For the art collectors who don’t understand all this new fandangled internet money, I am here to teach you how to convert your funds.

The first thing you need to do is sign up at a reputable exchange. Coinbase and FTX.us are two good options for US citizens. If you are international, one of the most popular exchanges is Binance. Once you choose the best option for yourself, confirm your KYC (Know Your Customer) documents and link your bank account. The next step is keeping everything secure.

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Always practice good cybersecurity and set up 2FA (2-factor authentication) on your trading accounts for security purposes to help mitigate breaches. Under settings on Coinbase, go to security and set up your 2FA. My preference is the app Authy for backing up 2FA codes.

Once we are secure, we are ready to buy Ethereum.

Ethereum is a blockchain system that most artists on OpenSea are using (see What is ETH and WETH?). It has become the default medium of exchange for artists, as it is one of the most popular smart contract systems (see ‣). The first thing is to click buy in the top right-hand corner and select Ethereum. Some advice is adding more than the artwork you are looking to buy, as Ethereum requires fees to add your block of data to the chain (see What is gas?), depending on current congestion (anywhere from $30-$150).

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After purchasing Ethereum, you may have to wait 3 to 5 days for your bank to clear the transaction. Once it clears, you are ready to shop on OpenSea! You can use the Coinbase wallet directly, or we have other guides on setting up the most popular wallets called MetaMask found here (see How to set up a Metamask wallet).

Thanks to Crypto_crier for writing this article!

Thanks to Glou for editing it!