Useful terms – excerpt from the cryptoart workshop handout by the Blockchain Arts Academy
Blockchain
the secure technology behind Bitcoin and many other cryptocurrencies.
Wallet
a wallet is an address on the blockchain, accessible with a password. Similar to having an email address but you use it to send and receive tokens instead of messages.
Ethereum
a type of blockchain with extra functionality called smart contracts.
Smart contract
a software that is executed on the blockchain. Contracts are used to create tokens and to sell them, among other things.
Ether
the basic token in the Ethereum blockchain, similar to a currency like Euro.
Exchange
a service to exchange Ether for Euro and other currencies, crypto and non-crypto: US dollar, Bitcoin, etc..
Token
besides Ether, it is possible to create other types of tokens using the blockchain, including what are called non-fungible-tokens – NFT for short.
NFT
is the type of token used in cryptoart. Tokens are categorized according to standards called ERC. The most common type of NFT uses the ERC721 standard.
Gas
a fee paid for every transaction adding information to the blockchain. This fee is not fixed. When lots of people are using the blockchain it costs more. Different types of transactions also have different fees. A big transaction like the creation of a new contract costs more. Using a contract to create a token costs less, and transfering a token even less. This fee is not paid to the website/service you are using but to the blockchain miners.
Miners
several computers around the world authenticating transactions and keeping the blockchain secure. They use a system called proof of work.A downside of this system is that as the blockchain became more popular more computers started mining and using big quantities of electricity. The Ethereum blockchain is planning to implement a new system (proof of stake) to solve this problem.
Chain confirmations
the blockchain transactions are not processed instantly, they take several seconds or even minutes, because they need to be processed by the computers into the blocks that form the chain. Each block contains several transactions and will be confirmed by many other computers until enough confirmations are reached and the transaction is acknowledged. When you start a transaction you can choose to pay a higher gas price if you want it to be processed faster.
Wrapped Ether
smart escrow service to allow auctions and offers on the OpenSea platform (also called WETH). You can bid on several items at once with the same money, the first to accept takes the money and the others will be instantly stopped (until you add more money to the escrow)
Instructions for beginners – excerpt from the cryptoart workshop handout by the Blockchain Arts Academy
Creating a wallet
The first step to use the blockchain is to create a wallet (an address on the blockchain)
You can use a desktop or a mobile app to create a wallet.
Desktop wallet app: METAMASK.IO
Mobile wallet app: TRUSTWALLET.COM
Unlike an email address, you cannot choose your username neither your password. Those will be randomly generated for you (not very user friendly but much more secure)
The equivalent of the username is your public address
The equivalent of the password is your passphrase
Here is an example wallet details:
- Public Address:
0x3C5a02fb022d37aA824bCBC80296D42C137C9b0B - Passphrase:
wolf banner toward puppy permit scrub risk jaguar among ecology panic polar
It’s extremely important to save your passphrase in a secure place in your computer and also write it down on a piece of paper and put it in a safe place.
If you forget or lose your passphrase there is no way to recover it (also not very user friendly but again much more secure)
There are many stories of people who created a wallet in the past just out of curiosity. Then the cryptoassets in their wallets became extremely valuable some time later. But unfortunately they didn’t write down their passwords and they lost it all. Don’t be one of these people. </cautionarytale>
Loading a wallet with Ether
You won’t be able to do much with your wallet without at least a small amount of Ether to pay for blockchain transaction fees (incurred for example when creating, selling or buying a token).
You can use an exchange service to buy Ether. Some options are:
COINBASE.COM
WIREXAPP.COM
LOCALCRYPTOS.COM
There may be a minimum (and maximum) purchase amount at first, and you also may need to provide the exchange with proof of identity and address. If you persevere you will have truly entered the cryptoworld. Congrats!
where to buy/sellCRYPTOART
Some websites where you can buy cryptoart and cryptocollectibles:
SUPERRARE.CO
KNOWNORIGIN.IO
MAKERSPLACE.COM
OPENSEA.IO
RARIBLE.COM
MINTBASE.IO
There are still many awesome artworks available for very affordable prices, sometimes even for free. You can start a collection, invest in new artists, and help shape this exciting and growing market. Have fun!