Welcome to Crypto Diaries, a new series on BuzzFeed News that helps us understand what the future of Web3 might look like — by showing what the heck people who are already living there do all day.
We’ve asked crypto evangelists, NFT collectors, metaverse mavens, and decentralized diehards to keep a diary of everything they’re doing in Web3 for a few days. From trades to Discord servers to the latest degen craze, our crypto enthusiasts will explain every move they're making to illuminate a space that can be baffling to outsiders. Want to write your own Crypto Diary? Email us at cryptodiaries@buzzfeed.com.
Name: Sarah Monson
Age: Mid-40s
Location: Hawaii
Industry: Writer, NFT creator, crypto investor, NOT A TECH BRO
Number of NFTs: 45
Number of NFT collections: 1
First bought cryptocurrency: bitcoin, ethereum, and bunch of alt coins in November 2018
Number of Discord servers I am in: 106!
Number of Discord servers/Facebook groups I personally run: 6
First NFT bought: The Matrix NFTs on Nifty's in November 2021
Proportion of total assets in crypto and NFTs: 27%
Thursday
5:30 a.m. — Bladder won’t hold. Wakes me up. Ahh, aging. Go to pee and check Twitter. Living in Hawaii makes me late to the NFT party every day — the time difference is a killer. It’s already 11:30 a.m. in NYC. Twitter is popping off with Spaces and I have instant FOMO — but I am old and very tired so I live with that nagging sense of missing out and go back to bed.
6:30 a.m. — Hard knee to the abdomen as my daughter bounds into bed to snuggle. Check phone again behind her back so she doesn’t scream at me for not snuggling the right way. This time it’s my multiple email accounts, TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook. I don’t have Discord on my phone as my attempt at self-care.
6:45 a.m. — Over coffee, I read about the horror show bloodbath that is the crypto market this morning. Everything is way down. I am a little freaked out, but know this is a long game. It’s time to buy the dip to dollar-cost average. I’m going with bitcoin, ETH, and Avalanche. On the NFT side, I make a mental note to put more ETH in my Metamask wallet for an upcoming presale mint I am on the allowlist for.
8 a.m. — After school drop-off, I hop into a Twitter Space on my drive home. It’s a women-led Space hosted by MommaBearG75 – who is doing an amazing job of bridging the bro gap and bringing women into the Bulls and Apes NFT project. I appreciate that, as a lot of NFTs don’t really make women feel that wanted. Her Space always feels like a warm hug. I miss that!
In my Web2 life, I’m part of a very tight-knit Facebook mom group, but ever since I have made the shift into NFTs, I have been feeling flat-out rejected by a lot of them. Most of them think NFTs are a scam (they are no more a scam than buying a stock), or bad for the environment (this is changing as the tech evolves), or just stupid. I used to think all of these things. When I first heard about NFTs I was aggressively against them. I thought the art was lame and only idiots were buying them. But, instead of doubling down on my ignorance, I decided to educate myself. Finding a kickass Web3 community in the women-led space was a total surprise. This is a side of the NFTs I feel most people are just not aware exists. My Web2 moms think NFTs are all tech bros flipping JPGs like stocks. That is NOT this world. There is so much authentic, loving support in the women-led NFT collection space.
8:30 a.m. — Answer emails and then check OpenSea to find that I have offers on a number of NFTs I own, even though I have not put them up for sale. The NFT I get the most offers on — for upwards of nearly 1 ETH [Editor’s note: At the time of writing this was about $3,000, but currently is around $1,100.] — is the myBFF bracelet I got for FREE! Also got offers on my spaceHUG and my VeeFriends2 moose. What a weird world I live in, man.
9 a.m. — Host my weekly Twitter Space, The ABCs of NFTs. I want to be the encyclopedia Britannica for Gen X’ers (or anyone who is confounded by crypto and NFTs) — so I focus on one topic a week in hopes to demystify it all a little. Today’s talk: utility — and how nostalgia can be a very good utility. Utility in NFTs is the stuff you get after you buy the art that makes you feel even better about having bought it. So, for example, with my collection Gen-X NFTs, some utility you’ll get are mix tapes, yearbooks, Gen X–inspired merch, and IRL/Metaverse events for holders — just fun things that make you feel good about having purchased an NFT. Using nostalgia, I hope to show people that there is an NFT out there that is relatable and aligned with their interests to make Web3 seem less daunting.
11 a.m. — I’m feeling a little tired (I’m secretly an introvert, so hosting a Twitter Space knocked me out a bit), so I take a cat nap.
12 p.m. — Hop on Discord to check in with my mods about an ’80s trivia night and ’80s movie night we plan on hosting. Need to decide on a movie — I am thinking Real Genius.
1 p.m. — Take my daily walk and catch up on crypto podcasts. There seem to be more and more popping up every day, especially women-led ones. I listen to Community Builders in Web3 with Heather Parady, who used to do another podcast I loved called NFTs for Newbies.
3 p.m. — Sneezed too hard and peed my pants a little. #momlife
3:30 p.m. — Pick up kid from school and we head to a nearby beach park. She frolics in the ankle-deep water investigating seashells while I fart around on TikTok, trying to think of something clever to post. I come up empty.
5 pm. — Dinner. I make bean burritos, cut up some peppers, and heat up some rice. The kid decides she'd rather have cereal.
8 p.m. — After the nightly epic battle about brushing teeth, the kid is in bed. I pour a giant glass of wine and go over artwork for my NFT collection. I am loving the new assets we’ve added. Especially loving these new ’80s-inspired goats.
Friday
6:30 a.m. — Rinse and repeat with the morning routine. Market is still a bloodbath. I pull the trigger and buy more bitcoin.
8 a.m. — I rush home from school drop-off to get in on a presale mint. Realize I don’t have enough ETH in my wallet. The NFT costs .07 ETH, but you have to have more than that to account for fluctuating gas fees — what you’re charged for every transaction you make on Metamask. I don’t like keeping ETH in my Metamask wallet unless I am buying NFTs because if I ever got hacked, I would not only lose my NFTs, I would lose all my money, too. The more you know... So I put more ETH in and score this cutie from Pastel Persons — a women-led, family-friendly NFT project.
9 a.m. — Job time. I’m a freelance writer and am lucky enough to have a very flexible schedule, which I need right now, as NFTs are my life.
2 p.m. — Finish work for now. Will have edits later. Put in a Costco order.
3 p.m. — After I pick the kid up, I hop in a Discord movie night with TIRED MOMS NFT. She was my first friend in the NFT space.
4:30 p.m. — Costco arrives and dinner is served!
5 p.m. — Impromptu playdate with our neighbors who have three kids. They actually have a fourth on the way — and the dad mines crypto in his garage!
8 p.m. — Kid in bed, so I dive into notes I get back from my writing job.
10 p.m. — After I finish the edit, I check Twitter, answer some posts on Discord, and then go sit outside and enjoy the warm night breeze while scrolling through TikTok. It’s not pretty in the crypto world right now and everybody seems stressed. Feeling overwhelmed, I head to bed.
Saturday
8 a.m. — You’d think NFTs take a break — NEWP. Twitter Spaces are lit. I hop in and listen to one while I make pancakes and guzzle coffee.
10 a.m. — Zoom call with the team at NFT Hawaii to see how I can help out and volunteer. I am super impressed with the event they’re planning.
12 p.m. — I watch the new My Little Pony movie on Netflix for the 15th time. It warms my heart that something I loved so deeply as a kid is now something my daughter adores. I zone out a little and think about NFTs, crypto, Web3 — well, it’s kind of maybe attempting that?
Hear me out. If NFTs, crypto, and Web3 are all about ownership — as in, you own what you own in this space and you can do what you want with it (sell, hold, make your NFT an influencer and make money on their image, etc.) — that opens up a world for people who have historically been left out of the conversation about building wealth. Is it risky? YEP. Is it totally scary right now? YEP. Am I hopeful that in the long run it will create positive change for millions of people? HELL YES!
[This interview has been edited for length and clarity.]
Correction: A previous version misstated the name of the company that made The Matrix NFTs.