How to Make an NFT: Guide for Beginners

• Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, have become a multi-billion dollar asset class.
• Creating or minting NFTs is the process of creating a unique digital asset that can later be sold or given away.
• Prospective NFT creators should consider fees, marketplaces, and blockchain networks before minting.

Non-fungible tokens or NFTs have become a mainstay of the market. While not necessarily new, NFTs have gained momentum as artists use them to sell digital artworks and dealers jump on board to make millions of dollars. Big companies are also getting involved in the NFT drive, and companies like Starbucks are planning their own NFTs.

According to a report by analytics firm NonFungible.com, NFT trades topped nearly $18 billion in 2021, a more than 21,000% increase from 2020. Although the NFT market took a hit in 2022 with the onset of “crypto winter”, people are still eager to enter the NFT market.

What is an NFT?

While the numbers surrounding the NFT market can be staggering, it is important for anyone interested in entering the space to understand exactly what an NFT is.

Overall, an NFT is a unique digital asset. It has been assigned a specific cryptographic identifier that allows its holder to prove ownership. Its ownership and transaction history data is recorded on a blockchain network – typically Ethereum. It is important to know that NFTs are digital, irreplaceable and tradable through online marketplaces and exchanges.

While most people might be familiar with NFTs when it comes to digital art, they can potentially be used to “tokenize” a number of other things, such as: B. collectibles (think baseball cards), music, and even personal information like medical records.

Although NFTs may seem like a newfangled crypto asset, they’ve been around for several years, says Connor Borrego, an NFT expert and co-founder of UniPro, a digital growth agency.

“NFTs started in 2015 as meaningless digital collectibles,” he says. “But now, in 2022, they function primarily as member access to online social communities.”

How much does it cost to make an NFT?

If you’re interested in making your own NFTs, commonly referred to as “minting,” you know that it requires some initial groundwork and investment. The cost of minting an NFT can range from a few dollars to a few thousand dollars depending on a variety of factors. It depends on the specifics.

“You can mint an NFT super cheap by getting artwork on Fiverr and listing it on OpenSea,” says Lisa Teh, co-founder of Mooning, an Australia-based Web3 marketing agency specializing in NFTs and the Metaverse. More realistically, Teh says investors can expect to spend between $100 and $500 to create an NFT.

But, Teh warns, “a lot of people think they can create an NFT, publish it on a marketplace, then sell it, become a millionaire, and retire on an island. If it were that easy, everyone would do it.”

Here are some of the main costs you will encounter:

• Initial Cost: Teh says perhaps the biggest and most important cost is related to what makes your NFT special. “If you want to keep costs down, think about what makes your project unique. Unless you’re a famous artist, your NFT needs an interesting utility,” she says. As such, you may need to invest some money into creating artwork or other assets that you wish to tokenize.
• Account Fees: Choosing an NFT marketplace to mint and list your NFTs is another step to consider. OpenSea, Rarible, and Binance are three of the largest and most popular marketplaces, and all can have different fees for setting up an account, trading, and minting. For example, OpenSea charges a few one-time fees to get your account up and running and a 2.5% fee on transactions.
• Actual embossing cost: On some marketplaces like OpenSea it is possible to mint an NFT for free (called lazy minting). But minters typically encounter “gas fees” to create NFTs. These are usually paid in ETH and can vary depending on the day and time you are trying to mint. Also note that even if you choose to lazy mint, you may still have to pay fees if your NFT is sold.

How do I create an NFT

Minting an NFT may sound like a technical, complicated process. But for most people it’s relatively easy. Aside from a few wallet and marketplace decisions, minting an NFT isn’t much more than “just having a file to upload,” Borrego says.

The process itself looks like this: select a file to mint and a blockchain network and marketplace to mint; Get your wallet in order and connect it; and finally run the upload. Here is the process in detail:

1. Choose your unique content

Many types of content—including images or audio files—can be imprinted into NFTs. Minters need to make sure they own the rights to anything they imprint (either after purchasing them or as the original creator) otherwise they could face copyright lawsuits.

Deciding what to imprint into an NFT is the most important step in the whole process, as it will make important decisions later, says Teh. Depending on what you intend to do with your NFT (sell, give away, etc.), it may be best to mint on specific blockchain networks and list on specific marketplaces. So allow plenty of time for this step.

Borrego says the decision to imprint on art or anything else you own can be beneficial. For example, the embossing process will require digital artwork and “stamps on information so owners can see where they are and where they’re going,” he says. This can help creators monetize their creations and open up new opportunities to monetize them.

2. Select your NFT marketplace

Borrego says the next step is to choose a marketplace that acts as a digital exchange where NFTs can be minted, bought or sold, like Rarible or OpenSea. This step requires a lot of thought as some marketplaces work with specific blockchain networks and specific wallets while others do not. Be sure to do your homework. Fees are also something you need to evaluate. And there are some marketplaces that cater to specific audiences.

“There can be a lot of noise in the larger marketplaces,” says Teh. “So if you want to list on a marketplace, look at the numerous marketplaces that cater to very specific tastes,” she says, adding that some marketplaces are for sports fans, for example, while others might cater to music lovers.

3. Select a blockchain

After you’ve decided on a marketplace, you should decide on a blockchain network to mint on, and most marketplaces offer a handful of choices. Ethereum is the most popular and busiest blockchain network. But if you use OpenSea, for example, you can also choose to mint on the Polygon, Klaytn, and Solana blockchains.

Teh warns that while Ethereum is the standard for many minters, it is inefficient and tends to have higher gas fees, which could push some minters to other blockchains.

4. Set up, fund and connect a crypto wallet

Next, minters need to set up a crypto wallet, fund it, and connect it to their chosen marketplace. Wallets are software programs that allow users to send and receive crypto transactions and are essential to the minting process.

You must choose a wallet that is compatible with your marketplace and blockchain, and be sure to fund it before you start minting. This usually involves buying ETH and sending it to your wallet’s specific address from an exchange. Experts say that some wallets, like MetaMask, are probably the safest way for beginners.

According to Borrego, MetaMask is very user-friendly and even has an extension for the Chrome web browser to make it easier to connect to most marketplaces. However, make sure you take the right security precautions by protecting your seed phrase – if you lose it, you could be locked out of your wallet forever.

5. Upload your NFT

With an account set up on a marketplace, a funded and connected wallet, and a chosen blockchain, the final step is to mint an NFT. Each marketplace has different steps, but generally a user can follow a built-in guide to complete the process. It’s usually as simple as uploading a file, filling out a few descriptions, pointing to the correct blockchain, and pressing “Mint.”

However, keep in mind that embossing may incur charges unless you use a lazy embossing option. And while those fees might require you to pay with crypto, Borrego says some marketplaces are implementing credit card payments to make it even easier.

After your NFT is minted, it lives in a collection that you create and is listed on the Marketplace. Then it’s up to you to do what you want.

Is it worth creating an NFT?

All of this leads to one final question: is it worth minting an NFT? There is no direct answer. It totally depends on your preferences and what you want to make of it.

If you’re hoping to make big bucks minting and selling NFTs, the odds are against you, both Teh and Borrego say. But it may be worth coining NFTs for reasons of their own, e.g. B. to create gifts or keepsakes for friends and family. Make sure you weigh the benefits of NFTs against what you’re willing to invest to create them.

Borrego says he believes NFTs will be around for a long time and that we’re only scratching the surface of their usefulness at this point.

“People are currently looking at NFTs as digital collectibles and don’t understand why people are speculating on them,” he says. Maybe it’s a good way to think of many of the hyped NFT projects that are currently grabbing traders’ attention when thinking about how they’ll be viewed in the future, he suggests.

In fact, many NFTs these days could essentially become “antiques,” Borrego says, and that could appeal to a certain type of investor.

“It will be like proof that you were there when Web3 came along.”