If you want to invest or trade in non-fungible tokens (NFTs), a good NFT wallet is indispensable. So many people, so many wishes, so there is a wide range on the market. How do you make the right choice now? In this article, I will take you through the basic knowledge about NFTs and NFT wallets, after which we dive into an important topic: security.
A good NFT wallet has various characteristics, which we will all discuss. If you know what to look for, then you are also able to make the right choice. As we always say: DYOR (Do Your Own Research)! Finally, we dive into the best NFT wallets of the moment, so that you can make an informed choice. We give an introduction per wallet, discuss the advantages and share some useful articles and videos.
NFTs are hot and will mean a lot more to us in the future. It is so much more than just digital art pictures, as you will have discovered by now. Read along and immerse yourself in the world of NFT wallets, so that you can buy, sell and store your favorite tokens. Are you ready? Then we will investigate together because you really won’t miss this boat!
Best NFT Wallets of 2023
- Best Over-All: Metamask
- Easiest to use: Zengo
- Best for NFT Collections: Enjin
- Best Mobile App: Trust Wallet
- Best for dApps: MathWallet
- Best for token transfer: Coinbase Wallet
Coinbase Wallet
Coinbase is an American crypto exchange, which was founded very early in the crypto market. In 2011, the company was conceived and in 2012 the official establishment took place. In the early years, Coinbase mainly focused on buying and selling cryptocurrencies. The platform offered a handful of cryptocurrencies, including, of course, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin. This is a stark contrast to today, where Coinbase’s range consists of more than 100 different coins and NFTs have also been added.
Ultimately, Coinbase has grown into one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world, serving more than 70 million verified users today (July 2022). These 70 million users come from over 100 different countries! In short, the platform is a great springboard for the adoption of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.
Not only is the amount of users growing, but Coinbase’s platform is also growing. In addition to trading cryptocurrencies and NFTs, you can now take advantage of many more services on Coinbase. For example, the platform offers to stake for a number of altcoins, which you can borrow via the platform and you can also do your daily shopping with the Coinbase Card.
Is it possible to buy NFTs through Coinbase?
Today it is certainly possible to buy NFTs through Coinbase! Although the marketplace was launched fairly recently and is still in beta, you can already use the platform. You can easily buy and sell NFTs on the marketplace. The advantage of Coinbase is that the marketplace is very similar to that of OpenSea, the largest NFT marketplace in recent years. The payment method on the Coinbase marketplace is also the same as with OpenSea; you can trade NFTs by trading with ETH, the token of Ethereum.
If you want to buy an NFT on Coinbase’s NFT marketplace, you will first need to connect a crypto wallet to the marketplace. In addition, a wallet alone is of no use, after all, you will also need crypto to be able to buy an NFT. That is why ETH in your crypto wallet is also very important. At the moment you cannot pay with Wrapped ETH (wETH), but Coinbase has indicated that this will be possible in the future. In addition, Coinbase has announced that more cryptocurrencies and blockchains will be supported in the future.
Coinbase NFT Marketplace Overview
Coinbase’s NFT Marketplace is very well organized, which is very useful for users. Especially when you first enter the marketplace, it can be nice if you can see at a glance where you need to go. On the homepage of the NFT marketplace, you can discover the different buttons at the top. When you click on the Discover, Shop, Trending, or Drops, you will be taken to another page, which is of course related to the title in question. What can you discover in these sections of the marketplace? We’ll walk you through it below!
Coinbase NFT Marketplace
Discover
In the Discover section of the marketplace, you can discover all kinds of things. The name says it all, of course, and nothing could be further from the truth. Not only do you find various NFTs and NFT collections here, but you can also discover other accounts here. You can scroll this page and discover different NFTs, or click on the menus to the right.
For example, here you can click on ‘Accounts to follow’, where you can find a huge list of accounts that are followed by many people. You can also search for specific people in the search bar. For example, are you curious about what Coinbase CEO Ben Armstrong has in his wallet? The Discover section is a perfect place to see what other NFT investors have in their wallets!
Shop
In addition, you can go to the Shop section for what it’s all about. After all, an NFT marketplace is intended to trade NFTs. You can bid on NFTs via the Shop. On the left side of the Shop, you have the option to use different filters. For example, you can choose the minimum and maximum amount you want to spend, and also view the prices in dollars or in ETH.
Trending
In the Trending section, you can see which NFT collections are popular with investors and traders. Here you can find various data such as trading volume, number of owners, and amount of NFTs within the collection. The first two data may differ, so you can search in this section by 1 day, 7 days, 30 days, or the complete timeline of collections. An ideal tool if you want to quickly see which NFTs are in demand!
Drops
This section of the marketplace is where you can discover upcoming NFT collections. Hereby the name, price, and date of the mint are mentioned, and by clicking on the image of a collection you can find more information. Other accounts can also leave comments, which entails a social aspect. Drops allow you to view both upcoming and recently released NFT collections.
How do you invest in NFTs on Coinbase?
To get started investing in NFTs on Coinbase, you will first have to go through a number of steps. To be well prepared, it is important that you have a suitable crypto wallet, with which you can connect to the Coinbase marketplace. For example, the MetaMask wallet is often used, a software wallet that is suitable for Coinbase and the NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain.
In addition to the right wallet, it is also important that the wallet contains coins. After all, without coins, it will be difficult to invest in NFTs. That is why it is important that you first buy ETH and send it to your wallet. Do not only take into account the price of the NFT, but also the gas fees. In order to be able to perform a transaction on the blockchain, transaction costs are charged. These costs are called gas fees and are quite expensive on the Ethereum blockchain.
Trading NFTs on Coinbase can be briefly summarized with the following steps:
- Make sure you have a suitable wallet with sufficient ETH available
- Connect your wallet to the Coinbase NFT marketplace
- Bid, buy, and sell NFTs
How do you buy an NFT on Coinbase?
The steps described above give a rough idea of how to start trading NFTs, but to really discover how that marketplace works, let’s go into this in more detail. When you have found an interesting NFT and you have decided to buy it, you can click on the relevant NFT in the overview.
You will then be taken to the page where you can find more information about the NFT. If you are lucky there will be a button with ‘Buy Now’ on it. This is not self-evident, however, as this button is only visible for NFTs that are for sale. Is this button not present? Then the NFT is not for sale.
Can you store NFTs in your Coinbase wallet?
When you get an NFT through Coinbase’s NFT marketplace, it goes directly to the wallet you have connected to the platform. So the NFT does not go to Coinbase first, but from the moment you buy the NFT, you have full control over your property. The NFT is a token on the blockchain and the wallet and private keys are yours. We often warn that you should not leave cryptocurrencies on the exchange, and this also applies to NFTs. However, NFTs automatically go to your wallet, so this avoids this problem.
You can use the Coinbase wallet for Coinbase’s NFT marketplace. It would, of course, be most remarkable if this were not the case. The ERC-721 tokens are suitable for both the NFT marketplace and the Coinbase wallet. These tokens contain a digital file, to which the relevant token links. As you can discover in the Coinbase marketplace, this is often an image, but of course, it can also be a video, certificate of ownership of a physical object, or a domain name.
How do I see my NFT in the Coinbase wallet?
Have you just bought an NFT and want to admire it in your wallet? Usually, you can admire the NFT very quickly in your wallet. This applies to the Coinbase wallet, but also to other wallets that are suitable. However, there are also cases where the NFT is not immediately visible in your wallet. So is this a reason to panic? The fact that an NFT is not yet visible in your wallet does not have to be a problem, or it can be an easily solvable problem.
There are three problems that often occur in this case, namely:
- The network of the NFT is not supported
- The format of the NFT is not supported
- The data still needs to be synchronized
If non-visible NFTs are not yet visible in your wallet, this may be because the data is not yet synchronized. In this case, it is wise to wait a while and check again at a later time. There is a good chance that the data must be processed and that you can then see the NFT in your wallet. If the network or format of an NFT is not supported, you may have to import your Coinbase wallet into another crypto wallet that does support the NFT.
Conclusion
Because Coinbase is one of the largest crypto exchanges worldwide, with tens of millions of users, the arrival of the Coinbase NFT marketplace is a big step. Many novice investors go to an exchange where they know the name or where acquaintances around them have an account.
Coinbase is such a platform, just like Binance, for example. Both platforms offer different services to their users. This makes these central exchanges multifunctional. That is why it is interesting to see what this means for OpenSea, for example.
The largest NFT marketplace of the moment does not have a large assortment of cryptocurrencies or other services, so it may just be that the exchanges are taking some of the users away from OpenSea. However, no one has a crystal ball. Therefore, always do your own research before investing!
