The world of money is changing rapidly.
Whether it be banking, investing or just running our day to day lives.
Technology is revolutionising everything.
So how can you take advantage of these changes to make your life
easier and make some extra money along the way?
First of all let’s take a look at what is happening in a hopefully easy
to understand way. Here we go!
Blockchain – NFT’s – Crypto – Metaverse
“What's all this about the Blockchain, NFT's, Crypto,
and the Metaverse that I keep seeing?
Is it important and should I know about it?”
Yes you should!
The Blockchain
“Yeah, heard a lot about this but what the hell is it?”
Well, simply put, the blockchain is like a digital ledger
where anything can be recorded.
Why is keeping a record so important?
Imagine a world where nothing was recorded.
There would be chaos.
How do you prove that you actually own your house?
What happens when that payment you were expecting doesn’t arrive
and the bank says “Sorry, we don’t keep records of transactions.”
It used to be that records were written down by hand but alterations
could easily be made. Sometimes for good but sometimes not.
The records used to say that you owned your own house but now
it’s apparently owned by Mr.John Hometaker.
Of course now most record keeping is digitally stored
however those alterations can still occur. Hackers anyone!
The blockchain is decentralised meaning it’s not in one
central place that can easily be compromised.
It is spread over many nodes (data storage servers) and is virtually
impossible to hack. The blockchain therefore gives trust.
Trust that the records are correct. That’s a game changer!
NFT’s
“Ok, so NFT’s. I’ve seen this mentioned many times on social media.
What’s going on?”
NFT’s are Non-fungible tokens. Fungible means changeable or
replaceable so non-fungible means something that cannot be changed or replaced.
“Right I get that but how does the token bit work?”
So again think digital.
A token is a piece of data stored on a blockchain ledger.
That token can be linked to an item such as a piece of artwork,
photo, video or anything that is a digital file.
Sometimes referred to as a Smart Contract.
The NFT gives ownership of that item to the creator who can then
sell it. That item can be bought and sold subsequently just like
an original physical piece of art.
The creator can also receive a payment each time the
item is sold on in the future similar to a royalty.
“Are people making any money buying and selling their
NFT creations and how do they do it?”
Yes there is a thriving market place and in some cases people
have made amazing profits.
A quite simple sketch of a carton like ghost sold for $3,000 but,
(drum roll) an artwork called The First 5000 Days by digital artist
Beeple sold for $69 million at Christies!
Twitter founder Jack Dorsey joined in the fun in 2021 and sold the
first ever tweet for $2.9 million.
You can buy and sell your creations on dedicated website platforms
such as OpenSea and Binance.
Another area that is gaining traction is the purchase of NFT website
domains. Remember how .com domains took off.
If you bought one a few years ago you could be sitting pretty today.
A recent valuation of cars.com was $1 billion!
Now you can buy new NFT domains that are secured on the
blockchain such as .nft .coin .crypto .888. Many are as little as $5.
Why purchase an NFT domain? Well apart from the investment
potential and using them as a website URL they can also be
used as a universal username across apps and websites and
a payment address for wallets.
Wallets (think crypto bank account) are used to
send and receive crypto.
The wallet keys (think account numbers) are very, very long.
Impossible to remember. You would have to provide your
public key to allow a transaction.
So you would have to email or message it which is not ideal.
With a NFT domain name such as jbloggs.nft or awesome.crypto
you simply give out that name and that’s it. All done!
I recently bought several domains at Unstoppable Domains.
I like them because it’s a onetime payment and unlike some other
platforms there are no renewal fees, no gas fees (transaction charges)
and no minting fees (listing on the blockchain.)
A good opportunity to get in early!
Learn more here about Unstoppable Domains.
NFT’s are set to change the world as we know it.
Whilst currently they are used predominantly in the buying
and selling of digital works the next big sectors are expected
to be domains, gaming and real estate.
From there NFT’s in conjunction with the almighty Blockchain
will take over the stock market and pretty much everything else.
CRYPTO
“You mean bitcoin right?” Well yes bitcoin is the biggie.
However there are around 8,000 cryptocurrencies available today.
Most of them have very little following or use case and will
almost certainly die off.
Many have been created in the hope that they will get adopted
by speculators and make a fortune for the creators.
Famously, Dogecoin was created as a joke by software engineers
Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer back in 2013.
Today Dogecoin has a market cap of around $23 billion.
Yes, I used the b word.
Helped in no small way by the endorsement of Elon Musk.
“So what actually is a crypto coin?”
Basically it’s a piece of code on the blockchain similar to
an NFT but unlike an NFT a crypto coin is fungible.
It’s digital money that can be used to buy goods and services.
Not all crypto’s have the same functionality. For example bitcoin
is a payment system that allows you to transfer value to someone
else across the world without the need to use banks.
It’s also regarded as a store of value, just like physical gold.
In fact it is often referred to as digital gold.
The second largest crypto is Ethereum.
Unlike bitcoin Ethereum has it's own blockchain.
It is the most widely used platform by developers.
So is the future of money going to be digital?
Well, some would argue that it already is.
Basically, non digital money is cash.
How many times have you used cash recently?
Not very often I bet and if you had to it was probably a
requirement of the other party rather than your choice.
Tap and go is the way and tech is making it easier to be
totally digital.
Our kids will probably grow up never having handled
or even seen cash!
So, should you invest in crypto coins?
Crypto has grown massively over the last few years and if you
believe as I do that it will continue to grow then it makes
sense to hold some coins.
There are many places you can buy and sell crypto.
I like etoro. They are one of the biggest and have a really
useful social media element where you can interact with others
to get insights into what the are investing in.
Very low minimums and easy to use.
Learn more here about etoro.
The Metaverse
The Metaverse has been described as “a digital realm combining
technology such as virtual reality, augmented reality and video
where users exist in a virtual universe.” “Aah yes, the Metaverse.
Sounds spooky! Will I get lost in there?”
Quite possibly. Many gamers get ‘lost’ in the game and hours shoot
by because they are so engrossed and immersed.
That’s not quite the Metaverse yet but it’s getting there.
Imagine a virtual world where you can visit 3D spaces that have
been created by individuals and organisations.
These spaces would be places where you can interact with other
people perhaps in a social setting such as going for a coffee
with friends in a virtual restaurant or going to a job interview
in that Companies virtual office. In fact almost everything you
do now in the real world you will be able to do in the Metaverse.
You would start by putting on your virtual reality headset/glasses
and find yourself in your virtual home which you have designed,
furnished and decorated. Or maybe you bought it from a virtual
real estate agent with some of your crypto.
Should you stay as the same avatar or change to one of your others?
What should you wear today? So many choices. On the wall of your
living room is your favourite digital art work which you own
because you bought the NFT for it.
Some of your friends who have visited you and have commented on
your art piece enquiring if you would be willing to sell it
along with the NFT.
You’re considering it. Next stop is a trip to a car dealership.
There is a fantastic looking Lambo that would look great parked
outside your virtual house. Of course when I say trip I mean that
you would transport instantly from one space to another,
Star Trek style.
Or you could fly there - Superman style!
Anything is possible in the Metaverse.
The Metaverse will be so immersive, entertaining and useful
(look at how many things you can do without leaving you chair)
that you could be spending a lot of time in there.
The more time you are in there the more used to it you become.
It will begin to feel real.
We already spend a huge amount of our time online.
The virtual world is likely to be even more enticing.
Eventually it’s possible that the Metaverse will become
our “real” world and our outside world will be a place for
physical activities only like exercise, eating and sleeping!