A man has shared how he makes £10,000 a month selling non-fungible-tokens (NFTs), revealing his top tips on how others can follow in his footsteps.
Alex Thomas, 32, who works in digital marketing, first started dabbling with cryptocurrency in 2015, investing in Bitcoin, Etherum and Cro, making around £300 in his first week.
When the pandemic and subsequent lockdown hit, Alex – like many others – was working from home, which gave him more time to look into NFTs properly – and he’s now raking in the cash.
Since September last year, the savvy investor has since seen his monthly income boom, raking in £10,000 a month on the side of his day job.
And he has a special trick for his success – finding unique pieces and flogging them at a higher price later down the line.
“I’ve been fiddling with crypto for around the past five years but then with the pandemic and work with my business slowing down, I decided to explore more into NFTs,” Alex told Jam Press.
“Then back in September 2021 I just found it really interesting, so I joined communities and started investing, which began to make a decent return.
“I made roughly $4,000 my first month – my strategy has always been buying NFTs at their drop and selling them on the secondary market.
“When a new NFT hits the market we call it a ‘drop’ – think of it like a PS5 launch.
“A lot of people want it but there are only 10,000 produced, it’s extremely competitive.
“Most NFTs skyrocket after the initial release because people missed out due to the queue or other reasons.”
Alex is part of two NFT communities, PsychoKitties and Loaded Lions, both of which have a collection of 10,000 randomly-generated NFTs.
He has also roped his fiancée, Nina Stankova, 33, who he met in 2014, into the fun – and the pair now make money together trading NFTs.
He added: “Nina saw how great it started going for me and wanted to get involved too, now we both do it and it’s something we love doing.
“We have separate workspaces and when we don’t work for our clients we normally search for new NFT drops, it works great as we are both on Twitter and in the Loaded Lions community discord.”
He has bought and sold a multitude of artwork at amazing prices, gaining himself huge profits, including a piece from the Loaded Lions that he bought for $200 and sold for $3,550.
Another one was from PsychoKitties by Ugonzo, a well-known artist in the industry, which he bought for $150 and sold for $2,250.
Alex said: “I remember Nina and I were waiting in the queue at 2am to try and get one, we both got five kitties each, which was amazing!”
With trading keeping the couple up till the early hours, Alex and Nina often find themselves working round the clock.
He said: “I only sleep around six hours a night, we often find ourselves waiting in a queue for a new NFT drop, the market is very competitive and we are both very hard working, that’s one of the things I love about her.
“I’ve always been very driven and she just synced with me.”
Even though their natural competitiveness can be challenging, they never let it get in the way of their relationship.
He added: “Due to the way the NFT queue drops work, we sometimes don’t get the same NFTs or she gets better ones and I get more common.
“The rarity is also important and normally that’s just allocated by the system, but we love each other too much to argue and what’s hers is mine and vice versa – she does tease me sometimes.”
For any newbies keen to get into cryptocurrency and NFTs, the entrepreneur has six key tips.
GET INTO THE COMMUNITY
One of the best things you can do is to join an NFT community – not only to find rare items but to share advice and ask for help.
Speaking about his own online groups, Alex said: “These people help you out, they tell you which ones would be worth buying and it’s extremely helpful to anyone starting up.
“Also don’t be afraid to ask questions, the community is very helpful.
“Obviously the NFT market is lucrative to say the least, we see companies like Crypto.com and Samsung developing NFT marketplaces and investing millions in infrastructure.
“But one of the communities I’m in had a total trading volume of $30,000,000 since 23 November 2021.
“I currently own 11 LoadedLlions and Nina has three.”
PICK UP TRADER TRICKS ON TWITTER
Alex also recommends following NFT professionals and keeping up-to-date with the latest news on Twitter.
He added: “Following NFT professionals on Twitter who trade at expert level is a great way to learn about trading.
“They share their NFTs, tips and give amazing advice.”
TRY TO GET IN WITH THE BIG WIGS
Alex also advises getting to know the creators.
That way you can see their art, how often they sell and if they have a large following.
Alex said: “Another crucial aspect of buying NFTs is knowing who the creator is, things like previous art created or social media following are a great indicator if they are successful.”
EXCLUSIVE DROPS
Once you’re in, you get the ‘member’ perks too.
Alex added: “Some communities, such as Discord and Twitter, offer access to exclusive NFT drops.
“Those are a great investment, just make sure that when selecting NFTs to invest in, you do a lot of research.”
STAY IN THE GAME IF YOU WANT THE PROFIT
Trading NFTs might not be a full-time job for everyone but you need to dedicate your time to find the good stuff.
Alex added: “Make sure to look quite often, you don’t want to miss out on any big buys.
“Sometimes you can find a piece of art for $100 and sell it for thousands, they’re the ones you want to look out for.”
AND FINALLY… WHAT NOT TO DO
Research first and get your feet on the ground before you start trading.
He added: “It can be risky if you buy NFTs you don’t know anything about.
“Observe the community sentiment towards a certain NFT drop, it’s easy to read which will be popular, based on community sentiment and engagement.”
“Sometimes you can find a piece of art for $100 and sell it for thousands, they’re the ones you want to look out for.”
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