The 3 Pillars Of The Bitcoin Blockchain

Blockchain technology supports the Bitcoin network. It is extremely secure and now many organizations across the world are seriously looking at it for not just financial transactions but for their supply chain processes as well. In this article we will discuss the 3 pillars of the blockchain technology behind Bitcoin.

 

The Decentralization Pillar

 

Before the invention of blockchain most transactions over the Internet involved a central server. This server stored all of the essential data that supported the service that it provided. A good example of this is the banking system. Your bank stores your money and when you need to pay someone you have to use them and they charge you for this.

 

Client server technology is everywhere online. When you use a search engine to find something your query ends up on a central server which dispatches the information that you asked for. The problem with client server is that there are a number of vulnerabilities:

 

• The biggest and most obvious of these is that everything is stored in one place. This makes a central server a real target for hackers. 

• If there's any operational issues with a central server, the whole system grinds to a halt.

• The data held on a central server can be compromised which shuts down the whole operation.

 

The solution to these centralized vulnerabilities is decentralization. With a decentralized network all computers have the same information stored. If you want to interact with someone else on a decentralized network you can do this without any third-party intervention. You can send and receive Bitcoins without the use of a bank and a centralized server.

 

The Transparency Pillar

 

A lot of people do not fully understand the concept of transparency when it comes to blockchain technology. Isn’t the Bitcoin network supposed to be private? Yes, it is but it is also public for verification purposes.

 

You need to understand the concept of public and private keys here. A public key is used on the blockchain to show that you have made a transaction. Your private key is never shared. It is linked to your public key to make the transaction valid.

 

With the Bitcoin blockchain you can see the public keys associated with all transactions. No other financial system has ever had this kind of transparency. There is a much-needed level of accountability with blockchain that financial institutions certainly want.

When you have a blockchain public address you can view all of the transactions made using that key. A lot of financial institutions are looking at blockchain because of this but some are concerned that it will force their hand to reveal all of their transactions!

 

The Immutability Pillar

 

Blockchain technology creates immutable records. This means that after verifying a transaction you cannot change it. Once your transaction is added to the blockchain there is no turning back. You cannot reverse the transaction.

 

The immutability in blockchain comes from the cryptographic hash functionality. The blockchain system takes input strings of any length and converts these to an output string of a fixed length. The Bitcoin blockchain uses the highly secure SHA 256 algorithm.

 

Blockchain is basically a linked list of transactions. Each block has a hash pointer connecting it to the previous block. If a hacker tries to change the details of a block it will affect the entire blockchain which is impossible to do.

 

Why Is Bitcoin So Popular?

When Bitcoin launched in 2009 the promise was that it would allow financial transactions on a peer-to-peer network without the need for any financial institutions or government control. A lot of people that knew about it at the time were very excited about the possibilities while others were somewhat skeptical.

 

The digital currency was actually a secondary consideration. It was the blockchain technology that so excited the creators and those that were part of the peer-to-peer community. But the Bitcoin currency has turned out to be a lot better than was expected. There are several reasons for its significant growth in popularity.

 

Transactions are Private

 

The concept with Bitcoin is that it was totally anonymous. Anyone could make a transaction from anywhere to anywhere in the world and nobody would know who was involved. These days to use Bitcoin exchanges to make transactions you do need to provide some personal details but it is still a lot more anonymous than other financial transactions.

 

A good example of this is when using Bitcoin to make purchases from vendors both in online stores and brick and mortar stores. You can complete the transaction without having to provide any of your personal information to the vendor.

 

More Businesses are accepting Bitcoin

 

The growth of Bitcoin has led to more and more businesses adopting it. They will accept it as a form of payment and also use it to make payments to outsource workers in different countries. 

 

With large brands such as eBay, Intuit and the DISH Network embracing Bitcoin more people are becoming interested in the digital currency. A lot of people have now decided to invest in Bitcoin because of this.

 

The Security of Bitcoin

 

Over the last few years there have been some serious data breaches happening to well-known companies such as target. The cyber criminals who committed these breaches stole personal information about the customers of these companies. They then sell this information on the black market.

 

With Bitcoin and the underlying blockchain technology you can make financial transactions without the need to provide sensitive financial information. The decentralized ledger in Bitcoin is extremely secure and virtually impossible to hack. There is no exposure of Bitcoin wallets when making financial transactions.

 

Transactions are Cheaper

 

To send money to another person using your bank will often cost you quite a bit in transaction fees. These rise considerably if you need to send money to someone in another country. 

 

International payments also take time as well and it is not uncommon to have to wait a few days for a transaction to clear. There are very small fees involved with Bitcoin transactions and it is a lot faster to make a transaction to another country.

 

You can Hide with Bitcoin

 

This is not a good thing but it is another reason for the popularity of Bitcoin. Some people use it to make illegal transactions on the Dark Web. We are not condoning this in any way but it is no surprise that Bitcoin is popular because of this.

 

Bitcoin is reasonably Stable

 

While there is a degree of volatility with Bitcoin it is actually more stable than some fiat currencies. There is a limited number of Bitcoins so you can’t create more to cause inflationary problems. 

 

Choosing The Right NFT Marketplace

It is really important that you list your NFTs for sale on the right marketplace. Some marketplaces appeal to a different audience than others so you need to know who your target audience is and where they hang out to look for new NFTs.

 

Two Types of NFT Marketplace

 

There are actually two different types of NFT marketplace that you can choose from. The self-service NFT marketplace allows anyone to create any kind of NFT. This means that you can create image based NFTs, video based NFTs, audio NFTs and more. Most self-service marketplaces will permit you to associate royalties to your NFTs as well.

 

A curated NFT marketplace is the other type. Here you will need approval from the management of the marketplace to create and list your NFTs. The reason that curated marketplaces exist is to ensure that only NFTs of the highest quality are listed on them.

 

You will always need a Crypto Wallet

 

No matter which of the NFT marketplaces you choose to use, you will always need a crypto wallet for the storage of your NFT information and also to hold the necessary cryptocurrency to pay for any gas and listing fees.

 

Check the Blockchain Networks the Marketplace uses

 

Although the Ethereum blockchain network is the most popular for creating NFTs it is certainly not the only one available. A lot of NFT marketplaces will have support for the Ethereum network but this may not always be the case.

 

There are a number of different blockchain networks that can be used to create NFTs. Some of these networks are closed such as “Flow” and are not interoperable with other blockchain networks. Always check that the NFT marketplace supports the blockchain network that you intend to use for your NFT creation.

 

Most Popular NFT Marketplaces

 

OpenSea is by far the most popular of the NFT marketplaces. It gets millions of visitors each month and there are always millions of NFTs available. Almost anything goes with OpenSea and it is a self-service marketplace.

 

Rarible is another popular NFT network that is self-service. It is owned by the community and members can be awarded the ERC-20 RARI token. If a user is active on the marketplace with NFT creation and trading then they are likely to receive the token. While you can mint different kinds of NFTs on Rarible, the main focus is on digital art.

 

Mintable is a good choice of NFT marketplace if you are looking for self-service and a variety of auction options for your NFTs. The minting of NFTs with Mintable is “gasless” which makes it unique.

 

Nifty Gateway is an NFT self-service marketplace that accepts fiat currency through the use of credit cards. If you want a curated marketplace then one of the best is SuperRare. They are very choosy about the kind of NFTs they will accept because they want to ensure they only list NFTs of the highest quality.

 

Niche NFT Marketplaces

 

NFTs are not just about digital art. There are niche NFT marketplaces available for the creation and listing of things such as in-game items and fantasy sports cards. You will find some of these marketplaces tied directly to games such as Axie Infinity and Decentraland.

 

If your NFTs are focused on sports, you can check out the NBA Top Shot marketplace and others such as SoRare which specialize in collectible cards.

 

Different Ways To Promote Your NFTs

You know how important it is to promote your NFTs so that you can attract the most attention and sell your tokens for the highest prices. There are other ways of promoting your NFTs other than social media and we will explore this in the article.

 

Find Communities on Discord Forums

 

Discord is a great platform which allows the creation of different communities and chat rooms. There are a lot of people interested in buying NFTs on Discord forums so this is something that you definitely want to take a look at. 

 

The Discord platform offers more than just chat rooms and posting. It is possible for you to store and share images on this platform as well as documents. This is good news when you want to showcase your NFTs. 

 

There are public and private communities on Discord. Some of the larger communities of NFT and crypto art require that you are invited to join. It should not be too difficult for you to obtain an invitation to these communities if you are genuine and honest. 

 

Forget about blatantly trying to sell your NFTs on Discord forums. This will not go down well at all and you will probably end up getting banned if you do this too much. Instead, you need to demonstrate your expertise in the market and tell people what your NFT projects are about to build up anticipation.

 

Make an application to NFT Hunters

 

NFT Hunters is a very popular newsletter for collectors and others that are interested in purchasing NFTs. People that subscribe to NFT Hunters receive weekly emails or Telegram messages about what’s new and what’s hot in the NFT world.

 

Often, the people at NFT Hunters will send out a “breaking news” email or message about some hot NFTs that are generating a buzz. You can use this to showcase your NFT offerings to potential buyers. Send the NFT Hunters team an email stating the reasons why they should take a look at your NFT creations.

 

Reddit is a good place for NFTs

 

There are many different communities on Reddit and these are known as subreddits. Reddit has an upvoting feature where users can vote on their favorite content in the communities. The content that has the most votes will appear at the top of the listings. This can get a lot of eyeballs on your content.

 

You will find a number of subreddits already existing for crypto art. The largest of these has around 8 million users. A lot of these will actively scan the subreddit for new content. It is in your interest to join these subreddits and use them as a way to gently introduce the users to your NFTs.

 

When you are using Discord or subreddits to promote your NFTs, have a back story prepared that you can share with the various communities. People on these platforms are interested to know why you got involved in NFTs and how passionate you are about them.

 

Get on Clubhouse

 

Clubhouse is a fairly new platform that only accepts audio content. There are clubs within Clubhouse dedicated to NFTs etc. You can join in on audios from other members of the communities and request to speak.

 

There are also general communities on Clubhouse called rooms. These are around many different subjects and crypto art and NFTs feature fairly regularly. Get yourself in these rooms and request to speak so that you can share your NFT expertise.

 

The Benefits Of NFTs

As you venture into the world of NFTs it is essential that you understand the benefits that they provide. This will provide you with the inspiration and motivation to continue with your NFT projects so that you can make a profit with them. 

 

NFTs operate in a Decentralized Market

 

Creating and selling your own NFTs means that there is no requirement for a middleman. If you think about the art world, creators need to secure the services of galleries or agents to showcase and sell their work. This is not the case with NFTs.

 

When you create an NFT on a marketplace you will be able to interact directly with potential buyers. If people are interested in your NFTs you will be able to directly answer any questions that they may have. If a buyer is ready to purchase your NFTs then they can do this easily using the secure decentralized network.

 

Another advantage of the decentralized market is that NFT creators can build in royalties. A lot of NFTs will change hands from the original owner to a new owner and the creator can set a percentage commission that they will receive on the sale price.

 

Proving Ownership and Authenticity is easy with NFTs

 

It is easy to prove ownership of an NFT. This is due to their association with blockchain technology. You cannot have an NFT with multiple owners because they are indivisible. Both creators and owners of NFTs can rely on the technology to prove ownership.

 

All NFTs are unique on a blockchain network. This makes it easy for authenticity of a token to be established. Even of the NFT creator decides to create a limited edition of the same item, each one will have unique characteristics which prove their authenticity.

 

You cannot change NFT Records

 

Once an NFT is created it immediately becomes immutable. This means that all of the data pertaining to the NFT cannot be changed. You cannot remove or delete an NFT from a blockchain network. After an NFT is created on a blockchain then it will stay there for good.

 

Trading NFTs is Simple

 

You can easily trade an NFT on the same blockchain network. This means that free trade of NFTs is available which is another great advantage. NFT creators and owners can list them for sale on NFT marketplaces. Usually, an auction takes place and the NFT goes to the highest bidder. There can also be a fixed price set with an NFT trade.

 

NFT Owners can retain Copyright

 

This is a really significant benefit for NFT creators. If you create an NFT you are able to retain full copyright in it. It does not matter who currently owns the NFT, as the creator the copyright will belong to you. Copyright retention allows NFT creators to claim royalties when a token changes ownership.

 

The New NFT Economic Opportunity

 

With other methods of showcasing and selling items, the creator has to forego some of their profits to the platform or person that is doing the selling for them. This is not the case with NFTs and a lot of creators see this as an excellent way to maximize their profits.

 

There is now a new digital economy with NFTs. Creators can sell their work directly to collectors and other buyers and not have to share their revenue with anyone else.

 

You Must Avoid These NFT Mistakes

Although the world of NFTs is fairly new, people have already made lots of mistakes when they are creating and selling their tokens. In this article, you will learn about 5 common mistakes that people make with NFTs. You need to avoid these at all costs.

 

1. Trying to Make Money too quickly

 

People see that some NFTs have sold for millions of dollars and they think that it is a good way to make money quickly. This is short-term thinking and has been the undoing of a number of NFT creators and sellers.

 

If you want to succeed with NFTs then you always need to provide value first. Focusing on making money fast with NFTs is a recipe for disaster. You need to trade NFTs that people want to buy and be consistent with your promotional efforts.

 

2. Not Promoting Listed NFTs

 

This is the “build it and they will come” syndrome. You create an NFT or a series and list on OpenSea. Because OpenSea gets millions of visitors each month you think that your NFTs will sell like hot cakes. What you need to take into account is that there are millions of NFTs available on OpenSea all the time so yours can just get lost in all of this.

 

You need to do more than just create and list your NFTs on a marketplace. Determine who your target audience is and then promote your NFT drops to them. Use social media platforms and find communities that are dedicated to your NFT niche.

 

When you are promoting your NFTs you need to avoid outright sales tactics. Nobody likes to be sold to and this is particularly true in the NFT world. You need to showcase your NFTs and let people know what is special about them to generate interest. 

 

3. Listing your NFTs on the wrong Marketplace

 

This is something that happens a lot. A lot of NFT creators are not prepared to spend a little time researching which marketplace is best for the creation and listing of their NFTs. Many beginners will use the OpenSea platform for their NFTs because it is the largest. But this can be a big mistake as your target audience might not hang out there.

You need to do your homework here and find out which NFT marketplace your target audience is the most likely to use. Find out what the community is like with the different marketplaces and see how responsive they are. 

 

4. Not Investing in your NFTs

 

It is usually not free to list your NFTs for sale on a marketplace. If you are going to use the Ethereum blockchain network for your NFTs then you will need to pay a “gas” fee. A lot of people think that they can create and list NFTs for free but this is not the case.

 

If you are creating NFTs that have high value then you need to invest in them. We are not just talking about paying the different fees here. You need to invest in marketing to spread the word about your NFTs.

 

5. Not Understanding NFTs properly

 

This mistake is so easy to avoid but there are many people that make errors with their NFTs because they do not have a good overview of how they work. You need to know the basics about crypto and blockchain and there are many resources online available to help you with this.

 

Promoting NFTs On Social Media Platforms

A lot of NFT creators will list their tokens on a popular marketplace such as OpenSea and hope that this will be enough to make sales. Although you could be lucky with this approach, it is better to promote your NFTs on social media platforms to generate more interest.

 

At the end of the day, you want to get as many people interested in your NFTs as you can. As most NFTs are sold using an auction process, the more people that are bidding on your tokens will usually mean that you will get a higher price for them. 

 

In this article, we will explain the best strategies for promoting your NFTs on social media platforms. You need to use the right platforms to ensure that you get the best results. Also, you need to present your NFTs in the right way.

 

What is Special about your NFTs?

 

It is essential that you generate a buzz around your NFTs so that you have the best chance of selling them at the highest prices. You need to tell your audience what is special about your NFTs and why they should invest in them. Most NFT creators do not do a good job with this and find it hard to sell their tokens as a result.

 

Know your Target Audience

 

The first step in promoting your NFTs is to understand who your target audience are. What are their interests? How old are they? What social platforms do they tend to use? People use different social platforms for different reasons. 

 

When you clearly identify who your target audience are you will have a much better chance of getting in front of them on social platforms. Some people prefer to use Instagram while others like Facebook or Twitter.

 

Instagram is a good Visual Medium

 

Instagram is famed for being a visual medium. People use this platform because they want to see images and videos. It is good to showcase your NFTs with various images and you can do this easily on Instagram.

 

One of the drawbacks of using Instagram is that you cannot place direct links to your NFTs in your posts unless you have more than 10,000 followers. You can add a single external link in your bio and that’s it.

 

If your audience uses Instagram (a lot of NFT collectors do) then the best way around this is to create your own website where you list your NFTs and let people know when they will drop. You can add the same images that you would with an Instagram post on your website. Add the URL of your website in your Instagram bio.

 

Twitter is a good Social Platform

 

There are usually quite a lot of people that are interested in NFTs on Twitter. Unlike Instagram, you can create direct links to your NFT listings with each tweet. You can also add an image and even a series of images in tweets now.

 

Target your Audience on Facebook

 

Facebook is the largest social network of them all and it is something that you should definitely consider for showcasing your NFTs. You can create reasonably inexpensive ads on Facebook to promote your NFTs. You can specifically target your audience using a number of different demographics. This is also possible with Instagram ads.

 

What NFTs Are And What They Are Not

You will have no doubt heard the buzz recently around Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). If you are not aware of what an NFT is we will explain this in the article. We will also explain what NFTs are not as there is quite a lot of confusion about this.

 

NFTs are Digital Assets that are Unique

 

An NFT is a digital representation of something in the real world which is unique. One of the most common types of NFTs is digital art. People create NFTs and trade them with collectors. Usually, NFT transactions are based on cryptocurrency such as Ether.

 

NFTs are not entirely new and have been in existence since 2017. A lot of money has already been spent trading NFTs. An NFT may not be a one-off. It is fairly common to see limited editions of NFTs with a few copies available. The most valuable NFTs are only available as a single item.

 

You cannot replace an NFT with another asset as you can with a cryptocurrency for example. This is why they have the “non-fungible” element to their name. A $1 bill is fungible because there are lots of them and it is easy to replace one with another. These bills all have the same value which is $1.

 

NFTs are always on a Blockchain Network

 

An NFT cannot exist without a blockchain network. The most popular blockchain for NFTs is the Ethereum network. Blockchain provides distributed ledger technology and every element of a blockchain is unique. This provides a very high level of security.

 

As the name suggests, blockchain is a chain of data blocks. Each of these has unique identifiers which links all of the chains together. Users of a blockchain network must have a public key and a private key for identification and uniqueness of transactions.

 

NFTs are not the same as Cryptocurrencies

 

A lot of people think that NFTs are the same as cryptocurrencies but this is not the case. It is possible for you to hold a number of cryptocurrencies that have the same value. You cannot do this with NFTs. Many people hold more than one Bitcoin or Ether unit for example.

 

It is easy to see where the confusion comes with this. Both cryptocurrencies and NFTs rely on blockchain technology for their existence. But NFTs are unique assets and cryptocurrencies are not. It’s that simple.

 

There are different types of NFTs

 

You could be forgiven for thinking that NFTs are just about digital art because this is what makes the headlines the most often. The truth is that an NFT can be something else that is considered of value. Other examples of NFTs include:

 

·      Video

·      Audio (usually music)

·      In-game resources

·      Images and avatars

·      Designer items

 

There is a classic NFT story where the founder of Twitter created an NFT from his first tweet on the platform and sold this for nearly $3 million. Think about an NFT as a digital item that a collector is interested in.

 

An NFT has only one owner

 

There can only be one owner of an NFT at a time. Anyone that purchases an NFT has the exclusive rights of ownership. Every NFT has totally unique data associated with it. This is ideal for verification and identification purposes.

 

Investing In NFTs To Flip For A Profit

Flipping is the term used for purchasing an item at a low price and then selling it at a higher price to realize a profit. People have been flipping NFTs for profit over the last few years and you can learn to do this as well.

 

The NFT market is still quite new and there is not much competition right now. Experts are predicting that there is still a lot of growth possible with the NFT market and this is good news as it means that there should be flipping opportunities available for a long time.

 

If you do this right, it is possible to make a profit on an NFT flip in just a few days. It is not always about short-term gain of course. A lot of NFTs will increase in value as they age and it can be a good idea to hang on to some of your investments for a while so that you can get the best price when selling them.

 

Two Important Aspects to NFT Flipping

 

There are no guarantees with NFT investing and flipping. Opportunities do exist but you need to be smart and find them. People are successfully flipping NFTs for profit so always bear this in mind. When you are looking for flipping opportunities always look for these 2 things:

 

1.    An undervalued NFT listed

2.    The expectation that the value of the NFT will increase

 

Don’t try and find NFTs to flip in all of the different niches. It is much better to focus on one niche and really get to know all there is to know about it. Your chances of profiting from NFT flips will go way up when you know a lot about the niche. Decide what niche that you want to focus on and learn all you can about it.

 

Look for NFT Flip Opportunities on Marketplaces

 

You are going to find your NFT flip opportunities on the various marketplaces. The very popular NFT marketplaces like OpenSea and Rarible will tend to have NFTs of lower value. Anything goes on OpenSea and it may be difficult for you to spot opportunities there.

 

If you have chosen a niche like trading cards or sports related NFTs then you need to look on other platforms for flipping opportunities. For anything related to the NBA try their Top Shot platform. Atomic Assets is good for trading card NFTs and there are specialist marketplaces available for in-game NFTs.

 

Digital art is a good NFT market and you can find some flipping opportunities on marketplaces such as Known Origin and Nifty Gateway. If you want to flip high-end digital art then take a look on the SuperRare marketplace to see if any opportunities exist there. 

 

The bottom line here is to use the marketplaces that relate to your chosen niche. We are not saying that it is impossible to find good NFT flipping opportunities on Rarible and OpenSea either. They do exist and you can find them.

 

Bulk Buying and Haggling

 

Another good couple of techniques to use when you are flipping NFTs is to be prepared to purchase them in bulk for a lower price and haggling with NFT creators to reduce the price of their NFTs. Both of these can work well especially if the sellers believe that you are an expert in the niche.