Cryptocurrency. Chances are you’ve heard of this digital form of money, and may have heard of the phrase, “Non Fungible Tokens” or “NFTs.” You may have also read about people making thousands — even millions — of dollars by buying and selling NFTs on various digital marketplaces.

You may be wondering, what the hell is an NFT?

To be honest, I still don’t fully understand how NFTs function, how their value is determined, or if they are a viable long-term investment.

According to Forbes, “An NFT is a digital asset that represents real-world objects like art, music, in-game items and videos. They are bought and sold online, frequently with cryptocurrency, and they are generally encoded with the same underlying software as many cryptos.”

Again, this doesn’t really help one get a full sense of how things are valued, and, much like “art” in the real world, it appears the amount an NFT is worth can vary with things like scarcity, promotion, and who created it.

Still, I was, and still am very intrigued by cryptocurrency, and wanted to explore this new world.

Like all parents, I have kids who enjoy making art, and like most parents, I think my kids’ create beautiful masterpieces. OK, not really. I am not delusional. However, my six-year-old in particular does have some real talent.

Here’s a drawing of SpongeBob and Patrick he did.

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A post shared by @somestuffmykidsmade

Is it perfect? No. But, again he is 6, and when he made this drawing he was only a month past his sixth birthday. Plus, he drew this completely free hand and from memory.

Now the kid is working on a whole comic book based on Sonic The Hedgehog.

I have heard of artists and other creatives making some serious (bit)coin on platforms like OpenSea, and thought, maybe this could be a good option for investing in my children’s future, and perhaps helping them grow their own nest egg.

I created an OpenSea account, registered my digital wallet, and figured out how to create an NFT. I found a simple drawing of an apple my child made, and uploaded it onto the site. I was a bit unsure about how to tag the item, or how to best describe it for SEO purposes, but I think I did OK.

Then it was time to set a price.

The default was set to one ETH.

I thought, that seems fair, until I realized just how much 1 ETH is worth.

One ETH, or Ethereum, is currently worth about $4,000.

FOUR THOUSAND DOLLARS?

What kind of Monopoly money shenanigans is this?

I feel like it’s just Dr. Evil shouting out obscene amounts of money.

I love my children. I think they are bright, talented, and creative.

Do I think anything they’ve made is worth four thousand dollars?

Would I be a bad mom, if I said no?

Before I dove too deep into the world of NFTs, I thought maybe my kid’s drawing could earn like $20 or something. I know, I am not jumping at the chance to spend thousands on art that is questionably good at best. But, maybe I am not fully understanding the crypto space.

I realized, I was jumping in way too fast, and I needed to do more research on the market, check out how similar work was priced, and reevaluate how I would enter (or really enter my kids) into this space.

I do believe there is potential, and like stocks, bonds, and other traditional investments, cryptocurrency may offer my family opportunity in wealth building.

For now, I have decided to slow down and hold off on publishing any of my own NFTs, and take the time to learn more.

I look forward to coming back on this blog and sharing what I have discovered.