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Non-Fungible Tokens or NFTs are among the popularised use cases of Blockchain technology, which has gained traction over the years due to its association with mainstream brands, creators, and artists.
In India, for instance, one of the popular use cases of NFTs has been collaboration with the cricket fan base, and NFTs issued by platforms like Rario.
What Rario does is give cricket fans a dedicated platform for digital collectibles of things related to cricket. It can be anything from a video moment to player cards.
Although they could have sold the same digital items, not as NFTs, it would have worked as a concept, except NFT ensures an authentication certificate which would prove the uniqueness of the asset you are owning.
So, when you buy any digital asset as an NFT, you are essentially paying for a code that represents a unique item. This token is nothing but metadata that’s sent to your address on a blockchain.
NFT is not a digital asset but a record printed on the blockchain forever.
Want to see what items can be sold as NFTs?
A digital flow, a video clip, an embarrassing tweet by you some years ago, and even your picture.
And, if people find any value in these digital assets, you can issue them as NFTs, mint them on a blockchain and offer it to NFT marketplaces to be bought.
So, if this interests you, you can also create your NFTs.
But you may ask, “why do I need an NFT if I own my content?”
Technically, when your own content is on a centralised platform, you are not entirely owning it.
Here’s how:
Although they sound ominous, the reality is that centralised platforms and ownership tread the murky waters of who owns what.
Although platforms like YouTube have empowered the creator’s economy, it does have the issues that most centralised companies are criticised for.
Furthermore, YouTube as a centralised platform can even demonetise your content if it is flagged by it.
For creators to start earning a noticeable amount of money, they’d need at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours. Post that, they can apply for YouTube’s Partner Program, which allows creators to start monetizing their channels.
Forbes estimated that top creators of YouTube can make $5 for every 1000 views.
According to Investopedia, YouTube gives 55% of its revenue while taking 45% for itself.
What if that cut was removed altogether? The creators will be empowered more monetarily.
Don’t you want to give your money to intermediaries?
Typically, if you list your NFTs on a marketplace, you need a one-time gas fee for minting it along with fees like when your NFTs are bought.
It plays out something like this – Your fan buys your NFT for Rs 10,000. You pay the marketplace you are on, some 10-15% while keeping the majority of it to yourself.
But for centralised platforms, the incentive structure is such that it eats up the creator’s share, as read in the case of YouTube.
Although YouTube is not a marketplace, the philosophy of the centralised platform remains the same.
So, if you don’t want these intermediaries eating up your share of the pie, then would you want to mint your NFTs?
NFT helps in establishing ownership of tangible digital assets, offering creators of digital artwork or any digital asset a concrete way to earn money directly without any intermediaries eating into their share.
So, if you are a creator or an enthusiast who wants to know how NFTs are made, here are the steps.
Also, for the sake of convenience, let’s assume that you want to mint your NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain, then we can elaborate on the process.
You will need a Web3-enabled wallet like MetaMask to interact with Ethereum. Metamask can be used either as a mobile app or a web browser extension.
Select a marketplace where you can mint your NFT. Some of the marketplaces that you can choose from are NFTically, Mineable, Opensea, etc.
Depending on which marketplace you choose, they give you a detailed guide on how to create and mint NFTs.
Typically, you have to first upload the tangible digital asset which you intend to mint as an NFT. Platforms then give you the option to create a single NFT or a collection of it.
A single NFT will use the blockchain protocol BEP-721, while a collection of NFTs will use BEP-1155.
After uploading, you will need to pay the specified gas fee from your connected crypto wallet to finalise the minting process.
The blockchain economy incentivises each and every stakeholder democratically, which means it also pays a certain amount for you to sell your NFTs on a marketplace.
For curated marketplaces like SuperRare and Foundation, transaction fees can range between 10 to 15 percent.
NFTs minted on the Ethereum blockchain cost an equivalent of $70 to $100 worth of Ether tokens. And for you to profit off your NFT, you need to sell well above $100.
NFTs are an exciting way for creators to start earning money and interacting with their audience or buyer directly.
Essentially, the difference between selling your digital creation as NFTs Vs on centralised platforms is the direct interaction between the two primary stakeholders of the creator’s economy, i.e. the creator and their audience.
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