What is NFT Minting and How To Mint NFTs

NFT Minting is one of the most important actions surrounding Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). As common as the action sounds, many people still can’t wrap their hands around it. Minting generally involves creation or conversion, like converting paper to money, silver to coins, etc.

This original guide provided an in-depth look at NFT minting, but we’ve now published an updated and more comprehensive guide on what happens when you mint an NFT.

What Is NFT Minting?

NFT Minting means converting digital assets into crypto files and storing them on the blockchain. These digital assets can also be files representing physical assets, thus acting as proof of ownership. In crypto, minting is the process of creating new NFTs.

NFTs minted are generally accessed via the use of a file system called IPFS — InterPlanetary Filing System. IPFS helps to store and keep NFT contents decentralized, which is one of the main functions of crypto.

What Happens When You Mint an NFT?

This depends on the NFT blockchain and certain factors, like the NFT being free or paid. When minting NFT, the process forges and prints the NFT on the blockchain, giving it an address and verifiable identity. This NFT is tied to the wallet used for creating it unless sold or transferred.

The NFT can be viewed by anyone who has the address, but only the wallet owner can trade it on a marketplace. The NFT is stored in a crypto wallet associated with the address (e.g., Metamask, Solflare, trust wallet, etc.).

Is Minting an NFT the Same as Buying It?

No. Generally, minting an NFT involves spending some form of money to get it. This can be in the form of gas fees or minting fees. But, when minting an NFT, you are creating the file/asset completely new, granting you first ownership rights.

In contrast, buying an NFT involves purchasing an existing (already minted) NFT file. This is mostly done from NFT Marketplaces like Opensea, Magic Eden, Rarible, etc.

Does Minting an NFT Cost Money?

Yes, of course. There are costs associated with minting an NFT. This can be in the form of gas fees and minting fees. If the minting cost of an NFT is 1 SOL, you will need to buy 1 SOLANA token and a little bit more to cover gas fees.

The gas fee on Solana is less than $5, except you are minting more than 1 NFT. On Ethereum, gas fees can be between $5 — $10 per mint. Other chains like Binance Smart Chain, Polygon, and Stargaze cost less than $5.

A few chains like ICP and Juno allow $0 gas fee transactions. If the NFT is a free mint project on either of these chains, then it will cost $0 to mint. The total cost of minting an NFT is the Minting Fee + Gas Fees.

Difference Between Free Mints, Paid Mints, and Airdropped NFTs

Here are the main differences between Free Mints, Paid Mints, and Airdropped NFTs.

Free Mint NFT

Free Mint NFT projects are very popular, as they allow potential investors to get NFTs without paying the minting fees. In other words, Free Mint NFT projects cost $0, with investors paying gas fees. Some of the more popular Free Mint NFTs are Goblin-town and WAGDIE.

Free mint NFts are usually very popular, with many people scrambling to get them before they mint out. It is worth noting that not all free mint projects perform well unless it has a very solid team behind them.

Paid Mint NFTs

For Paid Mints NFTs, the investor pays both the minting fee and the gas fee. The Minting fee varies and can be as low as $1 and as high as $6500, the cost of minting an Otherdeeds. Also, gas fees vary due to network congestion due to minting activities.

Airdropped NFTs

Airdropped NFTs: while the first two put the cost of minting the NFT on the investor, for airdropped NFTs, the creators bear the entire cost. They mint the NFT and send it to the wallet addresses of the investors. This is done as a form of rewards/loyalty bonuses.

Do I own the NFT after Minting?

Once you have minted an NFT, you are the owner of that NFT. You can sell it, use it as a Profile Picture, or stake it. Some NFTs utilities include access to gated communities, collectibles in games, casino access, staking rewards, etc.

How To Mint NFTs For Free

Before you can mint an NFT for free, you have to learn how to mint an NFT first. I am assuming you already have a Crypto Wallet like Metamask, Phantom, Solflare, Kelpr, and Argent set up.

Carefully research the NFT Project you are interested in, its roadmap, team, website, and all you can. One good thing is to know which crypto chain and website the project will be launched. Available marketplace for selling your NFT will also play an important role.

Whether it is a paid mint or minting an NFT for Free, you will likely go through one of the following processes.

MarketPlace Mint:

To avoid rugs or connecting to Wallet Drainers, minting on an NFT marketplace is one of the safest ways. Large NFT Marketplaces like MagicEden and OpenSea allow verified projects with trusted teams on their launchpads.

To mint on a marketplace, check the project you want to mint and follow up to see if it has an allow list condition (also called a whitelist). If it has, join the discord channel associated with the project or register with its allow list tool. Getting an allowlist spot guarantees early mint, else you will have to wait for public mint.

On the mint day, connect your wallet to the NFT marketplace, make sure you have enough tokens to cover the mint price and gas fees, and mint.

Launch Pad Mints

Many NFT launchpads offer mint services to projects that couldn’t qualify for marketplace mints. The process of setting up mint pages may be too daunting for some teams to embark on.

Launchpads are platforms that allow NFT creators to offer minting services for their collections without worrying about the technical aspects. These launchpads either charge the project owner a fee or a percentage of the total mint revenue. Some launchpads are strict with their project requirements, while others are very lenient.

While some launchpad mints are prone to rugs (project owners vanish with mint funds), a common NFT scam, it is still a lot safer than website mints. This is because the code deployed by the launchpad is clean, with no malicious intent.

For projects using launchpads, the link to mint the NFT is usually revealed on the mint day. A good example of an NFT launchpad is Magic Eden.

Website Mints

Many projects with technical know-how choose to offer minting services on their website. This is usually better for some projects as they can control every aspect of the mint.

The drawback, though, is that many shady projects also prefer this minting process. Website mints allow bad actors to add codes that drain crypto wallets. Thus it is advisable to use a burner wallet when minting off a project’s website. Still, it is one of the best ways to mint NFTs.

To mint via a website, visit the project’s website, connect your wallet, and mint the NFT you want.

How To Mint NFTs For Free

To mint NFTs for free, you have to dedicate your time and resources to finding NFTs that are worth collecting. While this may be a daunting task, some places you can find free mint projects are;

• Ebutemetaverse Calendar
• NFT Mint Radar
• Rise Angle
• NFT Calendar

How Long Does it Take To Mint An NFT?

The whole process of minting an NFT can take between 5 seconds and 1 minute. The duration is affected by network congestion and the crypto chain. NFTs minting on Arbitrum, Binance SMart Chain, and sometimes Solana tend to be faster than Ethereum.

Conclusion

Every day, new projects are announced, and understanding NFT minting and how to mint NFTs successfully helps us to know what we need to do. As technical as it may sound, it gets easy once you get into it and mint your first NFT collectibles.

Be it paid mint or free mint, use of marketplace, launchpads, or websites, do well to research these projects before investing your money. Stay tuned to get more information on how to mint NFTs across different blockchains.