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Convert your prepaid Visa gift card into Crypto
If you want to convert a prepaid Visa gift card to crypto, your options are limited, you could sell your card on an app like Paxful or CardCoins, but right from the start you will probably lose thirty to sixty percent off the value of your card, and you will have few options on how to manage your crypto.
I have found the most cost effective way, and the path that gives you the most control over managing your crypto, is converting your card to cash through PayPal, and then making your crypto purchase on Coinbase using your PayPal funds.
Although Coinbase does accept credit card purchases, like most crypto platforms, they will not accept payment via a prepaid debit card.
PayPal
If you don’t already have a PayPal account, it is fairly easy to sign up for a free personal account.
Once you are signed up and logged into your PayPal account, you will want to create an invoice. Currently, this is found under the “More” options tab.
Choose the “Amounts only” template, and bill the invoice to your personal email or wherever email you want to use to receive the invoice. For the amount, use the exact amount of your Visa gift card, put in something for the description and then click send.
Once you receive the invoice in your inbox, you can then use your gift card as payment, and the full amount, less 3-5% in PayPal transaction fees, will go directly into your paypal account as cash.
Before you make any crypto purchases, go to your PayPal wallet and set your preferences to use your PayPal balance first when paying online. You want to make sure your crypto purchases aren’t being taken from a linked bank or credit card account.
You may notice that PayPal also has an option to purchase a few crypto currencies directly, however, your options are limited, and all you can do is buy and hold. Your best option is to get it in a crypto wallet like Coinbase where you have more control over your crypto.
Now you are ready to head on over to Coinbase to set up your free account. Once your account is set up, before purchasing anything, go down to the rewards tab to earn some FREE crypto just by watching a few short videos and answering some questions about the offering. Depending on what is being offered, you can possibly earn up to $70 in free crypto currency, so don’t miss out on this opportunity.
The free crypto will be in several different assets, so if you want to move your new crypto into a different asset, for example from Stellar Lumens to Ethereum, go to the trade tab, click on the “Buy” button next to the asset you want to convert to, for example, Ethereum, then click on the “Convert” tab and select from the dropdown box the asset your funds are in, and below, select from the drop down the asset you want to convert to.
If you are not sure what to convert to, you can simply convert them all to “USD Coin” to keep them safe until you have a better idea on how you want to invest your new Crypto currency.
Now you can buy more Crypto using the cash in your PayPal account. You will first need to go to your profile and add Your PayPal account as a payment method. One you have done that, click on the “Buy/Sell” button at the top of the page, then click on the “Buy” tab, then click on the Asset you want to buy, and then click on the “Pay From” drop down and choose PayPal. Then finally click the “Buy” button.
There are fees associated with the PayPal purchases. Here is a list of the current fees. Expect to pay about 4%. You will have a chance to review your purchase with the associated fees before finalizing the transaction.
Once the transaction is finalized, you will be an official crypto currency owner and can begin trading your new crypto assets.
Be careful and have fun learning and investing.
Nonfungible Token’s NFT’s
It is all the rage in the crypto world these days, nonfungible token’s, otherwise known as NFT’s.
What are they? Is this just a fad, or are we on the verge of a new type of crypto currency?
I dove right into this crypto world, trying to do so without a bank account to see if I could figure it out. It took me about three weeks until I finially was able to mint my first NFT.
I will walk you through my journey on things I discovered, from crypto currency, crypto wallets, gas fees and bunny swaps.
But first, what is an NFT?
A non-fungible token (NFT) is a piece of data stored on a digital ledger, called a blockchain, that certifies a digital file to be unique.
Unlike a Bitcoin or Euthereum token, where the value of each coin or token is exactly the same, an NFT’s value is unique, each has its own digital signature to verify authenticity and can’t be replaced.
For example, the value of a YuGiOh trading card is based on the character on the card. You cant just swap it for another card and call it even. The same with an NFT, it is a collectible with verifiable proof of ownership built into the blockchain.
An NFT can be pretty much anything you can put online, digital art, music, poetry, even tweets. But NFT, doesn’t mean copyright, you may own an NFT, but that does not give you the right to reproduce and sell it.
You own and can resell the NFT asset and that’s as far as it goes.
For me, I love creating digital art, so I am going to experiment a bit and see how this works.
So much to learn though, like for example, gas fees. Crazy to see how much it could potentially cost in these additional fees to mint, sell and buy an NFT. While researching where to start, I was able to find a platform where it didn’t cost a fortune in gas fees to mint and sell my work.
The platform is called Twinci, they are the new kid on the block and are aiming to be the Instagram of NFT’s. They are on the Binance Smart Chain and the gas fees right now are super cheap.
So here we go with Twinci, I feel like a pioneer as I continue to explore this strange new world. Wish me luck.
Interest in dipping your toes in? I challenge you to give it a try.