The Takeaway

• The hype around NFTs provides a perfect opportunity to show your Skeptic friends why Cryptoworld can be fun and profitable
• I walk through 7 steps to prepare any Skeptic friend to have fun in Cryptoworld by playing my favorite NFT game, Gods Unchained
• Gods Unchained shows that NFT games don't have to be mindless speculation or endless mining exercises, you can actually play them with useful assets for free (and earn $20 in ETH after achieving in-game accomplishments)
• This approach also will set them up with Coinbase, which has a lot to offer noobs despite its drawbacks

I have some really smart friends who are curious, open-minded, and pretty tech savvy. And yet, when I mentioned that I had put a little money into Bitcoin back in December, I heard them reflect back to me the same thoughts I had before I dove in... It's nothing but hype, it's a haven for criminals, it's a Ponzi scheme, it only has value as long as people believe it has value, etc. 

These are all valid perspectives on Cryptoworld because there is truth behind them. Some coins are pure hype. Folks call them shitcoins. There are many cases where crypto is used to fuel criminal activity, and of course there are blatant hack and theft jobs that occur even on the largest exchanges. Some of the corners of Cryptoworld do seem to have the characteristics of a Ponzi scheme, where fresh meat is needed to cover the promises made to the previous wave of subscribers. We call these corners scams and so on, but they exist and it's not even that hard to stumble across them. And, finally, almost everything we assign value to with the purpose of obtaining other goods relies on a similar value to be assigned by other people. Crypto is no different. 

So, I don't try to argue any of these points because they are not really false. Instead, they are irrelevant to the way most people operate in Cryptoworld. And, arguing that there is no overpumped hype (hi Paris Hilton NFT!), criminal activity, or scheming going on makes you look like a lunatic to your buddies. I also don't try to stoke FOMO. They can find that on their own. FOMO is unavoidable in this space (did someone say 1inch, I mean UNI, I mean DOT, I mean CAKE, I mean SOL, I mean CUB, I mean $FerarriBulgariCoin...)

As the old saying goes, you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. I don't want to scare my friends away from fiat or their other investments, I want to show them that Cryptoworld is a nice place to visit! So, I just talk about the stuff I find fascinating or fun. If they want to do interesting things that are fun, they will want to join me here, right?

As it turns out, NFTs have been the perfect opportunity to entice my friends to dabble a bit in Cryptoworld. Looking back, I thought that the journey we took might be one that could be helpful to other cryptocurious folks in getting their feet wet.

The overall journey begins with stupefied amazement over people paying so much money for JPEGs just because someone calls them NFTs. Explaining why an NFT might have value is a great way to lay out some basics about blockchain! Then, you have to show your friends how some NFTs do more than just sit in a wallet somewhere, they are durable components of games. Then, you show them how some of these games allow you to build assets of value without putting any of your own "real world" money in. At that point, you hit them with a good game that is fun to play. In my case, the game I think is the most "game-y" and is actually fun to play is Gods Unchained. More about that in a bit!

7 Steps to Getting Your Skeptic Friends into Cryptoworld (and have fun doing it)

1. Explain why the hell people pay actual human money for pictures anyone can look at whenever they want. This step is harder than it looks because if you say "Beanie Babies," "Supreme," "Air Jordans," or "Banksy" you aren't giving them any new reasons to look into Cryptoworld. If you talk about ledgers, blockchain, non-divisibility, etc., you can show them why at least the part about everyone else having access to the NFT is not quite correct.

2. Give them examples of how there are NFTs that are collected for regular collectable reasons (fandom, speculation, art investments, etc.), and that there are NFTs that are ways for people to own assets in digital games. To explain this part means explaining blockchain, so hopefully you've done your educational due diligence there. I think this step is KEY. There are so many collectable alternatives that getting someone to jump into NFTs for that reason from a skeptic point of view is a longshot. But, most people like to play games, and the idea that EA Sports or Sony or Microsoft or Google or Zynga can't wipe out all my hard work by deleting their assets probably appeals more broadly.

3. Show them how NFTs work in an existing game. I suggest Upland. It is just interesting enough at the beginning, and people are spending big chunks of actual money on in. You can show them properties that are listed in fiat, so they know that someone is willing to pay. There is that cash-out dream. And, as a bonus, there is so little game-play in Upland for a play-for-free guy like me that almost every other game you show them will seem like Disney Florida/California/Paris/Hong Kong/Shanghai/Tokyo COMBINED! I mean floating around trying to sell Fresno properties to everyone else who is trying to get the hell out of Fresno while earning next to nothing per day on your "rent" is pretty lame. All games will look awesome in comparison! (If you want to try this approach, or if you think that Upland sounds like fun, you can use my referral link but there are lots of other referrals out there and some might give you more free tokens, it is totally up to you.)

4. Tell them about free money and free NFTs. Gods Unchained not only is a fully realized card battle game with good graphic, strategic depth and complexity, multiple game play modes, and an easy to learn set of mechanics (even for me, who has never ever played a card battle game before), but it ALSO gives you starter cards that are good enough for you to win battles. On top of this, you gain experience even for losing, which means that you can suck for a while and keep getting additional packs of game NFTs! AND Gods Unchained will give you $20 in ETH once you achieve a set of goals (for sure this works when you use a referral link, might work without it, but I don't know). Come on! An actual game that is free to play around with, that gives you useful assets in free welcome packs, that lets you earn additional useful assets for free, and that literally pays you in a premium cryptocurrency? Win-Win-Win! Win! 

5. Time for Coinbase. I know. CEX...gross. But in order for your friends to get their $20 in ETH, they will need to have a Coinbase wallet. We might as well maximize this step for you and for them, right? So sign them up through your referral to Coinbase exchange that allows them to get $10 when they deposit $100. Help them see the value here in that the $10 more than covers their initial deposit fees, and that with that step completed, they can start using Coinbase Earn, which gives them a chance to earn a range of altcoins as they learn about all the different use cases and functions of the fascinating world. And they get the $20 in ETH.

6. Help them anticipate KYC and whatever aggravation that brings in your country. In the US it is pretty bad. If you don't tell them about this, they might just give up. Remind them of the value proposition here. For engaging in the identity verification and sending fiat onto Coinbase, they are getting a stake in crypto, they are getting enough free crypto from Coinbase to cover their initial fees, they are getting the chance to actually learn about Cryptoworld and receive worthy altcoins for doing so, they are getting NFTs that are theirs to play or swap or sell, they are getting a game that is actually a game and not just floating around, and they are getting $20 in ETH. Plus, they can get started with Coinbase Wallet. The referral deal requires linking to a wallet, but I haven't explored whether other wallets would count. But they can explore further possibilities with Coinbase Wallet in the future if they want to go deeper into investing in crypto. 

7. Help them play GodsUnchained. I have been playing for several days now and just discovered a few new angles that have made me much more successful. I am happy to share these insight with my friends because I want them to have fun here. Their KYC and funds deposit on Coinbase should be completed by the time they meet all the required achievements to get their $20 of ETH, but even if not, you can show them how to supply their receive address for ETH to the GodsUnchained site so that their free ETH might even be the first transaction. That's pretty exciting, I think!

• If you look back on what you would achieve by following these steps, you would have gotten your friends to learn about cryptocurrency, exchanges, helped them make their first purchase of crypto, helped them earn a referral bonus to Coinbase, pushed their learning further with Coinbase Earn, helped them get their first wallet, helped them learn about NFTs and blockchain, helped them get their own NFTs and $20 in ETH, and had fun playing a game with them! Awesome, right??

You are all invited to use my referral link if you'd like. I don't share my Coinbase referral publicly, but there are other writers on this platform that do and you can use their links. If you don't already have a GodsUnchained, I definitely recommend you using my referral so that you can participate in their Stay.Play.Get Paid program (Full disclosure: I will get $5 in ETH when you sign up and qualify for your $20...referrals like these help keep my blog going, so I deeply appreciate it!).

If you feel sad for me about not having a Coinbase referral, you could always open accounts at Celsius ($30 in BTC after depositing $200 - Celsius pays interest on your holdings weekly) or BlockFi ($10 in BTC after depositing $100) with my referrals hahaha! BlockFi is cool because it pays you interest on your holdings and lets you choose the crypto you get the interest in! I earn ETH interest on my stablecoin holdings, as well as on the ETH that I got in interest. They also are introducing a credit card that earns 1.5% back in BTC on spend, but as I pointed out in a post, it may not be for everyone.

Good luck with this plan. I hope your Skeptic friends join you in Cryptoworld, and I also hope that you enjoy Gods Unchained as much as I do!