NFT, or non-exchangeable tokens, are digital tokens that are stored on the blockchain.
ScienceLovers - Non-fungible tokens (NFT) have become one of the big phenomena throughout 2021. Some content creators are making billions of money from NFT. So, it's understandable why you would want to try it or play around with blockchain technology.
We're here to cover what you need to know before creating and selling NFTs. But before getting there, let's cover some basics about NFT.
What is NFT?
Maybe a friend once said to you, “Hey, you should sell that picture of your cat as NFT.” But before you go through the process of making and selling it, you must first understand what NFT is.
NFT, or non-exchangeable tokens, are digital tokens that are stored on the blockchain. But unlike cryptocurrencies, each NFT is a unique item and can be sold as a way to prove ownership of digital files.
In most cases, the files are not actually stored on the blockchain itself. Instead, the link to the file is stored, along with the token attached as proof of ownership of whatever the link points to.
You can technically sell any digital file as NFT, but if you want to use the easy market printing tools, you'll be limited to certain formats.
Make Sure You Really Want To Sell NFT
If you only have the fleeting idea that you want to make NFT because everyone else is doing it, think again. There is one big thing that you have to fulfill, namely transaction fees. While some platforms can create NFTs for free, selling them is something else.
Most of the NFTs are sold on the Ethereum blockchain and every transaction on the Ethereum blockchain requires a fee to be paid to the miners. This fee is called “gas”, and the amount of gas you need for a transaction can vary. Almost everything done on the blockchain, from printing NFTs, transferring them to other people to bidding to buy them, will cost money.
It's also worth noting that paying for gas doesn't guarantee 100 percent that your transfer will be successful. To be clear, most transactions are likely to be successful. However, if something happens and your transaction fails, you will not get the gas fee you paid back.
Then there is the environmental aspect of NFT. The most popular NFT marketplaces run mostly on the Ethereum blockchain which is considered environmentally unfriendly. While there is debate about whether individual NFT sales impact the energy use of the blockchain, if your NFT is built on Ethereum, you are definitely using a system that has a large carbon footprint.
Choose a Platform to Sell NFT
There are dozens of platforms that can be used to sell NFT on various blockchains. We'll cover two of the most popular markets. But there are alternatives if neither of these platforms is exactly what you want to do, like AtomicHub, which uses the Wax blockchain, or Solana-based Solsea.
OpenSea and Rarible allow you to create NFTs on Ethereum without paying anything. Thanks to the “lazy minting” system. This system allows you to create NFTs and put them up for sale without actually being written to the blockchain, thus avoiding any fees.
When someone actually buys it, the fee for embedding the NFT into the blockchain will be combined with the fee for transferring it to the buyer. That can help you avoid situations where you have to pay hundreds of thousands of rupiah to print NFTs that don't sell.
With OpenSea, listing the first Ethereum NFT for sale will require account initialization. This transaction can be very expensive in the range of USD 300 to USD 400. It is a one-time fee, and after paying for it you will be able to create NFT without having to pay anything.
With Rarible, there is no need to pay these kinds of fees during testing. However, attempting to remove an NFT from the sale will incur a fee. Both Rarible and OpenSea will charge 2.5 percent of each sale you make.
Set up a Digital Wallet
Wallets are apps that you use to store cryptocurrencies, as well as any NFTs that you create or buy. MetaMask wallet is one of the widely supported wallets by Ethereum-based apps like OpenSea and can be used either as a Chrome/Firefox extension or as an iOS/Android app.
Coinbase also has its own wallet that you can use as an extension or app, and it is supported by most platforms. You may want to consider the Coinbase wallet if you are planning to enter the crypto market more broadly, as it has support for blockchains that are not based on Ethereum, such as Bitcoin.
Connect with Digital Wallet and Create NFT
Once your wallet is ready, you can connect it to the NFT marketplace you are planning to use. OpenSea and Rarible have provided a button that will ask you to connect your wallet. You will then be presented with a list of compatible wallets.
After you connect the wallet, you will be taken to the page you used to create the NFT. If you want to create a series of NFTs, you can use collections to do so.(*)
