Australia based blogger, investor and online gambler Steve Orlando turned $300 into offers of up to $5 million on his rare golden BAYC NFT.
In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald for their You, Me and Web3 series about successful crypto investors and NFT flippers, he explained how he made it in the markets.
Steve Orlando’s Rags to Riches Story
It began with betting on sports online, and finding Bitcoin was the only withdrawal method on the sportsbook. It was from a jurisdiction outside Australia where a bank wire wasn’t accessible.
That was 2013, a couple years after the development of Bitcoin – Steve had never heard of it. He begrudgingly set up an account and wallet on one of the early crypto exchanges to cash out the 15 BTC, immediately selling it for dollars.
That started his journey of learning about Bitcoin and how to get rich off crypto. He still has a screenshot of the transaction for 15 Bitcoin being $7000 (today worth over half a million dollars if he’d held onto it). He began researching cryptocurrency in any way he could.
How to Get Rich off NFTs
By 2020, had made money holding onto some crypto coins over the years. Usually the ‘HODL’ strategy will be more profitable and a better strategy to get rich off crypto as a beginner. 90% of day traders trying to time the swings in the market lose, especially if margin trading on leverage.
In the interview Steve states one of the reasons for his success: ‘I’m a long-term investor; I see 10 years as a minimum to hold something. So, my plan was just to hold and do all my other stuff.’
Then in 2020 the network of crypto investor friends he’d built up, and all the crypto influencers he followed began talking about NFTs. After a few months of researching the best NFTs to buy, he bought a Beeple NFT artwork called Bull Run for $1k. Within a few more months, he was getting offers of $300k for it.
Invest in NFTs Early
Then he was around to use his Ethereum profits for the minting of the Bored Ape Yacht Club – he liked the art and minted 10 of them in 2021. He sold most at a 1.5 ETH floor price, an 1875% profit on each. They would now be worth much more, but taking partial profits when up 18x is an optimal strategy.
Steve held one though – he didn’t sell his rare golden Bored Ape Yacht Club #2177, and still owns it today. Only 0.46% of BAYC NFTs have the solid gold fur trait.
It’s now worth in the millions based on its rarity – Steve receives offers to buy it for $5 million, but is still holding. That demonstrates the importance of keeping what in crypto trading is referred to as a ‘moon bag’ – part of your investment that you don’t sell until the project goes to the moon and your ROI is very high.
Diversify Your Portfolio
Steve Orlando is also today the founder of NFTeams.club – an online sports league for lovers of NFTs, betting and cryptocurrencies. He leveraged his passion into starting a business for side income.
For beginners learning to trade crypto and NFTs his advice is to ‘just start by setting up a crypto wallet buy the cheapest NFT out there, even if you know it’s going to zero’ – that will help you learn the ropes. Also do your own research (DYOR) and network with others.
Steve says his gambling experience has taught him how to stay calm and not feel the fear of missing out (FOMO), either when the crypto markets are volatile or dead.
Steve’s tips could be summed up as:
- Hold, rather than trade – have a 10 year plan
- Take profits when up a lot
- Keep some on the table in case the projects pumps even higher
- Research and network with others to stay up to date with new trends
- Make it into a business – diversify into some other crypto revenue streams
- Be calm, confident and get started in crypto by buying the cheapest thing
- Don’t over invest in one asset – put your money to use in several ways
We wrote the following guides on how to get rich off crypto and NFTs, or at least make money to start:
Cryptoassets are a highly volatile unregulated investment product.
Read More: How to Get Rich Off Crypto and NFTs – This Australian Did
