Redeem NTFs backed by real cards

An interesting aspect of NFTs is the idea of having an NFT that is backed by a real world item.  In the case of this post, I am going to focus on graded trading card slabs ( for example Pokemon cards or sports cards ).  I don’t know all the services that are out there, so I’ll just touch on the ones I have a NFT/card on.

One of my hesitations of using these services, or sending my own slabs in to be vaulted, is the cost of getting the real card back out if I decide I want the card back.  Here is a breakdown of the services and example costs:

Blokpax - https://blokpax.com/

This one is pretty simple.  To redeem a NFT and get the real card, there is no cost.

I do want to note that there is no way to send you your own slab to get it setup as a NFT backed by a real card in a vault, but the Blokpax project itself has cards.  Depending on how you get the card in the ecosystem, you might have to spend a few bucks in gas to transfer it to them for redemption since some (like one of my samples) are on Ethereum.  However, in other situations (for example if you get it from the Rewards Store like my other example) there is no cost.

Sample NFT/card(s):

Ethereum: https://opensea.io/assets/ethereum/0x19279e19f25e93df042e34ea6f0709f349f8e501/614

Reward Store: https://blokpax.com/store/reward-room/2147485041

Arena Club - https://www.arenaclub.com/ ( Get $10 with my referral https://arena.deals/6tzrSN )

With Arena club, you pay a $1 fee per card plus shipping (depends on location) and insurance (depends on value) to retrieve your card.  Here is an example cost estimate:

Retrieve card: $1

Insurance fee: $1

Return shipping fee: $7.84

Total: $9.84

I believe the vault is out in California, so shipping might be lower if you are closer.  Also you can use my referral link ( https://arena.deals/6tzrSN ) to save $10 off a purchase so that might help offset the redeem cost.

Sample NFT/card:

https://www.arenaclub.com/cards/8AC001959864

Courtyard.io - https://courtyard.io/

You pay shipping and tax to redeem your card.  Both are based on location and card value so ultimately it depends on where you are and what you redeem, but as an example here is the cost estimate for a card worth $50 going to the US (east coast):

Shipping cost $24.67

Tax $3.00 - $4.50

Total cost $27.67 - $29.17

The cheapest shipping is $15.41 for a card valued $500 or less close to the state of Utah, likely where the vault is or at least where they ship items from.

Sample NFT/card:

https://courtyard.io/asset/a9118ffc71f31ac10c8c9c49444470dd7a790f88552f98fb4e19d2adcff0b935

Bottom line: If you are considering one of these services, don’t forget there are other factors to consider such as buyer/seller fees and costs to send your slab in.  Also the services are not the same, for example Blokpax is part of a larger ecosystem with other projects and Arena Club offers their own card grading.  It seems like Courtyard is just focus on vaulting/marketplace capabilities right now.

Other relevant links

Courtyard.io - Asset Redemption & Shipping

https://docs.courtyard.io/courtyard/logistics-and-legal/asset-redemption-and-shipping

Arena Club referral link

https://arena.deals/6tzrSN

ENS Subdomains

Earlier this year I wrote a blog post about Web3 identity.  At the time I touched on ENS, but didn't really dive into it much.

I finally decided to register my own ENS name, and one of the features I found pretty cool was the ability to create subdomains.  So let's say you register "example.eth" as your domain.  You could create a subdomain (in the format subdomain.example.eth).  You don't have to pay another registration fee, just a little gas.  You can even assign ownership of a subdomain to another person.

So why would you do this?  Here are a few reasons

• You can make a .eth subdomain specific to a project ( blokpax.example.eth )
• You can make a .eth subdomain specific to your Discord ID
• You can make a .eth subdomain for friends/family
• You can make a .eth subdomain for each wallet/purpose ( freemint.example.eth, vault.example.eth )
• Each domain can have a different address and even different controller.

If you already have an ENS domain, you can create a subdomain by doing the following:

1. Go to ( https://app.ens.domains/ )
2. Click "My Account" top right
3. Under either "Registrant" or "Controller" find the domain you want to add a subdomain to and click it.
4. Click "Subdomains" and click "Add Subdomain"
5. Put in the name you want and click "Save"
6. Pay the gas and that is basically it.  You can now manage the subdomain like your main eth domain.

One heads up / warning.  If you get a subdomain from someone else (person or project) just keep in mind they have the ability to take the domain back.

I hope this information is useful!  I will revise/add info if I get any questions.

Ledger Nano S Plus - Setup and initial thoughts

I recently obtained a Ledger Nano S Plus.  It was custom branded for Tribe X, one of the NFT projects that I am participating in.  The packaging was very nice and simple, it included the device itself, paperwork, a USB A to C cable and a keychain loop.

Setup - Initial setup

I went to www.ledger.com/start to get the process going.  For my first test/setup, I was just going to create a new wallet like a normal new user would.  The process went pretty smooth, and I was up and running on my Ledger pretty quickly.

A few recommendations:

• Make sure you pay attention to the setup screen information, it is useful especially for a new user.
• Make sure you write down your recovery phrase on a paper, do not store it in a file on your computer - that would defeat the entire purpose of an offline/cold wallet.

Setup - Recover prior software wallet

First, let me say that my next test was just a test and you should NOT do this for actual long term use of your device.  I already had a prior software wallet, so I decided to recover that wallet onto my Ledger.  This is a HORRIBLE idea from a security perspective since it defeats the purpose of a hardware wallet but for testing it was fine.  As expected all my old stuff showed up fine, so I plan to use this setup for testing to see how it impacts things for me.  Most of the services I deal with support WalletConnect, which is supported by Ledger Live (the desktop/mobile app that interfaces with the Ledger device).  I had one site that doesn’t support WalletConnect, but MetaMask did work.  The only thing I don’t like is you can’t get to the point of using Ledger in MetaMask if you don’t have a MetaMask account setup.  However for most users, they likely have a MM account so this shouldn’t be a problem.

FIDO U2F Support

While the Ledger is mainly focused on crypto, it does have a feature that users should look into a security capability for their online accounts.  The Ledger can support FIDO U2F (two-factor authentication).  You can read up on Ledger’s info on this feature here ( https://www.ledger.com/fido-u2f/ ).  If you read my blog, you know that I have tested Yubikey hardware tokens.  For the Ledger implementation, two things stood out as interesting:

• The Ledger is PIN protected, so someone can’t use your hardware token if they don’t know your PIN.
• You can restore your recovery phrase on another Ledger wallet and get access to your FIDO U2F again.

From a security standpoint the ability to recover your key onto another device means that if someone gets your crypto private key, they can restore onto a Ledger and also get access to your FIDO U2F so depending on how paranoid you are that might be a bad thing.  However it also means that, as long as you know your crypt recovery info you can always restore your FIDO U2F access on a Ledger device.

Thoughts so far

The increased security adds some complexity to the process.  If you are used to just having a software wallet like MetaMask, you now have to remember to keep your Ledger nearby.  However the increased security, keeping your key on a hardware device and not in your software, is worth it for anyone in the crypto/NFT world in my opinion.  Remember, this helps to secure your private key but you still have to be careful with the sites you interact with.  Ideally you keep your hardware wallet for “trusted” sites and never use it for minting and maybe do your minting type activities on a software wallet to keep some separation.  If you already have a software wallet, just move your valuable NFTs to your Ledger and keep using the software wallet for minting.