Buying Your 1st Counterparty (XCP) Asset

If you've come to this blog to get assistance in claiming your free NFT from the gallery, here's a shortcut to setup:

FreeWallet: Mobile Walkthrough

Access your phone's app store and search for FreeWallet. You will want to look for the app that has the following logo.

Once locating and installing, you'll enter the app and proceed with the following. See the above section "FreeWallet: Desktop Walkthrough" for instructions on getting your wallet set up and securing your private key.

Home Screen:

After you've got your private key secured, you'll head to the dropdown symbolized by the 4 bars in the top right (next to "My Balances" in the above screenshot). From here, select "View Wallet Address," which will prompt you with your "Counterparty NFT Address" in the form of a QR code and text. You will copy/paste this text into a field on Scarce.city when purchasing your Bitcoin NFT as it provides instruction to the seller of where to send the NFT.

Note: An example Counterparty NFT Address is: 18yoXeE1kqRZpRE2MnSdiC1dUuzuyDxp1V

In this blog, we'll walk through purchasing your first Counterparty asset on the most basic level. I include resources that through my experience I'm able to personally recommend, although there are most often other adequate options if you have specific preferences (especially in the "Purchasing Bitcoin" section).

First, some basic explanations of concepts that will be touched on during this process:

Bitcoin (BTC): For all intents and purposes, Bitcoin is the unit of account and medium of exchange for all digital assets hosted on the Bitcoin blockchain (Counterparty assets). You'll need to own Bitcoin in order to purchase any of these assets.
Counterparty (XCP): Taken directly from counterparty.io, XCP is the native token of Counterparty. It is a technical necessity for adding advanced features to Counterparty, which by nature require a protocol aware currency. Bitcoin can only be aware of BTC, while Counterparty can be aware of both BTC and XCP itself. This makes it possible to escrow funds, trade in a decentralized manner, and harness the full potential of programmable money. Traditionally, Bitcoin NFTs are hosted on Counterparty.
Digital Asset: Also known as NFTs, this is a term used to describe the token that contain the art/image/subject you're interested in purchasing and owning.
Wallet: In order to store and access your digital assets, you need a "wallet." We'll introduce freewallet.io later on as the community-standard, but high-level you'll desire a wallet that supports Bitcoin and Counterparty assets.

With an understanding of the concepts, the following should be easier to digest. Here, I discuss what is required to acquire your first Bitcoin NFT and ways in which you can go about it.

Purchasing Bitcoin: Can be done on any of the following (amongst others)

Strike: Recommendation for Mobile
FTX: Recommendation for Ease of Use
Coinbase: Recommendation for Ease of Use
Swan: Recommendation for Dollar-Cost-Averaging
- Avoid if looking to purchase with sole intention of using to bid as Swan's withdrawal date is the most delayed

Storing Bitcoin for Bidding/Purchasing: Lightning Wallet - Wallet of Satoshi

Our recommendation for ease of use

Sourcing your Bitcoin NFTs:

Universal: Scarce City Marketplace
- Purchase digital assets
- Access data regarding distribution, burns, and historic sales data
Advanced: xchain.io
- Access Dispensers ("vending machines" for digital assets)
- Explore Assets

Storing your Bitcoin NFT: Universal - freewallet.io

Send/Recieve: Bitcoin, XCP, NFTs
Features:
- Open Source
- Secure

In summary, what you'll need for purchasing your Bitcoin NFT on Scarce City:

BTC Lightning Wallet to use for bidding/purchasing on Scarce City
A bidder name that can be anonymous (for auctions only)
An email for bidding/purchasing communications
BTC/XCP Wallet that contains your "Counterparty NFT Address"

Setting Up: What to Do Before Owning Your 1st Digital Asset

While it's fun to window shop Counterparty assets, it's a lot more fun to do it while being prepared to purchase the ones you want to collect. The below checklist can be used to assist with that.

Necessities for purchasing your first Counterparty asset (or "Bitcoin NFT") on Scarce City:

Bitcoin to be used as medium of exchange
- Recommendations: Strike, FTX, Coinbase
Funded BTC Lightning Wallet to use for bidding/purchasing on Scarce City
- Recommendation: Wallet of Satoshi
BTC/XCP Wallet that contains your "Counterparty NFT Address" to send the digital asset to
- Recommendation: freewallet.io
A bidder name that can be anonymous
An email for bidding/purchasing communications

With all of the above, you're able to begin to bid and purchase physical and digital goods on scarce.city. Below, we discuss this preparation step-by-step.

Setting up FreeWallet

FreeWallet is available as a desktop and mobile version. Our recommendation is to operate off of the desktop version if possible at it's a more seamless experience. We'll cover the installation and setup of both below.

FreeWallet: Desktop Walkthrough

Follow the instructions to download the appropriate software package. Once installed, you'll be prompted with the following.

*If arriving from FreeWallet: Mobile Walkthrough, begin here*

If you are new to the space, select "Create New Wallet." You will then be walked through the process of writing down your private key, which is NOT to be shared with anyone. Keep the list of words safe. Feel free to note in a password manager (given it's already a hot private key - meaning generated from an application connected to the internet - password managers are okay) or on a piece of paper kept in a secure location.

Note: If you are new to the concept of a private key, this set of words is a master key to unlocking your wallet. Making this list of words public is analogous to handing over your banking login information to a stranger. Except instead of taking your cash, they'll be taking posession of your nft's.

Once your private key is writted down and secured, you can progress to the main screen.

Example Home Screen + Toolbar:

Please note that the toolbar has been updated to include an "address" tab as seen below:

The final step in FreeWallet to securing your first Bitcoin NFT is to "View Address." This will present you with your public address in the form of a QR code and text. When requested for your "Counterparty NFT Address" when purchasing on Scarce.city, this is the text you will be providing as it is instruction to the seller of where to send the NFT.

Note: An example Counterparty NFT Address is: 18yoXeE1kqRZpRE2MnSdiC1dUuzuyDxp1V

FreeWallet: Mobile Walkthrough

Access your phone's app store and search for FreeWallet. You will want to look for the app that has the following logo.

Home Screen:

Note: An example Counterparty NFT Address is: 18yoXeE1kqRZpRE2MnSdiC1dUuzuyDxp1V

If you have any questions relating to purchasing on Scarce.city and/or setting up your FreeWallet, please reach out to me at kyle@scarce.city, and I'll be happy to assist.

Buying Your 1st Counterparty (XCP) Asset

FreeWallet: Mobile Walkthrough

Table of Contents:

Setting Up: What to Do Before Owning Your 1st Digital Asset

Setting up FreeWallet

FreeWallet: Desktop Walkthrough

FreeWallet: Mobile Walkthrough