How to Mint NFT: A Step-by-step Explanation
Non-fungible tokens are gaining more and more attention in the cryptocurrency industry. Many creators are deciding to create and develop their own NFTs. Moreover, everyone wants to mint NFTs, but only some can afford them because of skyrocketing gas fees. In this article, you’ll discover how to turn your work into NFT, called minting.
Table of Contents
What is NFT Minting?
Minting is a crucial aspect of NFTs. The minting takes a file ( MP3, MP4, PDF, JPEG, PNG) and a set of specific details (attributes, description, etc.) and converts them into a non-fungible token. The digital files or products will be stored in a distributed ledger or decentralized database. They can’t be modified, updated, or deleted. So, the process of adding an item to the blockchain is called minting.
Note that NFTs can be minted on various programmable chains. For example, Polygon, Avalanche, BSC (now BNB Chain), Fantom, Solana, etc. Despite its high fees, Ethereum is still the best choice.
How Does NFT Minting Work?
Whether you are eager to preserve an asset, create a work of art, or create NFTs for sale or exchange, learning how to mint an NFT can be easy with the right tools. One more thing you will need is some experience in the crypto space or general knowledge of blockchain technology.
Once you have a crypto wallet and the funds needed to pay for the NFT on the blockchain, you need to create a profile first. It defines what you are selling and how you will sell it.
Then, upload the required file and mint a new token. As soon as it’s created, you can begin selling your NFT. As with everything, fees should be taken into account.
Factors to Consider Before Minting an NFT
While minting NFT may seem easy on paper, there are several things to consider before you start. The rendering of digital art into a piece of the Ethereum blockchain as a public record is known as minting. As digital art is not amenable to modification or tampering, minting is the process of adding NFTs to the blockchain, just like minting money is the process of generating currencies.
Make sure your digital image is adequately represented. NFT ensures that anyone can buy or sell artworks on the market flexibly. It provides monitoring of ownership and, ultimately, the flexibility to collect. Finally, knowledge of NFTs at a fundamental level can give a solid idea of how to approach their creation and representation.
Before minting an NFT, the following factors need to be considered:
Blockchain’s Platform
If you are wondering how to mint an NFT, the first answer is several blockchains supporting the NFT token standard. The following are some of the more reliable options:
- Ethereum
- Polkadot
- Binance Smart Chain
- Tron
- EOS
- Tezos
- WAX
- Flow by Dapper Labs
- Cosmos
The Ecosystem of the NFT
Awareness of the NFT features on the blockchain of your choice is the next vital point to consider when looking for the most accessible approach to mint NFT. It is critical to ensure that your chosen platform can process NFT transfers and sales across multiple blockchains. With each blockchain, developers must analyze the advantages and disadvantages of the NFT ecosystem.
An Affordable Platform
Many minters will make their first attempts at creating NFTs. As a result, individuals might be looking for a way to get NFTs for free. Popular options can be helpful in such situations. The most used blockchains for minting NFTs are Binance Smart Chain and Ethereum. The massive scale of these two platforms allows them to operate as the largest NFT marketplaces while providing added visibility to buyers.
NFT Marketplace
The most important consideration before mining NFT is the choice of an NFT marketplace. In the case of the Ethereum blockchain, developers may encounter a large number of NFT platforms. Rarible, OpenSea, and Mintable are some notable examples. In addition, some of the Binance Smart Chain marketplaces are Treasureland, BakerySwap, and Juggerworld.
How to Mint NFTs
NFTs are digital certificates based on blockchain technology – usually Ethereum – that guarantees ownership of unique digital assets. Minting digital assets as NFTs is a way for artists to monetize their work.
Selling digital files isn’t something new. However, one of the most innovative uses of NFTs is ensuring you get credit for your original creation. Since NFTs are recorded on the blockchain, the creator of the NFT is recorded on a public ledger. The ledger record allows you to set a fee ( known as a royalty in the business world) if your digital asset is sold in the future. You can also earn passive income over time if your digital work is sold on the secondary market. Here is how you can mint your NFT on OpenSea, the largest NFT marketplace.
Connect Your Wallet
Firstly, you will need to open a crypto wallet and connect it to the NFT market. To get started in OpenSea, you should click the wallet icon or the “Create” button in the top right corner. Other marketplaces use a similar approach to connect your wallet and create a profile.
Depending on the wallet you use, like Coinbase Wallet or MetaMask Wallet, and the device you’re working from, you will be prompted to connect the wallet. You will need to do this with the help of a QR code scanner on your smartphone, or you will need to download your wallet to your computer.
When you connect your crypto wallet and your profile on the marketplace, it’s time to complete your profile by adding information about yourself and inserting links to your website or social media profiles. You can also indicate which cryptocurrencies you will accept as payment when someone buys your NFTs.
Create Your First Item
On the main page of the marketplace website, click the “Create” button in the upper right corner. Now you’ll be offered to upload a digital file and create a name for your NFT. Optional fields include:
- A description of your work.
- An external link to more information (such as your websites).
- Blockchain on which the NFT will be based (such as the Ethereum blockchain or the Ethereum-based Polygon protocol if you are on OpenSea).
Here you can also specify how much you will be paid in royalties if your NFT is sold again at a later date. The standard royalty payment is five and 10% of the secondary sale price. Click “Complete,” and your first NFT has been minted!
Make Sure Your Wallet is Funded
Selling an NFT requires the network to perform some computing. The transaction will cost money, known as the “gas fee.” Keep an eye on transaction fees, as they can be higher than expected.
To complete your first sale, make sure you buy some Ethereum (or whatever cryptocurrency you plan to use) on a crypto trading app and add it to your wallet. Later, depending on the marketplace, you can transfer the crypto from your wallet to your marketplace account. Some marketplaces, such as OpenSea, allow you to buy cryptocurrencies directly from your marketplace profile if you set up a payment method like a credit card.
List Your NFT for Sale
Once you have minted your NFT, you are ready to sell it on the open market. Click the “Sell” button in the top right corner of your NFT’s description page.
It’s time to specify the details of your sale. Choose the type of sale – a fixed price based on the cryptocurrency you choose or a timed auction. The marketplace also discloses any related fees for selling. On OpenSea, the service fee (listing procession fee) is 2.5% of the NFT selling price.
Then, click “Complete listing.” Now the marketplace will calculate the gas fee based on the level of cryptocurrency network activity at the time of listing and request transactions from your crypto wallet. Once you pay the gas fee and approve the final terms, your NFTs will be listed for sale and available on the marketplace.
Manage Your NFTs
Once you have created and listed your NFT for sale, it is time to start interacting with your potential buyers. You can also create more similar NFTs and make them part of the collection, which can attract the attention of art collectors or speculators. NFTs created in one market can also be transferred and sold in another, although there might be extra fees.
Interacting with users and collectors on NFT marketplaces builds rapport that can help build your new NFT business. Track the activity of your creation, seek feedback, and keep creating new works for digital collectors.
How Long Does NFT Minting Take?
Depending on your familiarity with crypto platforms, minting an NFT can take less than 30 minutes or several hours. Remember that it is just a minting or publishing process. Before minting an NFT, you must spend time creating it. And then, you need to promote your NFT and sell it.
Minting NFTs for Free
Blockchains are decentralized networks that do not belong to any central authority. Miners support the blockchain and mint creators’ NFT using their computing power and resources in exchange for gas fees as an incentive. People wonder if fees are involved in minting tokens; how can NFT art be sold for free?
To overcome higher gas fees, it is possible to try lazy minting, where an NFT is available outside the blockchain and minted only after being sold. It means you don’t have to pay for the gas fees as the buyers bear it instead. Some of the most preferred NFT marketplaces for minting NFTs for free include OpenSea and Rarible. As a less popular platform, Mintable also allows you to create NFTs for free with an Easy option which creates gasless NFTs.
Why Should You Mint an NFT?
While each potential NFT minter will have different priorities, creating an NFT tends to have several benefits:
- Democratize ownership: NFT creation allows multiple parties to own a digital asset.
- Sell unique digital assets: You can not only buy, sell or trade stakes in assets, but it is also possible that artists may even receive a share of the sales in the future.
- Store and preserve value: It is possible to store the value of an asset in a tangible way, similar to how you can mint a physical coin with a specific concentration of a precious metal. In addition, preserving value digitally is generally considered safe due to the security of the blockchain and the scarcity of NFTs.
Current Trends in NFT Minting
There are a lot of trends when it comes to NFT minting. Some will only become more popular, while others could easily be called ‘fads.’ You decide which trends you would place in which category.
- NFT Art
The digital art industry really knows how to make good use of NFT. Artists are quickly taking advantage of the NFT trend as a second attempt to profit lavishly from their art and gain recognition for their work. Can you imagine that there are artists that are making thousands of dollars from their digital assets?
- Gaming With NFTs
Several gaming companies are moving towards a tokenization model where players will spend money to unlock in-game features. Even more remarkable is that people buy virtual real estate in some NFT games.
- NFT Real-Estate Transactions
You can buy real estate with NFTs in some games. In Decentraland, players can buy land and build on it. These virtual worlds will become more and more popular as time progresses and technology advances.
- Web 3.0 Identities
Since Web 3.0 will already be decentralized, it’s safe to say that NFTs can quickly take over in this area. One way NFTs can play an important role in Web 3.0 is to help create digital identities. This is to ensure that each person has a unique identity, and no one will be able to have the same identity.
- Independent Musicians
Music artists are under pressure because many record label companies and music streaming platforms deprive them of their creative freedom. Commitment to these companies is a significant concern for singers and bands, which is why they turn to music NFTs. Music artists sell their discographies as NFTs and release their content on decentralized music platforms. The TV industry is also rapidly following the same trend.
- NFT Fashion
Luxury fashion brands use NFTs to provide their audience with exclusive and immersive content. These high-end fashion brands like Hermes and Gucci have started releasing digital art and experiences that can only be accessed if you wear their clothes. For example, you might need a pair of Hermes shoes to watch an animated short film or an art installation. It is an excellent way for these companies to increase customer loyalty and engagement.
- Monetizing Social Media
Did you know some tweets are sold as NFTs for millions of dollars? It may seem ridiculous, but it’s true. As we move towards a more digital world, social media tokenization is only a matter of time. We are already seeing platforms like Twitter and Reddit experimenting with NFTs, and it will soon become the norm.
Conclusion
The process for minting an NFT can vary slightly from platform to platform. Still, the basics are the same on all of them: you need a unique digital asset, NFT marketplace tokens to pay transaction fees, and a non-custodial hot wallet. While it might not take long to mint an actual NFT these days – there are several solid platforms you can select to get started – the real question is, what is the purpose of your newly minted NFT?
Converting your digital work into a blockchain-based asset is an area that could change the way creators are paid. NFT is worth a try if you are an artist or digital entrepreneur.
