Yahoo Finance Aussie Mum makes $40,000 trading NFT’s
Buying and selling non-fungible tokens (NFTs) started growing in popularity in 2021 and has continued this year, with stories of traders making millions, and celebrities - from Snoop Dog to Serena Williams - jumping on the bandwagon, buying digital art featuring apes and aliens, for thousands of dollars.
NFTs have become a buzzword, but what exactly is a non-fungible token?
An NFT is a blockchain-based digital asset - it could be art, music, a video, or even “virtual” real estate in the metaverse.
Also read: OPINION: NFT market set to double in 2022
Also read: What are NFT's and should we be investing in them?
Buying and selling NFTs has become increasingly popular in Australia, with more than half a million (583,000) Aussies now owning NFTs, according to new research by Finder.
And the scene is predicted to keep growing, with a further 2.1 million Australians (11 per cent) saying they intend to purchase an NFT this year.
Queenslander Kate Boddington said she was surprised by how much money she’d made after starting as a complete beginner in January.
Boddington became interested in the phenomenon after her 11-year-old son told her about it. After doing a brief online course and then starting to trade, she has banked $40,000 in profits in less than six months.
“I was having a hard time wrapping my head around the pronunciation, let alone the technology,” Boddington said.
“Now I own over four dozen NFTs and am hooked on buying and selling these valuable digital assets.”
Boddington, who works as a communications expert by day, said she had seen other investment opportunities pass her by in the past and was determined not to miss out on the rise in popularity of trading NFTs.
“With expenses increasing for our family of five, I wanted a way to grow my wealth without having to spend lots of time or outlay huge amounts of money in traditional assets such as stocks and property,” she said.
“I had come up with a criteria that the NFT projects had to meet before I bought in, so I do believe it [my success] was having a good methodology, mixed with some good luck.”
Boddington isn’t alone in getting involved in this brave new world, and research has shown women in particular are increasingly buying and selling assets. At the current rate women are set to outnumber men trading NFT’s in the next 12 months.
“For me and, like many women in the space, trading NFTs is a lucrative hobby,” she said.
“Some trade and create their own NFTs full time, while others like me see it as more of a side-hustle.”
Despite her success, Boddinton said she was realistic about the risks of trading NFTs.
“Things move very quickly, so if you aren’t paying attention to factors like supply and demand, your investment could easily go to $0,” she said.
She also said to be wary of scammers and to be very careful before investing.
“It’s believed that as many as 95 per cent of NFT projects will one day be worthless, so it's important to cash out and withdraw funds while there is strong interest/demand in a project.
“In the meantime, I’m enjoying the journey of growing my portfolio and taking profits along the way.”
Tips for beginners
Set up a cryptocurrency wallet - Metamask being the most widely accepted - so you can mint/hold an NFT
Buy Ethereum through an exchange to send to your cryptocurrency wallet so you can pay to mint or purchase an NFT from secondary marketplaces
Start by having a look around on NFT marketplaces - most popular being Opensea
Some key platforms to be active on are Twitter and Discord
Follow Yahoo Finance on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter, and subscribe to the free Fully Briefed daily newsletter.
