What is NFT?

Alien Cat is here to teach everyone about NFT

NFT Art: What, Why, How-To

Written by Cat Alien, March 25, 2021

What is NFT

NFT is a “non-fungible token”, a piece of code, a unique digital item, a digitally created asset, or tokenized tangible asset on a network of computers called Blockchain. It can be created, stored, transferred, tracked, sold — all by means of the network, which serves as a digital ledger, for a fee paid in cryptocurrency.

Many things can be made into NFT tokens, like pictures, actual and virtual objects, and events, even music, ideas, and poetry.

Why NFT

In the future, everything is going to be on Blockchain because it’s secure, transparent, convenient, and allows for fast identification, storage, management, and transfer of digital items on decentralized networks that can not fail, and are impossible to hack.

NFT Art

NFT is perfect for art because art can be easily digitized and managed by the Blockchain. Now artists, dealers, and collectors can easily ID, track, manage, and monetize the NFT items with the help of complex computations of self-executing “smart contracts”, where the terms are directly written into lines of code.

How to NFT Art

Art NFT making, or minting, is done via web apps or websites, some of which are listed below. To begin, just get a Crypto Wallet from MetaMask (downloadable as an app, or browser plug-in) which you’ll use as ID, payment, and your signature when interacting with the network, as well as the NFT marketplaces and other users, and open an account with one of the leading marketplaces for NFT art.

NFT Marketplaces

Mintable
OpenSea
Rarible

You can mint NFTs on any of these marketplaces but currently, it costs around $100 per item, paid in “gas money” on Ethereum (ETH) network. The price of “gas” is constantly changing and depends on how busy the network is.

Tip: On Mintable and OpenSea you can use “gasless” minting which is free and allows for creating NFTs and listing them for sale, the “gas” fee will be paid by the buyer if the item sells. Another way is to wait until the “gas” prices fall, and then mint, or wait until the new ways to pay are developed to bring the NFT minting costs down.

NFT Future

NFT is here and soon it will be everywhere. One big problem is electricity consumption, which is connected to global warming and pollution, but electricity is RENEWABLE and with advances in technology it will be possible to manage it safely and cost-effectively in the future.

NFT Information

For practical information on NFT see my comments on related forums: