How to Gift an NFT

Presents under the tree or a groovy NFT? Learn how to empower your friends and family with digital ownership – here we explain how to gift an NFT!

The holidays are upon us, and with NFTs emerging as the shimmering zeitgeist of 2021, there’s a good chance you’ll be hearing friends and family talk about them.

NFTs are not just new technology – they’re a potentially very desirable gift too. One that’s truly unique, inspirational, and could well keep on giving!  Here, we tell you why – and how – to give one as a gift.

Why are People Going Nuts for NFTs?

If you weren’t already a crypto fan at the beginning of 2021, the rise of NFTs might have seemed pretty sudden – and maybe even a bit of a strange concept.

So let’s cut to the chase: why exactly did NFTs catch fire? 

As the world shifts closer to the new internet age, or Web3, users have more and more opportunities to “own” their environment – in other words, have complete control of their digital assets, independent of central platforms. With the lines between digital and reality blurred, our digital selves manifest and bloom, with expectations about self-expression driving the movement.

The explosion of the Metaverse is a perfect example: whereas previously users were mere visitors to online platforms, now we have an expectation of being able to own, shape, and create our digital environment. By giving us ownership of land and assets, we can create our online lives in the same way we create our homes in reality.

For a similar reason, NFTs are also taking the gaming world by storm, allowing gamers to independently own their in-game assets and move them between different platforms. Meanwhile, for artists and fashion fanatics, NFTs allowed users to express themselves either by providing ownership of digital fashion or by providing a way to buy and sell art without a middleman.

And of course, there is also a celebrity element to the craze: we witnessed celebrities like Jay Z, Snoop Dogg, 3LAU, and Grimes dropping curated NFT collections, sending fans into a whirlwind of excitement, unleashing the power of blockchain into the mainstream.

An NFT for Everyone

Like clothes, music, or art, NFTs mean we can share our digital alter-egos with whoever we like. 

There are literally hundreds of NFT types and collectibles, but the best way to break it down is by going on a shopping trip together, so let’s get out our lists and check them twice.

The Fashionista

Forget about perfumes, makeup, and yet another silk scarf. This Christmas, you could send a Fashionable NFT. Like those viral sneaker designs created by RTFKT. The team behind the project is wildly committed to blending fashion and gaming. it’s also an opportunity for the fashion junkie to own a digital item that could be worth a lot of money in the near future.

The Gaming Nerd

We all have one of those in our family! This family member is the easiest to shop for since chances are they already own some real estate in the Sandbox or Decentraland. Yeah, the Metaverse. You’d seriously be the coolest gift-giver ever if you sent them some Loot, i.e., a digital token such as a rare sword or Gladiator armor that can be used in blockchain gaming.

The Art Junkie

What about your art-crazy aunt who’s been to every museum from the Louvre to the Guggenheim? Art NFTs are the perfect gift for the culture connoisseurs in your family. Not only can you give them a one-of-a-kind piece of art, but you give them the gift of proof of ownership. There are even projects like ArtBlocks and FxHash that let artists create generative NFTs that are coded on the blockchain.

The Petrol Head

For the avid car collector in your family, your best shot here would be to do something similar to what McLaren did when they launched the first-ever NFT supercar puzzle collective. Each drop consisted of a separate part of an F1 race car whereby fans could collect every piece until they built a whole car. Wilder Wheels, part of the Wilder World Metaverse, also went high-octane by dropping unique 5D NFT sports cars that you can race in the Metaverse.

The Sports Fan

Sports NFTs make rather epic gifts for these guys. NFTs offer something that doesn’t have a physical equivalent: memorable sports moments. Anything from a clip of a monumental slam dunk (like the famous LeBron James NFT sold by NBA Top Shot)  to a GIF file of a moment in history from a cataclysmic game can be show-stopping gifts.

Buy and Send an NFT – Step-By-Step Guide

Digital shopping is great, right? It’s not as tiring as the real thing. You don’t have to fight bitter-cold temperatures and crazy long lines, either. But you might be wondering how to do it all?

If buying an NFT sounds like the perfect gift solution, but you’re a first-timer – don’t worry because we have you covered! Here, we explain how to buy, store, and gift an NFT using your Ledger hardware wallet such as Ledger Stax, Ledger Nano X, Ledger Nano S Plus, and Ledger’s secure ecosystem.

Step 1: Fund your ETH (Ethereum) in Ledger Live

Most NFTs are Ethereum-based digital tokens. Therefore most of the big NFT marketplaces will only accept ETH: so first, you’ll need to make sure you have some in your Ledger Wallet.

To do this, go into your Ethereum wallet within your Ledger Live account. From here, you’ll have two options: if you’ve already bought some ETH on an exchange and it’s still in the exchange wallet, you can receive it to your Ledger Account by clicking the “receive” button. This will take you through the process of transferring those funds to your Ledger Wallet. 

But if you still need to buy some ETH, by far the safest way of doing this is using the “Buy” function on Ledger Live (which also appears on this same screen). What’s really useful about this function is that it allows you to purchase crypto and have it sent directly to your Nano – it means you’ll never need to rely on a hot wallet on an exchange, where you don’t own the private keys and the exchange has ultimate control. By purchasing Ethereum through Coinify on Ledger’s own ecosystem, your tokens will go directly to your Ledger Nano wallet, leaving you in complete control of your funds from start to finish.

Step 2: Choose an NFT marketplace

There are lots of different NFT marketplaces, and the one you use really depends on what you’re looking for. 

Platforms like OpenSea and Rarible are affectionately known as the Amazon of NFTs. Why? Because they display absolutely every type of NFT – from art-based tokens to collectibles, gaming NFTs, and more. Here, you’ll find more or less everything.

On the other hand, if you’re looking for something a little more high-end or unusual, you might want to look to niche platforms like SuperRare; here, the focus is unique, single edition artworks, with a price tag to match.

But for the purpose of our example, let’s focus on Rarible since it’s soon to be integrated into the Ledger ecosystem. And yes – it does take ETH, so you can put your newly purchased tokens to good use.

Step 3: Connect your Wallet

To start buying on Rarible, you’ll need to connect your Ledger wallet with the platform, via a middleware such as Metamask Wallet. 

For a guide on how to connect your Ledger Nano with MetaMask, you’ll find everything you need in this ultimate guide. Once that is done and your wallets are linked, you can connect Rarible to Metamask.

To do this, simply sign in to Rarible via the account tab at the top right of the screen, and select the Metamask icon from the menu: this will allow you to connect your Ledger Wallet with the marketplace, and start transacting.

The beauty of using your Ledger hardware wallet to shop for NFTs is that, although you’re using a middleware, your private keys will never need to leave your device when completing transactions – this means you stay safe from malware and hacks, while you enjoy exploring the NFT space.

In other words, using your Metamask account together with a Ledger wallet is your best bet for staying safe while buying NFTs.

Step 4: Find and Buy the Perfect Holiday Gift

You have a couple of things to consider when it comes to searching and buying.

Most marketplaces use bidding auctions, meaning you need to wait for your bid to be accepted before celebrating the new purchase. But, like eBay, you will also find plenty of “Buy it Now” items, which have the advantage of giving you certainty about being able to purchase the item, as well as its final price. To navigate the platform and find the collections you’re looking for, type your search terms into the bar at the top of the page – you can also specify the type of sale you’re interested in by using the “buy now” filter at the side. 

Once you’ve found your NFT and clicked to make your purchase, you’ll need to think about gas fees. This is the cost you’ll pay to have ownership of the NFT transferred to you and logged on the Ethereum blockchain. be shown the gas fees on screen, so you can see what the transaction will cost before you confirm. Once you’re happy – it’s time to buy!
Transactions on any blockchain need to wait to be processed by the network. So once you purchase, your NFT might take a while to land in your wallet – that’s normal, don’t worry. But once it’s there, you are the exclusive owner of that NFT – and your private keys have never even left your Nano.

Step 5: Send your NF-G.I.F.T

Now it’s time for the best part – sending your gift!

To do this, you’ll need to know your lucky recipient’s public address – and no, we don’t have step-by-step for obtaining that discreetly, so good luck with that.

Anyway, once you have that, you’ll be using the Rarible platform once again to transfer your NFT. Simply navigate to the visualisation page of the NFT you’d like to send, where you’ll see the option to “Transfer”. Here’s an example of how that will look:

Select “Transfer” and enter the public address of your friend or loved one – make sure you copy and paste to avoid mistakes. Once you confirm you’re happy with the gas fees, you can complete the transaction.

And voila! You just sent one lucky person a cool, useful, and unique gift that will outlast any physical present.

Make their Wish Come True

2021 was a year of exciting new paradigms and for forward-thinking shoppers, the holiday season could be the perfect opportunity to bring friends or family into that vibrant story.

Each day, as more people learn about NFTs, they continue to shake up our culture, and our communities, ushering in the new internet age. When you think about it, NFTs are an experience, and we live for experiences. In fact, all the latest NFT projects aspire to go beyond just tokens and collectibles. These projects are community-driven, creating vast networks of like-minded people, and making us feel like we have a home away from home.

Knowledge is Power.

Trust yourself and keep on learning. If you want to know what else Web 3 is changing, check out our highly entertaining School of Block episode about the biggest revolution of this generation.