Non-fungible Tokens (NFTs) are a new sort of digital asset that seems to be the talk of the town right now. True believers characterise NFTs as a revolutionary new notion that would transform everything from digital material to the way artists engage with fans. Skeptics call them ridiculous, while most call them digital beanie babies or baseball cards. In my employment at Origin Protocol, I worked on NFTs and have seen firsthand how they are game changers in a variety of industries. In this blog, I’ll give you a quick overview of the world of NFTs and show you how to mint your own and sell them on a variety of platforms and markets.
NFTs: A Basic Overview
NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) are digital assets that are either one-of-a-kind or extremely rare. When an item can be easily traded for universally recognised alternatives, it is said to be fungible. A $1 bill, for example, can be exchanged for another $1 note, four quarters, or a hundred pennies. NFTs can be one-of-a-kind items, meaning that only one of them will ever exist. They can also be scarce or unusual, implying that only a small number will ever exist. The possibilities for what an NFT can symbolise are endless. With NBA Top Shots, the NBA has employed NFTs to symbolise video snippets of highlights from basketball games.
NFTs can also be used to prove ownership of real items such as limited-edition handbags. They can also provide a trail of ownership, or “provenance” as it is known in the art world. If NFTs may be linked to tangible goods, they can also be linked to in-person experiences, such as concert or private performance tickets. Future income from secondary sale transactions can be programmatically diverted to the original author or “minter” of that NFT, which is a very powerful feature of NFTs. This means that even if an NFT is sold multiple times after the first, the original developer will still receive money or royalties.
How to Mint Non-Financial Tenders (NFTs)
The Ethereum blockchain hosts the vast majority of NFT activity by independent developers. You’ll need a Web3-enabled wallet like MetaMask, which includes both a mobile app and a browser extension, to communicate with Ethereum. To transact on Ethereum, you’ll need ETH in your wallet, which is Ethereum’s native coin for paying blockchain network or “gas” fees. On an exchange like Coinbase, you can buy ETH.
NFTs on Ethereum are built on open-source standards, and you keep them in your own wallet or “custody.” This means that when minting an NFT, you are not bound to any particular platform and can construct your NFT using any tool or platform of your choice. You can, for example, mint an NFT on Mintbase and then show and sell it on OpenSea without ever having to remove it from your wallet.
OpenSea just introduced a feature that allows artists to create NFTs without having to pay for gas. They’ve published a step-by-step tutorial for doing so. You must first build a collection to which NFTs will be added. You can create and add NFTs to a collection after naming it and adding image files, video files, 3D models, music files, or virtually any sort of digital content file. You’ll be able to give the NFTs a name, a description, and a rarity level.
Mintbase is another platform that makes it simple for creators to mint NFTs. Mintbase is similar to OpenSea in that in order to mint NFTs, you must first build a store. All of the actions required for non-crypto users can be found in their handbook. Mintbase now only accepts photos, making it ideal for visual artists. You can mint NFTs with a name, description, and amount after you’ve created the store and added them to it. By default, all NFTs are for sale, but you can uncheck a box to prevent them from being displayed.
Foundation is a platform for NFT creators with an invite-only structure. Anyone can create a Foundation profile, but only selected creators are allowed to mint NFTs. They’ve made a comprehensive guide to minting NFTs on their platform available. Minting NFTs with photos, video files, audio files, and 3D models is supported by the Foundation. You will be able to customise the NFT’s name, description, and quantity.
How to Make Money Selling NFTS
You can list and sell NFTs on most NFT platforms. Navigate to the asset page for that NFT and click “sell” to sell your NFTs on OpenSea. You’ll be able to choose between a fixed price, an auction, or a bundled sale, as well as additional terms for the sale. OpenSea’s guide walks you through each stage. By default, all NFTs are placed for sale on Mintbase. You can navigate to an NFT and check “is for sale” and set a price if you didn’t want to advertise it for sale. The NFT auctions are the foundation’s main focus. To start an auction for your NFT, navigate to it and establish a reserve price, then click “List Your NFT” to begin the auction. Auctions last 24 hours, with any bids received in the last 15 minutes extending the auction by 15 minutes. The Foundation’s guide provides all the information you’ll need.
If you want to create your own private and curated storefront for your NFTs, check out Origin co-founder and Amazon blockchain lead Kevin Goodspeed’s instructions on how to start your own Dshop on AWS. Many producers place a high emphasis on curating since they do not want their NFTs to be placed alongside unrelated NFTs by other artists in the same marketplace or virtual gallery. The price discovery of your NFTs may be harmed if you group unrelated NFTs together. Dshop already allows you to list NFTs, so all you have to do now is create your own Dshop and sell your NFTs on your own private store and domain.
Conclusion
I hope you now have a better understanding of NFTs and the knowledge necessary to begin dabbling in this fascinating new realm. Decentralized technologies can have a learning curve, so don’t be frustrated and remember that you’re working with extremely new and experimental technology. I’m excited to see what kind of NFTs you create and share with the rest of the world!
