFT collection should be the digital asset itself,&nbsp;not&nbsp;the extra perks. But adding more utility certainly won't hurt your project. Your music can only attract so many people. Look at the Supply Chain project. While it’s based around Daramola’s fourth album, it has a ton of extra utility like exclusive NFT drops, public listens, metaverse space. It makes the project a lot more valuable compared to its only-music version.Utility could represent access to your shows, a Discord channel, or even physical exclusive merch, a signed vinyl, a backstage pass… you name it, it can be done. Make sure you think of something sustainable in the long run though. There's no point in selling extra utility if you can't keep your promises.<h3> Step 4: When you're ready to launch, hit us up!&nbsp; &nbsp;</h3><h1>Will music NFTs end the crippling duopoly of streaming platforms and record labels? &nbsp;</h1>Technology has lowered the costs of recording, marketing, and music distribution. It’s allowed increasingly more people to realize their dreams of becoming digital artists.&nbsp;But true wealth remains rare in the streaming era.&nbsp;There's a joke in the music industry that record labels have more lawyers than they do marketers. For them, the name of the game is to extract as much value as possible via copyrights.NFTs provide a copyright-like representation. By launching your own NFT collection, you won't have to check your mailbox every time a truck stops by the red light in front of your house. After all, music NFTs are easily tradable, and value settles near-instantaneously.Right now, few musicians have experimented with music NFTs. Most of these artists already have established audiences. But as more and newer musicians start playing around with NFTs, the demand will increase in tandem.The 2021 NFT bull run showed us how easy it is to monetize digital media. It started with art NFTs, shifted to gaming, and it looks like music is next. It's still early days for music NFTs, and it could take years to disrupt the existing infrastructure. But there is a feeling of inevitability lingering in the air now.&nbsp;If done right, a music NFT collection could change an artist's life. They would be able to take a fair cut from their music. The music industry has been profiting from artists’ work for years, with many not-as-generous critics outright calling it “theft”. Music NFTs will change all that. The question isn’t "If", but “When.”

NFT music could change the game for upcoming artists. Read on to find out how you can showcase your music as NFTs and create your own NFT collection.

NFT Music: How to Become Your Own Record Label

Key insights:<ul style="list-style-type:circle;"><li><a href="http://bit.ly/3URJCRL">Sign in</a> and add all your wallets to view your Rewards Level</li><li>Sign in this week to earn rewards, starting later this month</li><li>Higher levels benefit with future fee discounts</li></ul>&nbsp;The vision that we’re working towards is that Magic Eden Rewards Hub will help you make the most out of your experience on Magic Eden. By joining our loyalty program, you can claim rewards from ecosystem partners and creators, earn Magic Points based on your Magic Eden activity, and enjoy progressively greater fee discounts based on your points.&nbsp;<h3>How do I join Magic Eden Rewards?</h3><a href="http://bit.ly/3URJCRL">Sign in</a> and connect each of your wallets. Wallets linked under one username are private to your profile only and are not visible to the public. Your initial level is determined by the highest level you’ve reached in either November or December. Make sure you connect this week, as our first rewards will be rolled out before EOY.&nbsp;More details on <a href="https://help.magiceden.io/en/articles/6815809-how-do-i-connect-multiple-wallets-to-my-profile" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">how to link wallets here.</a>&nbsp;<h3>Why is Magic Eden providing rewards?</h3>We want to provide a cool place where creators could provide perks, discounts, or free NFTs via fun airdrops&nbsp; to Magic Eden’s community. Creators and collectors need more ways to connect, not fewer, and we’re happy to provide another way for creators to engage Magic Eden’s users. We hope this can also become a place where ecosystem partners and dapps can share amazing products with our users. If you are a creator or ecosystem partner who wants to partner with us on rewards,&nbsp;<a href="http://bit.ly/3WcCL6n">please contact us here</a>.&nbsp;<h3>How will rewards work?</h3>We created five different levels. The higher the level, the better the benefits. While we are still fleshing out our full plan for rewards, they will initially be released in the Rewards Hub in the form of NFTs - these NFTs could include loot boxes from your favorite collections, discounts from ecosystem partners, and much more. Higher levels are eligible for greater rewards, but collectors&nbsp;must sign in to see what level they are in. Rewards will be airdropped directly to users’ profiles, where they can be claimed.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h3>How are Reward Points calculated?</h3>Reward Points are earned by activity on ME based on volume of SOL transacted in the last calendar month. For every 1 SOL in volume by a connected wallet (buy or sell – currently, minting transactions are not included), collectors will earn 5 Magic Points. These points are what contribute to upgrading to the next level and better rewards. On the first of every month, a new reward cycle begins; your level from the previous month will carry over unless you surpass that level in the current reward cycle. Once you reach the next level up you will receive the added benefits of that higher level the next day!&nbsp;<h3>How will fee discounts work?</h3>For the last two months, we waived our platform fee. As a deeply creator-centric business, we did not feel that it was right to charge platform fees while going to optional royalties for creators. Recently, we developed the Open Creator Protocol (OCP), an open-source solution with decentralized governance. New collections using OCP can automatically protect their royalties.Having re-introduced a sustainable way to respect royalties on Magic Eden via protocol enforcement, we wanted to approach re-introducing fees in the most considered manner to our community. We believe users should be rewarded based on how much they transact on Magic Eden. An everyday trader should receive lower fees than someone who is buying an NFT for the first time. That’s why we have decided to offer greater fee discounts at each level of trade volume. Rewards Hub members will save more on fees as their level increases.Magic Eden will adopt a maker / taker model, meaning that fees will be shared across sellers and buyers. In this system, listing and bid transactions are considered “makers”, as opposed to buying and instant sell transactions, which are “takers.”<figure class="table"><table><tbody><tr><td style="border:1pt solid #ffffff;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">Level</td><td style="border:1pt solid #ffffff;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;" colspan="2">Fee discount*</td></tr><tr><td style="border:1pt solid #ffffff;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">1</td><td style="border:1pt solid #ffffff;padding:5pt;vertical-align:bottom;" colspan="2">Base fee</td></tr><tr><td style="border:1pt solid #ffffff;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">2</td><td style="border:1pt solid #ffffff;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;" colspan="2">~5% lower fees</td></tr><tr><td style="border:1pt solid #ffffff;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">3</td><td style="border:1pt solid #ffffff;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;" colspan="2">~15% lower fees</td></tr><tr><td style="border:1pt solid #ffffff;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">4</td><td style="border:1pt solid #ffffff;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;" colspan="2">~25% lower fees</td></tr><tr><td style="border:1pt solid #ffffff;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;">5</td><td style="border:1pt solid #ffffff;padding:5pt;vertical-align:top;" colspan="2">~45% lower fees</td></tr></tbody></table></figure>Fee structure, shared across makers and takersNote: Magic Eden will be monitoring unusual trades. Should a profile demonstrate an inordinate level of suspicious activity, especially trades that appear to artificially inflate their volume so as to qualify for higher tiers, this profile will be reviewed by our team and may be downgraded to 'Explorer' tier and made ineligible for other rewards.More details on <a href="https://help.magiceden.io/en/articles/6805118-how-do-i-earn-rewards-and-receive-fee-discounts" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">how to earn fee discounts work here.</a>&nbsp;<h3>What about Magic Ticket holders?</h3>Magic Ticket holders will receive special perks for the rewards program. We’ll announce more details soon.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h3>As always, community feedback welcome</h3>The above is an initial approach of how we would like to approach fees, and we welcome feedback from the community. It is our desire to always provide value to our users in a way where all parties can succeed – creator, collector, and our team. Please do not hesitate to&nbsp;<a href="http://help.magiceden.io">share your thoughts</a> and we look forward to growing with you.

Today is day one for our latest experiment: a NFT marketplace loyalty program for our collectors. We created Magic Eden Rewards to celebrate and create value for our community. This program includes future rewards and fee discounts for our collectors.

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