No doubt, NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) are gaining popularity with each passing day. The term NFT sounds confusing to all those people who are new to the crypto world. In fact, most people are still unaware of blockchain and cryptocurrencies.
However, knowing some of the basic information about NFTs isn’t as hard as you might have thought. Although there is a lot to learn and explore, make sure to start with simple and basic things. This is so, as the vastness and complexities of a subject might sound daunting to you.
So, the best way to go is to deal with the easiest things first. To assist you in this regard, we have compiled a comprehensive NFT guide. Here, you will learn what is NFT, what does it mean to mint an NFT and how to mint one.
So, without further ado, let’s move ahead.
What are Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)?
Before going any further, it would be appropriate to explain ‘non-fungible’. The term non-fungible relates to a thing, which is not interchangeable. Meaning thereby, you can’t interchange an NFT with another one.
Generally, non-fungible tokens or commonly referred to as NFTs are minted on Ethereum. However, other blockchains are also used for this purpose. In fact, a wide range of items can become NFTs.
However, the most popular NFTs tend to be some sort of digital art. For instance, these items include GIFs, music files, memes, video clips, collectibles, and even tweets. Besides, people are crazy about various in-game items.
The Cryptokitties is known as a pioneer in the blockchain gaming industry. It was the first game that offered NFTs. Owning an NFT is easy, as you can create one for you.
The owner of an NFT can be verified by anyone. These tokens are the certificate of authenticity that you have bought a specific digital art from a particular public ledger or blockchain.
What does it mean to mint an NFT?
The process of creating an NFT is known as ‘Minting’. The term ‘Minting’ relates to the creation of real coins (made of precious metals) by a process known as stamping. Almost every country around the globe issues these metal coins.
Crypto community has utilized the same term in relation to the creation of a non-fungible token (NFT). To put it simply, NFT minting is a process, which involves turning a digital asset into NFT.
The newly minted NFT is mapped to a specific token. This is the address of an NFT on a blockchain, where it will stay forever. On the other hand, the file of an NFT is stored on the IPFS-InterPlanetary File System.
For instance, NFT minted on an Ethereum blockchain will be added to a public ledger. Once being a part of a blockchain, no one is allowed to make changes to an NFT.
The minting process consumes a massive amount of energy. Therefore, miners used to pay a huge price in terms of electricity bills. At present, NFT miners on Ethereum blockchain pay gas fees for utilizing the energy.
The gas fee varies depending on the usage or demand of a particular blockchain network. Since most of the NFTs are minted on Ethereum, the gas fee on this network can be anywhere from $100 to $140.
How you can Mint an NFT?
As stated above, anything can become an NFT. However, in order to become a valuable NFT, the item or digital art must own some unique qualities. You can’t just create an NFT and offer it for sale.
Before turning a particular item into an NFT, it should first become a part of any blockchain ledger. Talking about blockchain, it is a ‘Decentralized Ledger’. Being publicly distributed, a blockchain is managed by peer-to-peer network.
The term decentralized means that there is no centralized mechanism or authority that controls or maintains a blockchain ledger. Besides, miners frequently add new blocks to a specific blockchain.
The newly created block offers key information regarding the previous block. This includes a cryptographic hash, a timestamp, and the transaction data of a previous block.
As a result, each block is connected to the other block. This is why the network of these interconnected blocks is referred to as a blockchain. Modifying any one block isn’t possible, as for doing so, you need to modify all the blocks in a network.
NFT Minting Procedure
The NFT minting process involves the following steps:
Step 1: To start with, you need to create a digital wallet. You can choose any type of digital wallet. The choice of a particular wallet depends on your preference.
Step 2: The next step involves linking your wallet to an NFT marketplace of your choice.
Step 3: If using Ethereum (ETH) blockchain, you need to put some Ethereum currency in your digital wallet.
Step 4: Next, it’s time to upload the file. During this stage, you need to provide information like name, description, price, or type of auction for the NFT. Carefully provide the details as you won’t be able to make any modifications later on.
Step 5: Now it’s time to hit the ‘Create’ button. The NFT minting process completes when you pay the requested gas fees.
After an NFT has been created, you will receive a signing request to gain access to your wallet. This is essential, as it authorizes the marketplace to sell your NFT. By declining this request, your NFT won’t be offered for sale and it will stay in your wallet as long as you wish to keep it.
Even if you own an NFT, you are not allowed to delete or even modify it. However, you can burn the NFT by paying the gas fees. Burning is a process, where the developers remove an NFT from the blockchain. Once burnt, you can’t regain the NFT.
Final Thoughts
After going through this guide, you now know what are NFTs and how to mint these. If you have a digital file, you can convert it into an NFT by following a simple procedure. However, when minting an NFT, you should assign specific properties to it. This will add more value to your NFT.
