Non-fungible – This is probably one of the most talked-about terms in the domain of technology. Many are touting the arrival of non-fungible tokens or NFTs as the first step in transforming the digital representation of real-world assets. NFT assets have cemented their popularity in recent times, with many NFT artists earning millions from music, collectibles, and designs with the support of blockchain.
So, it is obvious for any individual to wonder about the process of NFT minting. After all, it is just a token, right? Since NFTs are slowly becoming a trend, many people want to find out how to mint an NFT. The following discussion dives into a step-by-step guide for minting NFTs and selling them on your desired marketplace.
Why the Sudden Rise in the Attention on NFTs?
The NFT market exploded in the second half of 2020, with one NFT art selling for $69 million. As of October 2020, the total number of sales in the domain of NFT art had exceeded 4.9 million. The total cost of the sales amounted to more than $128 million. It seems quite interesting when you have the opportunity for minting out good money from art with NFT, doesn’t it? Now, let us clarify some basic definitions before learning the process to mint NFT.
Non-fungible tokens or NFTs are unique tokens that represent a specific asset or goods, especially digital art and collectibles. They have basically shifted the common perspectives on the applications of blockchain. It is possible to sell NFTs in auctions, thereby opening up new avenues for creators to earn revenue.
Here’s an overview of how to buy and sell NFTs –
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Subsequently, the interest in NFT minting has been growing due to the continuously increasing interest of collectors in NFT art and collectibles. So, what is minting? It sounds like creating a coin, although in the digital form with NFTs can help in creating digital or real-world content. The search for the cheapest way to mint NFT comes from the general assumption regarding returns from NFT arts.
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What is the Value of NFT Minting?
NFTs are unique interventions in terms of their value in improving control over intellectual property for the art sector. In addition, it also opens up access to a wider worldwide network of collectors interested in NFT and other collectibles. Therefore, an NFT minting procedure might be a prolific alternative for democratizing ownership, sales, and purchases of unique digital assets.
Important Factors to Consider Before NFT Minting
Although it can seem quite easy to start with the process of minting NFT, people should take note of certain factors before beginning to mint NFT. Minting basically refers to the process of turning digital art into a part of the Ethereum blockchain as a public ledger. The digital art would be tamper-proof and immune to any modifications. Just like the process of creating coins through minting, the addition of NFTs to a blockchain is known as minting.
NFTs ensure the representation of your digital artwork. At the same time, it also ensures that the artwork can be flexibly traded or purchased in the market. In addition, NFTs also enable better tracking of ownership and flexibility for resale or collection in the future. A basic awareness of NFTs can give a reliable impression of the ways to approach their creation and representation.
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1. Blockchain Platform
The first thing in answer to ‘how to mint an NFT’ refers to the different blockchains supporting the NFT token standard. Some of the common choices include the following,
2. NFT Ecosystem
The next important factor for you to find the cheapest way to mint NFT is the awareness of NFT capabilities in your selected blockchain. It is important to ensure that the platform of your choice is capable of supporting transfer and sales of NFTs on other blockchains. Developers should take a comprehensive look at the advantages and setbacks related to the NFT ecosystem with each blockchain.
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3. Cost-Effective Platform
Many enthusiasts would be trying their hands at developing NFTs for the first time. So, they might be looking for how to mint an NFT for free and popular choice helps in such cases. Presently, the most popular blockchain platforms for minting NFTs are Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain. The massive scale of these two platforms helps them serve as the largest NFT marketplaces while offering additional exposure to buyers.
4. NFT Marketplace
Finally, the most crucial factor that you should remember before NFT minting is the choice of an NFT marketplace. In the case of the Ethereum blockchain, developers could come across a comprehensive collection of NFT platforms. Some of notable examples include Rarible, Mintable, and OpenSea. The marketplaces specific to Binance Smart Chain include Juggerworld, Treasureland, and BakerySwap.
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What is the Process for Minting NFT?
With all the basic information about creating NFTs, you are ready to start learning how to mint an NFT. Let us take a good look at the process to create NFTs and trade them on blockchain platforms.
1. Start with the Creation of Asset
The process to create an NFT always begins with the creation of the asset it would represent. Give it your best shot and make a piece of innovative and appealing artwork. The digital era offers a lot of opportunities and choices from various types of digital themes and media such as 3D illustrations, abstract, political, audio, whimsical, and hyperrealistic.
The interesting thing about NFT art is that you can find buyers for almost any type of artwork. The First 5000 Everyday by Beeple or the CryptoPunk 7804 is a promising example of how a different perspective is essential to mint NFT. This is where you should emphasize the role of creativity in developing NFTs.
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2. Purchase Ether
The second step in NFT minting brings you to Ether or ETH, also the cryptocurrency of the Ethereum blockchain. Presently, the majority of NFT development projects are on Ethereum. So, it is reasonable to consider Ethereum as the choice of a blockchain platform for this discussion. Upon minting art as NFT, you are creating documentation on the blockchain regarding the piece of art. The documentation could clearly showcase the wallet address as the creator of the work, a clear mark of ownership. It is impossible to change or erase the record.
Interestingly, the subsequent sales and resale of your artwork would not affect your identity as the initial creator and owner. Furthermore, it also features accurate records of every owner and also offers public access so that everyone could see it on the blockchain. If you have to create a record for your NFT art, then you need to pay for the transaction.
The fees of gas fluctuate considerably according to the level of demand for creating transactions on blockchain. Most recently, the cost of gas for NFT minting is around $70. Therefore, you need some ETH to make your payments for gas before minting NFTs. Anyone could buy ETH or Ether from a local cryptocurrency exchange.
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3. Create a Non-Custodial Ethereum Wallet
Now you know that it is completely unreasonable to answer how to mint an NFT for free. You need money to buy ETH or Ether for adding your art as an NFT to the Ethereum blockchain. Once you have your NFT on Ethereum blockchain, you might look for opportunities to sell your work. This is where you would face the need for a non-custodial wallet.
Now, a non-custodial wallet refers to a specific variant of a cryptocurrency wallet enabling total control over your funds. The wallet is basically an account to store and carry out transactions with crypto. It is also essential to remember that a non-custodial wallet is different from wallets under the ownership and management of a centralized crypto exchange.
Non-custodial wallet helps you access the seed phrase. The seed phrase is a randomly generated 12-word combination that can enable wallet backup alongside access throughout multiple platforms or devices. As a result, you can ensure the cheapest way to mint NFT without any restrictions by exchanges on accessing funds. However, such a type of freedom also entails massive responsibility, as you can lose access to funds if you lose the seed phrase.
Presently, you can find different non-custodial wallets that can help you reduce your NFT minting cost. In the case of mobile, Rainbow and Coinbase Wallet are some great examples of non-custodial wallets. On the other hand, laptop users could opt for alternatives like Metamask. Let us take the example of Metamask to learn how to set up a non-custodial wallet for your NFT art.
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4. Set Up the Non-Custodial Wallet
Here are the important steps you need to follow in setting up Metamask for optimized NFT minting cost.
- Access the www.metamask.io website and install the chrome extension.
- Click on the “Create a Wallet” button on the right-hand side of the page.
- Follow the instructions that come in the next set of prompts and then create a password. It is essential to remember that this password is not your seed phrase.
- Now, developers must copy their seed phrase and store it in a safe and retrievable location. The seed phrase is highly crucial in NFT creation as losing it can lead to loss of access to your funds.
- In the final step, you have to click on the “Next” button to complete the setup process.
5. Transferring Ether to the Non-Custodial Wallet
Once you have your non-custodial wallet up and running, you can move to the next step of NFT minting. You need to have your wallet address to move ETH to the non-custodial wallet configured previously. The wallet address is practically the account number that you can use for sending and receiving crypto from one wallet to another. Metamask wallet allows the functionality of copying the wallet address from the top section of the page. Just follow the two simple steps mentioned below.
- Send the value of ETH you have purchased to your wallet address on your crypto exchange wallet.
- You can see the updated balance in your Metamask wallet when the ETH arrives.
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6. NFT Marketplace Selection
The trick to finding the cheapest way to mint NFT is in finding the platform for minting NFT. An NFT marketplace is an essential part of the process of minting NFT, and the choice of an NFT marketplace depends on various factors. The most popular NFT marketplaces in the present times include OpenSea and Rarible, with promising ease of use. OpenSea doesn’t require users to pay minting fees every time for creating new NFTs.
Users should only pay for the first time when setting up their collection on OpenSea. In the case of subsequent NFTs, the buyers of your work will compensate for the gas fees. After minting your NFT, it goes into your wallet and allows you to sell it on your desired platform. So, you can mint on one platform and sell it on another
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7. Create the NFT
The final step to mint NFT is very easy, and various available platforms have made it simpler to create NFT. Take a look at the following steps and see how easy it is to create NFT within a few clicks.
- Access the www.opensea.io website and click on the “Create” button. You would find a prompt asking you to sign in to your Metamask wallet.
- It is important to read the “Message” part of the signature request to confirm that you are selecting the correct action.
- The minting process on OpenSea NFT marketplace, known as lazy minting, involves NFT minting as part of a collection. You have to click on “Create” on the “My Collections” page, followed by adding a collection name, description, and logo. Users have the flexibility to include multiple NFTs in their collection.
- You can add new items to your NFT collection on the OpenSea NFT marketplace. Click on “Add New Item” and then follow the instructions in the subsequent prompts. Upload the high-quality representation of your artwork and give it a name alongside external links, description, and properties before clicking on “Create.”
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Final Words
So, you can notice how easy it is to mint an NFT. You need to be careful about the initial requirements or prerequisites, primarily for planning and preparation purposes. NFTs are popular, and creating NFTs could be quite overwhelming. At the same time, the millions involved in NFT trading create apprehensions regarding NFT minting cost.
However, a strategically organized approach with recommended best practices can help in the cost-effective minting of NFTs. At the same time, the availability of a wide range of platforms for creating NFTs is also a favorable proposition for enthusiasts. Learn more about NFTs with our NFT Fundamentals Course and start developing yours now!
*Disclaimer: The article should not be taken as, and is not intended to provide any investment advice. Claims made in this article do not constitute investment advice and should not be taken as such. 101 Blockchains shall not be responsible for any loss sustained by any person who relies on this article. Do your own research!
