Throughout the years, people have tended to collect rare items – from seashells to post stamps, from one-of-a-kind coins to baseball cards. It seems that NFTs have supplemented the list of collectibles options and have become the thing in the crypto and the digital worlds lately. NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, have also introduced the idea of scarcity to a digital asset and, as you may have noticed, have grown into an astonishing multibillion-dollar sector.
Luckily, anyone with the correct tools can create and mint their NFT. That’s why many are so fond of them – it is really not that technical (there is no coding required) or complicated practice. We are here to guide you through the journey of minting an NFT. By following these steps you will be able to quickly mint as many NFTs as your budget and mind desire!
What is NFT Minting?
| Minting or tokenizing is the fancy term for the process of turning your art into a digital token that can be transferred, stored, and recorded on the blockchain. Basically, it is the process of creating or producing an NFT. When you mint an NFT, you're essentially creating a new block and adding it to the blockchain on its public ledger. The blockchain thus ensures that your NFT cannot be tampered with, and only you can move or store it. |
A Complete Guide to Minting
Please keep in mind that we’ll be concentrating on the minting element in the process of creating NFTs. This implies that we're assuming you already have a digital file that you'd like to convert into an NFT. In case you don’t, take a look at how to make an NFT.
The technique for minting NFTs, however, varies with every marketplace. Though, the steps that we’ll provide you with, generally apply to all NFT marketplaces. The only significant difference between them is the “gas fee” – the cost the marketplace charges you for transactions. We will focus on that later. Now let’s start your first minting experience step by step.
#1 Create a Digital Wallet
First, you would need a wallet that is capable of handling and securing private keys for both cryptocurrencies and NFTs. Digital wallets enable transfers to and from your wallet address and validate the ownership of your NFT assets. By far, the most popular digital wallet for that is MetaMask. We suggest installing it, since it is integrated with the majority of marketplaces, shows you NFT balances, and works as a browser plugin for Google Chrome, Firefox, or Brave. However, you can choose from a variety of other crypto wallets: Coinbase, Alpha, Rainbow, or Trust Wallet.
! Once you sign in the wallet, you will also be given a 12-world seed phrase, which you should write down on several pieces of paper and put it somewhere extra safe. You can keep it in a locked box, hidden in your backyard, underground, Never reveal the seed phrase for your backup to anyone, because if you lose it, it will be impossible to log in.
! Create a crypto wallet that works with your preferred marketplace and your blockchain of choice.
#2 Fund Your Account with Crypto
In order to use the wallet you need to fund it with some cryptocurrency. In other words, NFTs require you to buy Ethereum orother cryptocurrencies to mint them and pay for the gas fees. To buy crypto, you can choose from any centralized exchange platform accepting debit or credit cards (whether it is Crypto.com, Binance or Coinbase).
By using the wallet address displayed under the name of your account, you will be able to transfer money and fund your wallet. It is advised to not go overboard and fund up to a maximum of $200.
#3 Set up an account on an NFT Marketplace
Without any programming experience, marketplaces are the simplest way to get in on minting and selling your NFTs. Start by picking one of the reputable NFT marketplaces, such as OpenSea, Rarible, Mintable, Nifty Gateway, or SuperRare. Your decision should be impacted by a number of reasons:
- The blockchain you want to use (Ethereum, Polygon);
- In case you want to buy a specific NFTs from other creator – the exact marketplace they are using;
- Transaction fees and current gas prices, or in other words – your budget.
| Marketplaces differ in handling the technical processes, integration of different platforms, collaboration with artists, and especially in the charge of different gas fees: A 2.5 percent fee is charged by Rarible, which is split equally between the buyer and seller. The seller pays a 15 percent fee to the Foundation for each sale. OpenSea charges a 2.5 percent transaction fee. On every secondary sale, Nifty Gateway charges a fee of 5 percent plus $0.30. The buyer pays a 3 percent charge per purchase on SuperRare. Yet, the transaction fees are constantly wavering like the energy surcharge or oil prices. You should also know that there are specific practices that allow you to mint NFTs for free. Likewise, some of the marketplaces that we mentioned have introduced some lazy minting features. |
Afterward, you'll be asked to connect your crypto wallet. Normally it is a simple process that requires you to sign in to your wallet through the marketplace.
Since your creator/seller information is displayed on the marketplace, it is beneficial to have a splendid profile setup, trustworthy and linked social media accounts, picturesque and eye-catching photos.
#4 Create an NFT
You’ve now reached the step where you can put up an NFT or even a collection containing hundreds of them under one marketplace’s roof.
! Note that commonly NFTs that are part of a collection, outperform the single NFTs. They also help build a community where buyers can discuss the specifics, rarity scores, as well as build more hype and excitement around it.
Find the create button to make an NFT. You'll be taken to a page where you'll have to upload a supported file you want to convert into an NFT from your computer . Nevertheless, only certain file formats (JPG, PNG, GIF, SVG, MP4, WEBM, MP3, and etc.) are supported in a specific marketplace, so do research beforehand.
Filling the metadata
Moreover, put a lot of deep thought into it when you write a title of your NFT (or collection). Whether it will be a sarcastic and an exaggerated set of words or abbreviations of them, it’s beneficial, because it will help others to memorize and recognize your non-fungible tokens later on. The same goes for the description, properties, levels, and external links added. They will set special traits to your NFT, point out its uniqueness, tell the story of the creative journey as well as help portray the bigger picture and the message that you want your audience to reach.
After completing this form and uploading the NFT, hit create and… Voila! our first NFT is minted on your wallet.
#5 List your NFT
At this point your NFT is on the marketplace, but you still need to put it on the list to catch attention. The process of auctioning or selling your NFTs is commonly referred to as "listing." This involves the course of owning one or several NFTs and displaying (and perhaps) selling them on the NFT marketplace.
You have 3 options of what to do with your minted NFT:
- Leave it as it is: this option means that your NFT is listed on the marketplace for organic traffic and for buyers to see. Hence, buyers can make offers for you, that you can agree or disagree with;
- Sell: set a price you think is the best according to your experience and a number of NFTs listed. In addition, choose the cryptocurrency that you want to receive and determine the time limit of your sale.
- Auction: this option refers to the hosting of a virtual auction, where you would establish the minimum price and the period of time for auctioning. Then any of the participants would bid on a price.
#6 Market your NFT
Now we’ve come to the final step of successful minting – promoting it. It goes without saying that you are responsible for the marketing of your NFT if you want to sell it. The process includes a lot of permanent work on promotions through various channels in order to thrive. Since NFTs have been in the digital market for some time now, the best tricks that have been proven to work are:
- Building a community on social media platforms (especially Discord, Twitter, and Reddit);
- Maintaining a website (to display and promote NFTs on a deeper level);
- Constantly boosting hype around your NFTs on social media;
- Asking your friends or influencers to collaborate and promote the project through;
- Demonstrating your art in real or virtual world galleries and metaverse;
- Showcasing your NFTs that can be seen in the marketplace but not yet offered for sale. People can browse, choose their favorites, and be notified when the launch date arrives.
All in all
NFTs provide a unique and extensive opportunity to gain profit and the pleasure of collecting them. As the times change, the buzzword of non-fungible tokens has rocketed fascinatedly. Thus, you should not be afraid of creating one, because it is really that easy! We hope that with the help of our guide you have made up your mind to start minting or even already minted your very own non-fungible token.
Want to know more?
Visit the Lympo NFT minting platform.
Join our Telegram or Discord channels.
Follow us on Twitter
And while you’re at it, don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter to be the first to receive the latest Lympo news.