Key Takeaways:
- Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, are unique digital assets stored on a blockchain, meaning they are not interchangeable and can be easily verified as authentic.
- With their potential to disrupt a wide range of industries like real estate, luxury, art, music, and supply chains, NFTs are paving the way for a new future outlook.
- However, it is also important to consider risks like fraud, volatility, environmental impact, and a lack of regulation before investing in NFTs.
In the ever-evolving world of digital art, a revolutionary technology called Non-Fungible tokens opens up exciting possibilities for artists to showcase and sell their artworks like never before. Not only that, NFTs are changing the dynamics of other industries like fashion, real estate, sports, insurance and many more.
If you look forward to creating your own NFT, this article will help you create one and connect with the world out there. We will start by understanding what NFT is and move on to understanding how we can create and also sell them on various marketplaces. So read on, and embark on the journey to create your first NFT!
What is a non-fungible token (NFT)?
Before understanding what NFT is, we must know what non-fungible and fungible mean.
Non-fungible is something that cannot be replaced, like artwork, collectibles, digital assets, and real estate. For example, a painting by Leonardo Da Vinci cannot be replaced by any other artwork, which makes it non-fungible.
On the contrary, fungible means anything that another identical item can replace. In economics, fungible items can is interchangeable without affecting their value. For example, Bitcoin is fungible, meaning that one Bitcoin is worth the same as another.
Thus, non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, are unique digital assets stored on a blockchain. NFTs can represent digital or physical assets like artwork, music, and in-game items. They are also being used to represent ownership of real-world assets like real estate.
Terms to know before creating an NFT
Before you start your NFT journey, it is essential to know the terminology. So let us get you acquainted with them one by one.
Blockchain:
A blockchain is a distributed ledger technology that records transactions in a secure and transparent way.
Apart from cryptocurrency tokens, asset ownership or medical records can also be stored on a blockchain. Thus, blockchain provides authenticity, ownership and provenance to the digital assets.
Minting
The process of minting involves producing fresh NFTs. During this procedure, you upload your digital assets to the blockchain and give them a special identity.
When you mint an NFT, you create a digital certificate of ownership for your asset. This certificate is kept on the blockchain and is unchangeable. It makes NFTs a secure way to track ownership of digital assets.
Gas Fees
Gas fees are the fees that you will pay to the blockchain network to process your NFT transaction. These fees would depend on the blockchain network you choose and the traffic on the network.
Crypto Wallet
The crypto wallet can be a software application or a hardware device to store private and public keys for cryptocurrency transactions. There are various wallets that you can use, like:
- Metamask: A popular Ethereum wallet to store your NFTs. It is a browser extension that can be used with Google Chrome, Firefox, and Brave. With Metamask, you can set up many addresses, holding your NFTs at different addresses from your cryptocurrency. Or you can create a single address for each NFT you buy.
- Math Wallet: This wallet is giving big competition to Metamask. The fact that it supports more than 70 blockchains is its key distinction. It connects numerous hardware wallets and provides a web, desktop, and mobile wallet that syncs between devices. The ability to generate multiple addresses is another feature of Math Wallet.
- Trust Wallet: This mobile wallet is owned by Binance and supports variety of blockchains like Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain and Polygon. Since Trust Wallet is already set up for BEP tokens, it might be your best option if you’re interested in NFTs on the Binance smart chain. Like other wallets, Trust Wallet has a dApp browser to locate NFT marketplaces, making purchasing NFTs from the wallet simpler.
- Coinbase: Coinbase, which many know for its cryptocurrency exchange, offers a mobile-only wallet to hold your NFTs. The user has total control over their cryptocurrency when holding assets in the Coinbase Wallet.
Yet, you need to keep in mind a few points before you select a wallet:
- The wallet should support the blockchains that your NFTs are stored on.
- The wallet needs to have strong security features to protect NFTs from any kind of theft.
- Another feature of the wallet is that it should be easy to use and navigate.
- The transaction fees and gas fees involved should not be exorbitant.
How to create an NFT?
Now that you know the terms, let us dive into how we can create an NFT. You need to follow the following steps:
- Decide what you wish to create: NFTs could be a picture, a piece of music, or some document with value and something unique. So before creating NFT, you must choose what you wish to create. It is also important that you own the rights to the media that you wish to use.
- Choose a blockchain: Various blockchains can be used to store the NFT. Here we will discuss the popular ones:
Ethereum: Ethereum is a popular blockchain for NFT creation, using ERC-721 and ERC-1155 tokens. The ERC-721 standard maintains NFT metadata, while most NFT marketplaces allow it, but may incur high gas fees. Famous NFTs on Ethereum includes Bored Ape Yacht Club, Auzki, DeGods, and Mutant Ape Yacht Club.
Solana: Solana with its low fees and high throughput is perfect platform for different types of NFTs. Some famous NFTs are Degen Apes, CryptoKickers, Solana Monkey Business.
Binance Smart Chain: Many users choose Binance Smart Chain (BSC) due to its superior performance and competitive pricing. NFTs can be created thanks to the BSC-developed BEP-721 token standard.
Flow: Flow, created by Canadian Dapper Labs, is a PoS-based blockchain for gaming and NFT industries, hosting the popular NBA Top Shot NFT collection.
Tron: Tron is a fully decentralised open-source blockchain that permits the development of decentralised applications (dApps), smart contracts, and tokens like NFTs. TRC-721 allows users to trade NFTs on Tron blockchain. - Setting up NFT wallet: After deciding which blockchain to choose, you must set up an NFT wallet. First, you need to choose a wallet that supports NFT like the ones mentioned earlier, like Metamask or Trust Wallet. Download the wallet on your device. The next step is to create a new wallet or then, using the instructions provided, establish a new wallet or import an existing one. Make a secure backup of your wallet’s recovery phrase or seed phrase, as this is required for restoring your wallet if necessary. After you’ve created your wallet, you may link it to NFT marketplaces like OpenSea, Rarible, or SuperRare by going to the wallet settings within the marketplace and authorizing the connection. It allows you to see, buy, sell, and manage your NFTs within your wallet.
- Choosing an NFT Platform: There are various NFT platforms to choose from, but we have listed the best here:
OpenSea: OpenSea, is a popular NFT platform with over two million collections and $20 billion trading volume, and supports art, collectibles, gaming items. Some top NFTs on OpenSea are CryptoPunks, Bored Ape Yacht, and Doodles.
Axie Infinity: Axie Infinity is a popular NFT game in which players gather, breed, and battle virtual pets known as Axies. Players can buy, sell, and trade Axies and other in-game items in the NFT marketplace.
Rarible NFT Marketplace: Rarible is a popular NFT marketplace with high-quality graphics, support for collectibles, and music. Being the first aggregated NFT marketplace for Ethereum, Solana, and Tezos NFTs, it keeps on adding new features to make trading easier.
NBA Top Shot Marketplace: NBA Top Shot is a new way for the fans to connect with their favorite players. It includes National Basket Ball Association and Women’s National Basketball association. This league provides art and collectibles for sale on their online marketplace. - Creating the NFT: After choosing your blockchain, setting up your wallet, and choosing your desired platform, the next step is creating your NFT. Let us see how we can create NFT using Rarible:
The “Create” button can be accessed by clicking on your profile or the “Create” button at the top of Rarible’s home page.
Choose the blockchain you want to utilise, then sign in to your preferred wallet provider.
Select the NFT type that you want to create.
Upload the files.
After you upload your files, your NFT will be created. However to list them for sale you need to follow a few steps and place them on the marketplace.
How to list and sell your NFT?
Listing NFT is an easy step. Once your NFT is created, and in your wallet, you only need to click the “sell” button on your chosen platform and specify the sale’s price and duration.
The listing process can begin once you have entered all the relevant information. You will have to sign a few transactions in your digital wallet to accomplish this, some of which might involve paying transaction costs on your preferred blockchain. For example, the fee charged on Binance NFT is 1%; on Solana, the cost is $0.01. However, if you choose Ethereum, the average cost comes out to be $70.
However, you can include a royalty fee when you establish the NFT, which gives you a cut of each sale of your NFT. Creators can receive up to 10% off each sale.
Popular NFTs
Following is the list of popular and trending NFTs of 2023:
DigiToads: DigiToads (TOAD) is a web3 gaming platform with its own NFT collection. It offers various options for holders to generate residual income. NFTs can be used in the platform or staked for dividend payments.
Clone X : Clone X NFT line is created by Takashi Murakami, a Japanese artist and designer. It features 20,000 digitally created anime avatar. The collection gained popularity due to its large fan base and appealing visual style. With 8 DNA types and over 300 factors affecting rarity, it’s a diverse and popular NFT collection.
Doodles: Doodles is a collection of 10,000 non-fungible tokens on the Ethereum blockchain created by Burnt Toast. It feature unique characters, making them popular for social media profile images.
Bored Ape Yatch Club: Created by Yuga Labs,BAYC, 10,000 unique digital collectibles on Ethereum blockchain. It offers exclusive access to BATHROOM, a collaborative graffiti board for members.
Moonbirds: Moonbirds NFT is a collection of 10,000 unique digital artwork. The community experienced the highest growth in 2022, generating over $200 million in sales. Owners can access both online and offline communities. And receive special benefits like trait-based drops, Oddities, and time-based nesting rewards.
Are NFTs profitable?
NFT profitability depends on factors like type, demand, and overall market conditions. A few considerable points regarding the profitability of NFTs are:
Valuation: NFTs which are created by well-known artists or popular brands, have higher valuations. But their value can be unpredictable due to popularity, demand, and supply.
Rarity and Scarcity: If your NFT is one of a limited edition, it may have a higher likelihood of attracting buyers and being profitable.
Market trends and sentiments: NFT markets can experience shifts in trends and sentiments. Staying informed about the market trends is very crucial while planning to create your own NFTs. Thus, it is important to approach NFTs cautiously.
Prerna Rohilla, a content writer with a passion for technology and innovation, has been writing in the web3 industry for last few years. As the web3 industry began to gain traction, Prerna saw an opportunity to combine her passion for writing with her knowledge of blockchain technology.
