Top Crypto Gifts for the 2020 Holiday Season

The cryptoeconomy has turned bullish again for the first time in years, and that warming has come just in time for the 2020 holiday shopping season to arrive in full force.

As such, crypto-centric gifts are sure to be in demand this year. If that’s a route you’re interested in exploring for anyone, here’s a list of ideas for gifts that would make many crypto users smile.

Keeping It Simple? Try Crypto Socks

Know your friend is into crypto, but that’s about it?

Some crypto-themed socks would surely be a hit, and their small size makes them ideal “stocking stuffers.” Be sure to check out crypto merch brand Kryptoez if you need a place to get started.

Top Crypto Books

If you have a cryptocurrency aficionado in your life, chances are they’re hooked on learning more about crypto. I’d recommend the following books for any Bitcoin and Ethereum fans.

Bitcoin:

• “Mastering Bitcoin: Progamming the Open Blockchain” – Andreas Antonopoulos
• “Bitcoin Billionaires: A True Story of Genius, Betrayal, and Redemption” – Ben Mezrich
• “Digital Gold: Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires Trying to Reinvent Money” – Nathaniel Popper

Ethereum:

• “Mastering Ethereum: Building Smart Contracts and Dapps” – by Andreas Antonopoulos
• “The Infinite Machine: How an Army of Crypto-hackers Is Building the Next Internet with Ethereum” – Camila Russo
• “Out of the Ether: The Amazing Story of Ethereum and the $55 Million Heist That Almost Destroyed It All” – Matt Leising

Can’t Go Wrong With Hardware Wallets

It’s a recurring thing every holiday season now, but it’s still the truth that hardware wallets are one of the best gifts for the cryptocurrency users in your life. That’s because it’s the safest way for regular users to protect their holdings.

It’s always nice to have backup hardware wallets, too, so you can’t even go wrong if your intended recipient already has one such device. Some popular models to consider include:

Ledger

• Ledger Nano S (~$60)
• Ledger Nano X (~$120)
• Ledger Blue (~$270)

Trezor

• Trezor One (~$55)
• Trezor Model T (~$170)

Alternatives

• CoolWallet S ($100)
• KeepKey ($50)
• SafePal S1 ($40)

An Axie Infinity Starter Team

One of the fastest growing sectors atop Ethereum this year has been the non-fungible token (NFT) ecosystem, which centers around blockchain-based art, gaming assets, virtual land, and more.

As for gaming, one of the early stars in Ethereum’s NFT gaming vertical has been Axie Infinity, which is not only popular in the NFT ecosystem but also one of Ethereum’s most-used dApps in general presently.

Accordingly, a neat crypto-themed gift idea suited for 2020 is gifting an Axie Infinity starter team, with the minimum requirement for such a team being 3 Axies.

Gas is low right now!

It's a great time to pick up three Axies and start your adventure!

https://t.co/ay4hKkbVKM

Want to learn more first? Check out our FAQ
https://t.co/asB4POpTb2

— Axie Infinity (@AxieInfinity) November 29, 2020

If you’re interested in picking up a starter team for a loved one or friend this holiday season, here’s what you’ll need to do:

1. Buy or set aside around $100 worth of ETH. Since it takes 3 Axies to start a team, and the Axie floor price is 0.05 ETH right now, or ~$28 each at ETH’s current exchange rate of $552. A small amount of that ETH will be used to pay (i.e. as gas) for your marketplace transactions, too.
2. Navigate to the “Axie” section of either 1) the flagship Axie Marketplace, or 2) OpenSea’s Axie Infinity Marketplace. Feel free to filter your search by “Lowest Price” to jump to the most competitive going rates.
3. Pick 3 Axies you like, and go through the “Buy Now” transaction process for each.

At this point you can custody the Axies for the intended recipient or setup a wallet for them and transfer the NFT assets over. Obviously a hardware wallet would be the most secure option, yet a browser wallet like MetaMask would be just fine for most players, too.

NFT Art

Axie Infinity has been an early star in Ethereum’s NFT gaming arena. Beyond gaming, though, another one of the blooming NFT economy’s hottest sectors has been the fine art scene, i.e. cryptoart or rare digital art.

That said, if you’re looking to give a gift to someone who’s already in the cryptoeconomy and somewhat savvy around the space, an NFT artwork could be a tasteful and thoughtful option.

For starters, the NFT ecosystem is still relatively niche within the wider cryptoeconomy, so chances are you can gift your friend or colleague their first piece of cryptoart (a gesture they may remember fondly for years to come!). Plus this would be a gift that keeps on giving, since they could later host this piece in a virtual gallery (e.g. in Cryptovoxels or Decentraland) or sell it later if its value appreciates.

The good news is there’s cryptoart available for a range of price points, so you don’t have to spend a crazy amount to pick up something awesome. If this kind of gift idea is up your alley, be sure to check out the following platforms:

• SuperRare
• OpenSea
• KnownOrigin
• MakersPlace
• Rarible
• NiftyGateway
• Async Art

Token Tax

It’s that time of year where folks around crypto start turning to each other and asking, “so what are you doing about your taxes this year?”

That’s because there are still so many open questions when it comes to taxes and crypto, particularly in the U.S. right now. And that reality’s only been compounded in 2020 by the rise of new blossoming sectors like DeFi and NFTs in which we’re starting to see unprecedented financial activities.

This is all to say that many people, even crypto veterans, get stressed out about their crypto taxes. So one gift to consider for someone who’s a crypto or DeFi user is a membership to TokenTax, a tax solution service that caters to users participating in cutting-edge activities around the cyrptoeconomy.

For starters, TokenTax’s Basic membership package costs $65 per year. A more advanced Premium package goes for $199 annually and helps subscribers automatically track their DeFi transactions. Accordingly, these would be gifts suited to people who actively use crypto on a routine basis.

Nodl One for Bitcoin

Nodl One, also know as the “Personal Bitcoin Assistant,” is a Bitcoin suite device. It can be used to run a Bitcoin full node, a Lightning Network node, Tor and more.

Have a passionate BTC fan in your life that you’d like to help take their Bitcoin activities to the next level? Something like the Nodl One could be the perfect gift!

DAppNode for Ethereum

Akin to what the Nodl One is to Bitcoin, the DAppNode is a hardware device for all things Ethereum.

Specifically, the “plug and play” device allows you to easily run your own Ethereum node, Eth2 software, and more. The starter model, the DAppNodeMini, goes for ~$575 presently.

To Give Crypto or Not? Some Considerations

If you’ve been around crypto for a while then you’ve likely gone through the experience of giving some folks a bit of crypto to get them started down the rabbit hole, and likely with mixed results.

Indeed, it’s pretty common to have folks forget their gifted wallet passwords and/or keys and lose their gifted crypto forever.

All that said, you’ll want to take gifting crypto on a case by case basis. Avoid doing so if you think the beneficiary ultimately won’t take the gift seriously. If you’re compelled, give only small amounts and use friendly wallets like Argent that have account recovery features!

Alternatively, you could consider giving crypto indirectly. For example, this week a community member unveiled a Christmas card NFT that can be redeemed for a handful of tickets to Ethereum-based “no-loss lotto” savings game PoolTogether.

Looking to share DeFi this Christmas?

A community member created physical Christmas cards to share PoolTogether tickets!

Purchase them on Rarible: https://t.co/Dh7sObJ8ZI pic.twitter.com/da79vsLUBg

— PoolTogether (@PoolTogether_) November 23, 2020

The post Top Crypto Gifts for the 2020 Holiday Season appeared first on Blockonomi.

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