As a reminder for the many people thinking, "Yeah, but I still don't know what an NFT is," Pollak bought two Bored Ape NFTs.
As the owner of a Bored Ape, he now has commercial rights over the digital image. Many people use their NFTs as a profile picture on social media.
If you're wondering how ownership of a digital asset can be proven, every NFT has a unique serial number and transaction history that can be seen by people.
Mr. Pollak bought three more from the Bored Ape Yacht Club, which had a collection of 10,000 NFTs. Some of the apes are wearing clothing. Others are smiling and smoking cigars.
Mr. Pollak didn't have a lot of disposable income, but he was living in a four-bedroom. It felt like college.
He did not come from money. When he was a teenager, Mr. Pollak and his family had to rent an apartment because his mother couldn't pay the mortgage.
Mr. Pollak's interest in NFTs was spurred by hearing people talk about them. He said he was about to spend hundreds of dollars on a picture of a monkey.
It was a good decision. Mr. Pollak's apes went up in value after he bought his first NFTs. He sold a virtual currency that he had bought for 14 ether for 70 ether, which was around $231,000 on the day of sale.
He used the money for a down payment on a house in Los Angeles.
He has three Bored Ape NFTs in his portfolio. He will sell them one day. He feels well-off for the first time in his life.
A few people have their own rags-to-riches stories thanks to NFTs. Matt Medved, a founder of Nft Now, a digital media publication about NFTs, said that some artists have made life-changing money by investing in the right project at the right time. Some are using the money to pay off student loans, buy a home or quit their job. Some people are buying boats or throwing lavish parties.
NFTs are like manna from heaven, according to Mr. Pollak, who acknowledges how lucky he is. People risk their money when it doesn't work out.
People who make or buy NFTs never make a profit. Gambling is riskier than trading them because there is no regulation or consumer protection. Investing in cryptocurrencies is high risk and involves a lot of technical know-how and luck; few financial professionals would recommend it.
Mr. Medved believes that people should think of NFTs like baseball cards. And why? It isn't about the piece of card stock. It is the history, the rarity, the cultural relevance.
It comes down to the fans.
In the long term, what many NFT artists create will be worth little or nothing. There are a few NFTs that have become very valuable and have earned their owners and creators a lot of money in a short period of time.
The Bored Apes that Mr. Pollak bought could be made at.08 ether. The cheapest one is worth about 73 ether. It is possible to convert ether to cash on major platforms and then transfer it to a bank account.
Another NFT success story is an artist in her 30s who works with artificial intelligence. She was given a collection of 10,000 unique art characters by someone she met on the messaging service.
Ms. Silver, who lives a nomadic lifestyle but most recently lived in Denver, said that she met a guy who was interested in art while she was in a chat room. She said he told her he had a lot of them and asked if she wanted three. I said yes.
As long as the collector had an etherum wallet, they could claim crypts for free. The cheapest one is selling for almost $175,000.
She kept hers until 2020 when she heard that they were selling for a lot of money. She sold one for $60,000 in July 2021. Many are selling for six figures. One sold last month for more than $600,000.
Ms. Silver makes her own NFTs. She makes money from the original sale and may get 10 percent of every secondary sale. She sold one of her pieces for over $60,000.
She has saved so much that she finally feels financially secure. She said that they had to accept church donations for food.
She recently returned from a trip to Britain, where she saw her work being sold at an auction.
She is giving her mother a house that she paid for in cash.
There is a glossary. Cryptocurrencies have gone from a curiosity to a viable investment, making them almost impossible to ignore. Let us help you with the terminology.
There is a virtual currency called th digital currency called th digital currency is called th digital currency is called th digital currency is called th digital currency is called th digital currency is called th digital currency is called th digital currency is called th digital currency is There is a digital token that can be sent anywhere in the world. This form of digital currency is stored and moved on a payment network.
There is a system for storing data called the Blockchain. A database maintained communally that reliably stores digital information is known as a blockchain. Non-currency-based companies and governments are trying to use the same technology that was used to store all of the Bitcoins.
It is possible to pay with corp coin. The first major company to list its shares on a U.S. stock exchange is Coinbase, a platform that allows people and companies to buy and sell various digital currencies.
There is a type of finance called cryptocurrencies. The development of cryptocurrencies spawned a parallel universe of alternative financial services, known as Decentralized Finance, or DeFi, which allowed businesses to move into traditional banking territory, including lending and borrowing.
Alex was making $25 an hour two years ago when he drove trucks to support his family.
He flips many of the NFTs he buys for 10K, 30K, and 5K.
He owns real estate in the Metaverse next to the Adidas headquarters. They are going to pay me millions of dollars so I can move.
Mr. Medved said in an email that this sounds speculative rather than anything that could be proven.
Mr. Lugo quit his truck driving job in January 2021. He says he has been able to give his children the freedom to choose what they want to do with their life savings.
He and his family currently live in a two-bedroom apartment, but he is looking to buy a four-bedroom house.
Others have been helped by NFTs to dig themselves out of financial holes.
He is an artist in Brooklyn. It took NFTs to get her there.
She worked at a student loan servicing center for 9 to 5 years.
She quit her job to become a tattoo artist and had a hard time making ends meet.
She decided to make her own collections, with work that focuses on her Filipino and Black heritage, after seeing people go crazy for NFTs.
She now makes enough money through NFTs to be able to pursue her passions, since she has paid off her debt.
Mr. Medved said that people should never invest more money than they are willing to lose.
He said that a lot of NFTs will end up going to zero in the long run.
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