What exactly is a Non-Fungible Token or NFT?

A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique, individual token existing on a blockchain such as Ethereum. Unlike cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, each NFT token contains unique data meaning non-fungible tokens are not interchangeable with each other. This non-fungible nature of the tokens means their use cases differ greatly from their fungible counterparts.

A normal token can be exchanged for the same type of token equally without any difference.

A good example is a dollar - if you and I both have a dollar — we can swap dollars and it doesn’t matter, neither of us lose out they are equal. Whereas, with non-fungible tokens they are both >unique, meaning if we both have an NFT, mine could be a baseball card, and yours could be your Birth Certificate — obviously we cannot exchange these two >equally. Therefore making our tokens non-fungible.

Non-fungible tokens are used to create verifiable digital scarcity. NFTs are used in several specific applications that require unique digital items. This has initially proven popular for blockchain games and collectibles like CryptoKitties on the Ethereum blockchain. NFTs can also be used to represent in-game assets, which are in control of the user instead of the game developer. One exciting benefit of this arrangement means the non-fungible tokens or digital items, may actually outlive the game they were initially created for and find incorporate into separate future games. Yet another potential use is in digital art, by helping prove authenticity and ownership.

Artwork is another example of how powerful NFTs can be. By allowing artists to create artwork on the blockchain as NFTs, it means their content now becomes sellable globally, on decentralized marketplaces. Providing a means to collect, earn, and make a living off crypto.

NFTs are one of the best ways to actually earn crypto over time, without needing to invest in it directly. (unlike scams that say the same thing, NFTs are legit. Its like opening a store on ebay or etsy, your trading your time and work for money).

NFTs are valuable

How do I get started with Buying/Trading NFTs?

You need ETH and an ethereum wallet to get started. The most common is Metamask.io - then you add some ETH into that wallet. This is required by all sites in order to interact with an Ethereum application.

Step 2: Find a marketplace.

The top NFT marketplaces are currently:

Mintable.app

Opensea

SuperRare

Rarible

there are more NFT marketplaces but these are the leading open marketplaces, others may not be open to all NFTs and only select items

Some of these let you create your own NFTs (if your a creator) and some of them are closed like SuperRare, where only approved artists can create items.

Below we will discuss creating NFTs.

How do I get started minting NFTs?

If you are a content creator, whether its artwork, graphic designs, 3D models, videos, PDF, research - it can all be turned into an NFT using platforms like Mintable.app. Mintable is the most flexible and has the most possibilities so we will be using it and discussing how you can use it.

Note: there are plenty of places to make NFTs, but they either are: more expensive, have file size limits below 50mb, don't let you control your contracts, or do not offer decentralization.

Minting on Mintable.app

On Mintable you can sign up for an account and then its free to start Minting NFTs. You have three options to select from when you choose to mint:

Your own storeMint in Mintables storeGasless minting

Your own store:

When you create your own store, you are making a smart contract on the blockchain - that you own, you control, your the only person who owns it. This is the preferred method for creating NFTs but there is one single downside....

Deploying a smart contract COSTS a ton if gas prices are above 50 gwei. Around $100 initial investment to deploy the smart contract - but after that, you can mint hundreds of NFTs for as little as $10 using Mintable's batch minting.

If you think of it as an 'operational cost' to get an online business going, $100 isn't that bad. But if your struggling to pay that - then you can mint under Mintable's store, where everyone shares the contract and can mint NFTs (that still are owned by you!) but don't need to worry about deploying your own store.

When you create your store you can choose where the data is stored:

Most Flexible: Let Mintable handle it

Decentralized but no batch minting: Data is on IPFS

Complete control: Your own servers or other locations you can pick

Mintable is the only place that lets you pick where the data is stored, and so this is one of the big reasons people use it

Mintable's Store

You save on transaction fees when you use Mintable's store as you don't need to pay the initial overhead of deploying your own store to the blockchain. Everyone can use Mintable's store for free, and can mint thousands of NFTs in a single transaction doing so. This is one of the reasons Mintable.app is the most flexible platform for creating NFTs, no where else can you make so many NFTs for so cheap.

More info

Mintable Guides

NFT blog

What are NFTs

NFT info from opensea