What is NFT and how does it work for beginners?
NFTs have suddenly taken the crypto world by storm through a series of surprise sales and benefits that various crypto enthusiasts received. The first NFT sale happened sometime in October when Mike Winkelmann sold his original artwork known as Beeple for $100. Surprisingly, this same artwork which was bought by Christie’s, was resold for a whopping $69 million in October, after a series of auctions.
Well, while people started making feeble attempts at the NFT market, nothing really provoked people to take action, as much as the rise of the “CryptoPunks” NFT collection. Although a variety of Mike Winkelmann’s artwork collections are being sold for $3.5 million and above, it doesn’t quite come close to that of the “cryptopunks” in terms of sale quantity. Well, at this point, we expect you to pay close attention because things are starting to get interesting.
The question that might be running through your mind at this point might have been, “how was it possible?!” Well, the answers and more knowledge have been made available via this post. So! Stick around; let’s indulge you into the world of NFTs, and how you could start yours!
What is an NFT?
NFT is short for “Non-Fungible Token.” In summary, when we say something is Non-Fungible, we mean it can’t be replaced with another item of probably a similar value. You can say that such an item is unique. For example, a dollar note or bitcoin is fungible because you can trade a single bitcoin for another bitcoin, and the result you get doesn’t increase or decrease the same value.
However, items like Winston Churchill’s rare pictures or a baseball card from Babe Ruth’s game in the 80s are non-fungible. Why? Because if you’d trade it for another baseball card or picture of Winston, you’d get a completely different item. You might have had a CryptoPunk NFT, but once you sold it, you lost it and gained Fiat or Cryptocurrency, hence, its non-fungibility. We can go on and on about what an NFT is, but you wouldn’t get an explanation as simple as that.
Surprisingly, there are various NFT collections in the crypto space, making selecting and purchasing really hard. However, if you know what you want and dig deep into the value or purpose of your Collection’s owner, you could get a pretty worthwhile investment. NFTs are also influenced by the price of their hosting cryptocurrency at any point.
How do they work?
An NFT could be a piece of quality JPeg and Audio content or the Picture of the first tweet (as in Jack’s case). On March 21, Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter and Square, tweeted, “just setting up my twttr”. Who would have thought that the first and most simple-minded tweet would have sold for close to $3 million in Bitcoin. Well, it did, and it caused a bidding war between Justin Sun (popularly known as CZ) and Sina Estavi.
Sina won the bid, and here’s what @jack tweeted “Thank you, @sinaEstavi.” So! Back to the point, an NFT can be a media file, a picture of the first published news, etc. What matters is that your NFT appeals to your target audience and has value in people’s minds. So basically, you can say that people give your NFT value. There are several spaces to mint NFTs and even newer spaces are being designed.
Most NFTs are part of the Ethereum Blockchain, which makes it the most popular hosting space for NFTs. As you know, Ethereum is a popular cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, Binance Smart chain, and Ripple (XRP); it stores information that allows it to support NFTs through its tokens and blockchain. With Ethereum making its move, more cryptocurrencies are doing the same, owning their own minting space, and specified versions.
How Do I Mint an NFT?
This was a tweet from CryptoKitties about their rare NFT; as mentioned earlier, the unique information of a non-fungible token is stored in its smart contract and recorded on that token’s blockchain. The Ethereum blockchain has its specific section for storing cryptocurrencies, known as the ERC-721 token.
To mint an NFT, there are specific steps you must follow. First, you need to have a set or collection of NFTs that you want to mint.
Second, you need to have the cash, in the form of cryptocurrencies that you would want to mint at the specified NFT marketplace. Places like OpenSea and Rarible are powered by the ERC-721 token and require Ethereum tokens to mint. You should be looking at about a $100 minting fee per artwork.
However, places like AirNFTs, and Refinable, are powered by both the Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain Network. Your next step is to pick any of these networks that you feel comfortable with and then visit the specified website.
Next, connect your Metamask or Trustwallet with the specified NFT marketplace. Proceed to click create, then provide all the required details before minting the specified artwork or audio file. Click mint, and you’re all set up!
Next comes advertising and launching your NFT Collection through social media, performing airdrops and giveaways, etc.
What Should I Pick from the NFT Marketplace?
There are various works of art to pick whenever you visit the NFT marketplace. We have a list of some upcoming artworks and popular collections for you to pick from if you ever decide to go shopping in the NFT supermarket.
- Crypto Dogs Club
- CryptoKitties
- Axie Infinity
- Bothered Otters
- Bitcolors
- CrypToadz
- Fishbowl Headz
- Pixel Punks
- CyberKongz
There are several other NFTs that could easily catch your eye, but we sought out the ones that seemed to be making headway in the NFT marketplace. Always remember to do your own research before investing.
