WELCOME TO THE COCKCHAIN
Oh wow. What a journey the past few weeks have been. And I have lots to update you on. But at the end of the year I was very focused on finding solutions to censorship (as we know) though that whole convo is going to change thanks to trump once again.
Yes, we already know that I downloaded Tik Tok, and mid December I finally bit the clubhouse bullet. ( stay tuned for my * NYE * EXPERIENCE * on body count clubhouse). But honestly, these apps have saved me throughout all this. As much as I hate certain aspects of social media, they aren’t changing human nature
The majority of my first few weeks I spent in political rooms, and honestly just random rooms. AND let me tell you I needed that – but I digress.
On Jan 2nd I joined a room called developing decentralized systems. There were 3 people in it, and they asked me a question to which I said “yaa my bad I didn’t realize this was a bitcoin room, I am looking for decentralized internet because of censorship…” they introduced me to the world of NFTs, blockchain technology, and for about 6 hours, I was in a room full of people who have been in this tech forever, where the solutions of everything I have been looking to solve [ AND NO NOT JUST PERSONALLY – BC ITS BIGGER THAN ME – any issue I have I am aware there are people that would be privileged to even have those issues, so if we are acknowledging, checking, and using our privilege, it ]. In that moment, I conceptualized “the cockchain,” and we all talked about how decentralized d!ck could change the world.
In the following two weeks, I went in every crypto, BTC, NFT, and blockchain room I could find. On Jan 14th, I finally decided to mint my first NFT because I learn by doing and at the end of the day I felt like I was learning a whole new language and I just had to try.
- How will this space be regulated eventually. Even though my art is not suggestive, there are no ages on the blockchain. While I don’t think that its wrong for a child to see (frankly bc they wouldn’t understand, and also – normalize – de – stigmatize – de shame,) we still live in a places with laws, and I never want to break those. As sex workers and sex educators have been increasingly targeted on the popular social media platforms, banking institutions, the narrative of “oh just make NFTS on the blockchain,” rubs me the wrong way. Any major harmful event that effects a child will be cause for regulation —> and the people who understand how to protect themselves and the public need a way to be safe on these platforms (where connecting a cash app may not be a possibility)
- DECENTRALIZATION – alot of this isnt truly decentralized. I will elaborate more on my next few posts as every day it seems I will have a long rant and I want to keep this focused on NFTS.
My original plan, was to mint a bunch of the same image, and give them to the community that I had, others that I know could be effected, expose them to the possibilities of this world, and give them a soft intro where they could learn and hopefully (k im being cocky but I know the value my work has, the following I had, and how people react to it) it turns into value for them.
I had DL Metamask, and I was ready to go – enter – gas fees. So, I downloaded coinbase (which has its risks but it was the quickest way – I was nowhere near knowledgeable enough to get on a trading site etc, and I was like if I don’t do this tonight – I am not going to do it.
Well – with coin-base, you cannot transfer $ out for a week or so. Luckily, my clubhouse friend @theblackdave was nice enough to transfer me some ETH so I could mint my first piece.
But – as far as the whole instant thing – if you are thinking about getting into this space, you need either a friend to send you ETH (yes ill pay it forward so HMU) or – to DL cb a few days in advance.
Second – Gas fees. I wish I was in a place where I could just mint a bunch of pieces and give them away, but with gas fees I literally cant. CRYPTO is not a popular conversation in the circles that I am in, and when I tweeted the fact that I was minting my stuff, a few people wanted to support, but bc they didn’t have ETH, there are so many added costs (buying it, waiting 5 days to transfer to metamask (I COULDN’T BUY direct through metamask, some may be able to with Apple Pay, the other way has a ton of added fees). So when they asked me if they could buy directly with Venmo for the digital file, who am I to say no. I don’t think it makes sense for someone who doesn’t have the time, desire, or finances to get into crypto to have to do so to support my art.
While I want to be on the blockchain forever and create that record, my goal is for my message to be seen by as many people as possible. For it to impact people. For them to share with their friends. To normalize, de-stigmatize.
Its frustrating, I have had so many people reach out wanting to support my NFTs, but not being in the crypto space. Converting an audience is not ideal ATM. There are too many barriers to entry, and with that I don’t feel 1000% in trying to convince people to get into the space that aren’t already in it.
I 10000% believe in this technology
I am going to do a post later today / tomorrow on some of the diff platforms and what people have told about and what I have found. You are going to feel a lot of pressure to get into this right away, and start making big sales. but I think its really important to make sure you understand all of it. and its alot. There is no need to feel dumb, it is complicated to someone who has never delt with crypto.
But the TLDR
- It isn’t instant if you dont have a crypto background – (tho if you wanna try right away I will send ETH to your metamask)
- You will hear alot about big sales. For the “entry” sites that are open, its hard to market. There is a community on twitter. I know my work is niche and I am def still trying to find people. Its hard bc I literally just want to connect with people who understand, but doing it online from new accounts is strange.
- You may want to buy something (even small) bc I felt like I couldn’t answer questions that people were asking me about buying – really has to do with gas.
- NFT for dummys – get eth, get metamask, mint, promote, YAY!
https://ethgasstation.info/ – around 40/50 is a good gas price
Once my first piece sold, I was able to buy a peice of art and bought one from Black Dave! AND I was the first person to purchase one of his pieces of art!
My OG collection begs a question, but also – will grandfather owners into getting something special in every collection.
ONLY THE PREDIKTOR KNOWS…..
