So, the LexisNexis practical guidance team has published the NFT on 'How to create an NFT'. As a nerdy CEO, I was of course keen to both follow the process of how we create the NFT, including all the internal hoops to navigate, as well as then to bid on the NFT once it was up for Auction.
To find out about the hoops and the complexity of a multinational company interacting with the blockchain and digital assets, read the blog series HERE.
For me, owning the first NFT on creating NFTs is a real prize, particularly with such qualified authors Stephen Fang (Special Counsel, Norton Rose Fulbright) and Nick Bishop (Director, NotCentralized).
So tonight I bid on the NFT.
How did this go?
First I had to buy Ethereum, which I could do on an exchange such as BTC markets, although note I am not advising on any particular exchange. My approach is to make sure I am using a reputable exchange with local Australian operations.
Once I had the Ethereum on the exchange I needed to move it to a 'wallet' - i.e. my own cryptocurrency holder. This is similar in concept to having a bank account and then withdrawing cash to your own wallet. In the bank account (the exchange) you are reliant on the bank to secure your money, in your wallet you have full custody of your money but you can also lose it irretrievably. It is the same with crypto, my wallet is secured by my own private key (code) but it is up to me to make sure I protect that key and am vigilant on who I send money to.
The wallet I chose was MetaMask, which is one of the most widely used Ethereum wallets and is well-supported and secure.
Once set up I can use my wallet address as an account number to receive funds, and can then transfer from MetaMask to the wallet.
Note the above will take a few hours/days as you need to go through the KYC/AML checks from the exchange you are using.
With the Ethereum (ETH) in my wallet, and my wallet connected to my Chrome browser, I could then bid on the NFT on the OpenSea platform at:
https://opensea.io/assets/ethereum/...
I did need to first 'wrap' the Ethereum into a token that could be used by the OpenSea platform's “smart contract” to auto-bid and take escrow payments on my behalf, this cost me $1.68 in 'Gas Fees'. Wrapping is similar to setting up an account for an auction in the 'real world' where your funds are escrowed. OpenSea's explanation is pretty good: “WETH is a form of cryptocurrency that allows users to make pre-authorized bids that can be fulfilled at a later date without any further action from the bidder. WETH is minted when a user sends ETH to the WETH smart contract. The smart contract holds the ETH sent by users and mints an equivalent amount of WETH.”
With the WETH I was able to bid on the NFT.
I am now the highest bidder! But of course, I expect others to quickly surpass me.
Greg
PS: I've placed this bid in my personal capacity, using my own funds. Since all proceeds go to the charity partner Médecins Sans Frontières, this was a no-brainer.
Wrapping the ETH to WETH, done inside MetaMask:
Before
During (note gas fee to process the wrapping of 0.00087 or $1.68)
After you can see my offer balance
Here is where I assign the WETH to OpenSea to bid.Note, I can set a limit that the smart contract can go to (if there are funds in the account):
