NFTs have been in practice since 2014, but it became an overnight phenomenon when Digital artist Pak’s art ‘The Merge’ was sold for $91.8 million in 2021. Since then, NFTs have grown incredibly popular, and many celebrities have started creating their own NFTs and selling them.

In 2020, Twitter’s co-founder Jack Dorsey created an NFT out of his first-ever tweet and sold it for $2.9 million. One of the largest sports apparel brands, Nike has become a pioneer in digital fashion. Nike has been creating NFTs for their sneaker collections called Cryptokicks and recently sold one virtual sneaker for $134,000.

Though NFTs are popular, it is still a new technological concept to many. We have noticed a trend among businesses that are interested in creating the digital twin of their specialised and unique products by minting them as NFTs. Since there is plenty of information and talks about how NFTs are profiting, we want to examine the practical side of NFTs, such as how NFTs are created and at what cost you can mint an NFT at different blockchains. At the end of the article, you will be prepared to mint your first NFT!

Even before the introduction of social tokens and NFTs, trading was a large part of the digital world. People have been buying/selling or holding digital assets for a long time, but the security and ownership of digital asset space were hard to define.

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With social tokens and NFTs being invented, it became easy to demonstrate ownership of the digital assets, and its encryptions made it much safer. So, in brief, an NFT functions as a digital certificate of ownership for digital assets, which can be anything similar to real-world objects and arts, such as paintings, music, photography & videography, games, virtual real estate, etc.

NFT stands for Non-fungible token, which has its own metadata codes stored on the digital ledgers using blockchain technology to establish uniqueness and ownership. Non-fungible tokens are one-of-a-kind, meaning a token cannot be exchanged with another one. Each NFT’s value differs.

When a digital asset is created, it will be uploaded as a file to the blockchain and metadata containing the information about the asset and the creator will be created as codes and called the NFT. You can trade, purchase, sell, showcase, and collect NFTs.

How are NFTs created?

In blockchain terminology, creating an NFT is known as NFT minting. NFT minting includes the process of deciding where, when and how to build NFTs and which tools and technologies need to be used. Before getting into how NFTs are crafted, we need to solidify our NFTs fundamentals. Below are a few terminologies you need to understand to make enhanced choices when minting NFTs.

Blockchain Technology

Blockchain is a digital ledger that duplicates and distributes every transaction across the entire network of computer systems that are connected to the blockchain. Each block in the chain contains a number of transactions, and every time a new transaction happens, it will be added to every user’s ledger in the blockchain. This technology ensures there is no possibility to change, hack, duplicate or cheat the system.

NFT Marketplaces

NFT Marketplace is a digital platform for storing, showcasing, trading, buying and selling NFTs. It is similar to e-commerce websites. In short, NFT marketplaces are like e-commerce platforms like Amazon or Flipkart, where the sellers list different NFTs, and buyers can buy them. NFT marketplaces are connected with various blockchains and allow NFT trading for cryptocurrency. Many NFT Marketplaces enable their users to Mint NFTs on their platforms.

Crypto Wallet

Crypto wallet is the technology that allows you to store your crypto, and you can make crypto transactions with it. You need to have access to a crypto wallet that is compatible with NFT Marketplaces. Most NFT marketplaces support multiple wallets. Crypto wallets will also help you store your assets’ keys, so you need to choose the wallet with the best-enhanced security.

Cryptocurrency

You need to have cryptocurrencies or balances in your crypto wallet to pay fees for minting, listing, buying or selling in the NFT marketplace. It would be best to choose the cryptocurrency supported by the Marketplace, where you will trade your NFTs.

User Accounts

You need to create an active account in the NFT marketplace and integrate your crypto wallet into it. Once the account is ready, you can mint your NFTs and participate in trading.

The process of Minting NFTs is very simple. The first step in Minting NFT is creating a unique digital asset. It can be anything from digital artwork to in-game weapons. It should be followed by selecting and setting up the crypto wallet and NFT Marketplace.

The next step is to mint and display the NFTs on NFT marketplaces. You need to upload your digital asset file to the Marketplace and create the metadata. Once the digital asset is uploaded, you are done with creating the NFT. The last step is to display or showcase your NFTs in the Marketplace for people to buy them. It is known as listing.

What is the cost associated with NFT minting?

On average, the cost of creating NFT ranges from $0.05 to over $150. The cost of creating NFTs depends on various factors such as the cost of blockchain, gas fee, marketplace account fee, listing fee etc. Ethereum and Solana are the most expensive and cheapest blockchain, respectively. The major cost of the NFT mining goes into the blockchain fee. Sometimes, the Ethereum blockchain, at its busiest time, experiences fees up to $500 to create a single NFT.

Determinants of NFTs minting cost

Gas Fees

A gas fee is the price paid to execute transactions on the blockchains. The gas fee is determined according to the demand of the blockchain at the time of initiating the transaction. Minting an NFT, listing the NFT, accepting the bidding, transferring ownership of the NFT and buying the NFTs comes with a gas fee.

Account Fees

Account fees are the cost paid to the NFT marketplace. It is a one-time cost paid when setting up the Marketplace account and integrating the crypto wallet into it.

Listing fee

Some NFT marketplaces allow users to Mint NFTs for free but charge a fee to list them for trading, known as a listing fee.

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These three are the most common costs associated with the NFT creation. But, as every blockchain has its defined processes, consequently, the cost differs. Even in the same blockchain, the cost of creating one NFT might be different from another. The Data size, transaction speed, blockchain demand, time of minting, project quality and gas fees can affect the cost determination.

Minting NFT for the first time might be grueling, so you can get associated with NFT agents or consultants who can guide you through the entire process of NFT minting.

Professionals at DMG take priority by studying the assets that need to be published and then guide clients in choosing the Marketplace, wallets and blockchain according to the needs of the asset. We have been consulting businesses and creators across various industries and arts in taking their physical assets into digitalized NFTs.

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What is the cost of creating an NFT on different platforms?

Everyone can easily create an NFT on NFT marketplaces. Some popular, large and user-friendly marketplaces are OpenSea, Rarible, and Mintable. All these platforms provide their users with a choice of at least two blockchains to mint NFTs. And the cost of minting NFT depends on the blockchain opted by the creator. 

Ethereum was the first programmable blockchain that enabled the registration of digital assets and publishing of digital creations. Today there are many other blockchain options like Solana, polygon, Texos, Cardano, WAX, Avalanche, Zilliqa and others.

Ethereum is the most expensive blockchain because it is a Proof of Work (PoW) blockchain. PoW uses a competitive validation method to confirm blockchain transactions, which is why the gas fee to the miners is high with Ethereum. Minting on Ethereum depends highly on the time the transaction is initiated and market price of Ethereum (ETH).

Other blockchains like Solana use Proof of Stake (PoS) and Proof of History (PoH). While PoS uses randomly selected miners to validate the transactions, PoH records each message’s relative time and order in historical records. These protocols allow the Solana to provide the most efficient experience, and have approximately up to 65K transactions per second. The average cost of Minting an NFT in Solana is 0.00001 SOL ($0.01).

Ethereum records only 12 to 15 transactions per second. Ethereum is currently working to change its consensus mechanism from PoW to the PoS model. It will result in transaction fees that will go down notably.

A few things that team DMG constantly tells clients is that the time of transactions on the blockchain is important. It will directly have an impact on the cost of minting NFTs. If we choose the busiest time, the price will be definitely high. Keep in mind that it is always mandatory to analyse the time of blockchain we have chosen. Avoid expensive mistakes, let our professionals handle your journey towards minting your NFTs.

Can NFTs be created free of cost?

Polygon blockchain allows users to mint NFTs for free. Polygon enables the creators to mint and lists the NFTs for free. It is known as lazy minting. Lazy minting allows you to create NFTs ‘off-chain’ (not within the main blockchain) and pay you the fees only when the NFT is sold. When the NFT is sold, it will be published to the ‘on chain’ (the main blockchain). The platform will charge 2.5% service from the selling price. It is a perfect option if you are trying to create an NFT for the first time.


Wrapping up

The cost of creating NFTs majorly depends on the blockchain you choose. Understand the various blockchain and choose the best one for your art, collectable, or digital assets. Although Ethereum is the costliest, it is the most preferred and popular blockchain. You can choose other blockchains which have minimal or zero transaction and gas fees.

Many celebrities, content creators and big corporates are prudently leveraging NFTs for their personal and professional growth. It is the right time for you to step ahead and take your business into the world of digital assets. If you are still hesitant about introducing and exploring novel technologies in your business growth, write to us or fill out the contact form and we will get in touch with us!

DMG provides an all-in-one advanced NFT workshop and consultation program, that will guide you on everything about NFTs. The workshop provides complete guidance on NFTs, Cryptocurrencies and recent trends in the industry. The workshop will be personalised according to your project needs after a wholesome brainstorming session on your ideas and requirements. From helping you choose the blockchain, cryptocurrency, and NFT marketplace, to creating your own wallets, NFT collections and Marketplace, you will get hands-on mentorship from our team.

Our team of experienced tech enthusiasts will guide you in exploring the virtual world, from digital twins of products, creating your NFT collections and listing them in marketplaces to strategizing and selling at the best prices, We can be your perfect consultant and digital partner!

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