- NFTs have revolutionized digital ownership by enabling creators to tokenize unique content such as art, music, videos, and even virtual real estate.
- Creating an NFT is accessible to anyone and involves choosing digital content, selecting a blockchain, setting up a crypto wallet, and using an NFT marketplace.
- NFTs rely on blockchain technology and smart contracts, ensuring security and authenticity while enabling royalties for creators.
- The cost of minting an NFT varies by blockchain, with Ethereum having the highest fees, while alternatives like Solana offer significantly lower costs.
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have changed the world of digital assets, allowing artists, musicians, and creators to tokenize and sell unique digital content. Unlike fungible tokens, such as Bitcoin or Ethereum, which are interchangeable, NFTs represent one-of-a-kind assets with distinct properties stored on a blockchain.
The NFT economy has seen massive growth, with the market surpassing $68 billion in total sales volume in recent years. Today, NFTs are used in various ways in gaming, real estate, community-building, brand marketing, exclusive memberships, and more. And the most interesting part is that absolutely anyone can create a successful NFT.
In this article, we’ll go over the NFT creation process and give you a step-by-step guide on forging your first NFT.
How to Create an NFT: Step by Step
When it comes to creating your own, NFTs are surprisingly more accessible than their fungible counterparts. Thought one might argue about that with the rise of platforms such as pump.fun. Creating an NFT doesn’t require any technical skills and all the tools are freely available. The most important steps include:
1. Decide What Digital Content to Tokenize
An NFT is simply tokenized digital content. Consequently, almost anything digital can be transformed into an NFT, making it unique and verifiable on the blockchain. Here are just a few examples:
- Digital Art: Artists can tokenize their artwork, ensuring authenticity and ownership.
- Music & Audio Files: Musicians can sell albums or exclusive soundtracks as NFTs.
- Videos & GIFs: Movie scenes, sports highlights, and animations can be tokenized.
- Virtual Real Estate: In metaverse platforms like Decentraland, digital land is sold as NFTs.
- Collectibles & Trading Cards: Digital versions of collectible cards are gaining traction thanks to projects like NBA Top Shot.
- Academic & Legal Documents: Researchers and institutions are exploring NFTs for certification and ownership verification.
2. Select a Blockchain
Each blockchain on the market is different and you can think of them as separate ecosystems with a specific focus. As a result, some are dedicated to gaming, others to decentralized finance, others focus on accessibility and low fees.
Ultimately, choosing a blockchain for your NFT is the first important decision that you’d have to make. In addition to their focus, each blockchain has different fees, capabilities, and market adoption. Your NFT will be tied to the blockchain it is created on, meaning it can only be traded on marketplaces that support that chain.
Furthermore, to create an NFT, you’ll need a blockchain that has smart contract capabilities. For example, the Bitcoin network is not a good choice, since it doesn’t natively support smart contracts (Ordinals attempt to remedy this).
Lastly, with all of the above in mind, some of the key factors to consider are:
- Gas Fees: Some blockchains, like Ethereum, have high gas fees, while others offer lower-cost transactions.
- Smart Contract Capabilities: NFTs require smart contracts to function properly.
- Ecosystem & Marketplaces: Some blockchains have more active communities and trading platforms.
- Security & Decentralization: A more secure and decentralized blockchain ensures greater longevity and asset protection.
The two most popular blockchains in the current day are Ethereum and Solana, each with a set of specific offerings.
Ethereum
Ethereum is the platform that revolutionized the blockchain space by enabling smart contracts. Furthermore, it had the first mover advantage and it introduced the ERC token standard.
- The most widely used blockchain for NFTs.
- Smart contract standard: ERC-721, ERC-1155.
- High gas fees but the most extensive ecosystem and marketplace support.
- Popular NFT marketplaces: OpenSea, Rarible.
Solana
Created to challenge Ethereum for the first place, Solana offers competitive fees that are a fraction of those on Ethereum. Similarly, it also has smart contract capabilities and a growing user base.
- Low transaction fees and fast transactions.
- Smart contract standard: SPL tokens.
- Popular for gaming NFTs and collectibles.
- Popular NFT marketplaces: Magic Eden, SolSea.
Polygon
Polygon was among the first Layer 2 solutions for Ethereum, bringing low fees and scalability to Ethereum users. Today, it’s still a popular choice for many due to its offerings.
- A Layer 2 scaling solution for Ethereum, providing users with lower fees.
- Smart contract standard: ERC-721, ERC-1155 (same as Ethereum).
- Environmentally friendly with lower energy consumption.
- Popular NFT marketplaces: OpenSea (Polygon), Rarible (Polygon).
Finally, other Layer 2 scaling solutions for Ethereum such as Arbitrum or Optimism are also a fine choice due to their low fees and high security.
3. Create a Crypto Wallet
To create an NFT, you will also need a crypto wallet. A wallet does not store the NFT itself but holds the private keys that grant access to the NFT on the blockchain. At the same time, there are two types of wallets:
- Hot Wallets: Online wallets connected to the internet (e.g., MetaMask, Phantom).
- Cold Wallets: Hardware wallets that store keys offline for extra security (e.g., Ledger, Trezor).
Some of the most popular crypto wallets for NFTs are:
- MetaMask: For Ethereum and Polygon NFTs.
- Phantom: For Solana NFTs.
- Atomic Wallet: Multi-chain support.
- Ledger & Trezor: Hardware wallets that add an extra layer of security.
4. Choose an NFT Marketplace
NFT marketplaces act as platforms for creating, buying, and selling NFTs. They also function as social hubs where collectors and artists showcase their work.
Popular NFT Marketplaces:
- OpenSea (Ethereum, Polygon, Solana) – The largest NFT marketplace, founded by Alex Atallah and Devin Finzer.
- Magic Eden (Solana, Ethereum) – A leading Solana NFT marketplace, decentralized and community-driven. The project was founded by Sid Zhang, Jack Lu, Zhuoxun Yin, and Zhoujie Zhou.
- Rarible (Ethereum, Polygon, Flow) – Founded by Alex Salnikov and Alexei Falin, Rarible is a decentralized NFT marketplace with governance features, allowing users to decide the future of the protocol.
NFT marketplaces play a crucial role in shaping the industry. Platforms like OpenSea, Magic Eden, and Rarible are expanding their functionalities to accommodate a broader range of digital assets, including fractionalized NFTs and real-world assets.
As competition grows, marketplaces are refining their user interfaces, security measures, and integration with DeFi solutions to provide a better trading experience. Many of the marketplaces have received criticism for being extremely centralized. For example, Magic Eden faced accusations that it held all private keys in a single wallet.
5. Create Your NFT
Finally, it’s time to create your first NFT:
Connect Your Crypto Wallet
- Visit the chosen NFT marketplace and connect your crypto wallet.
- Then, ensure your wallet contains the necessary blockchain tokens to cover minting fees.
Select Your Media File and Input Required Information
- Upload your digital file (art, music, video, etc.).
- Provide a title, description, and attributes for the NFT.
- Finally, set up royalty percentages for secondary sales. These can be 0 if you decide so.
Generate Your NFT
- Click “Mint” or “Create NFT” on the marketplace.
- After that, approve the transaction in your crypto wallet and pay the fee.
- Once minted, your NFT is stored on the blockchain and available for sale or display.
How Do NFTs Work?
NFTs function through blockchain technology and smart contracts. In other words, there are quite a few moving parts behind the scenes. The anatomy of an NFT consists of:
- Unique Identifier: Each NFT has a distinct digital signature.
- Smart Contract: Defines ownership, transferability, and royalties.
- Metadata: Stores asset details such as name, creator, and attributes. Most NFTs store the tokenized asset externally, using services such as IPFS.
- Proof of Ownership: Stored on a public ledger for verification.
How Much Does It Cost To Create an NFT?
The cost of creating an NFT varies depending on the blockchain used. If you’ve chosen Ethereum, you’ll probably pay substantially more than some of the alternatives.
- Ethereum: Somewhat hard to estimate since congestion plays a huge role but probably in the range of $50–$200 per NFT.
- Solana: Less than $1 per NFT, usually a fraction of the fees on Ethereum.
- Polygon: Similarly to Solana, Polygon offers low costs that are way below $1 per NFT.
Some marketplaces allow lazy minting, where fees are paid only when the NFT is sold. While this approach lowers the amount paid by creators, it increases the sum paid by the buyers.
What Is NFT Metadata?
NFT metadata contains all essential details about the NFT, including the digital file or image the token represents. For example, the metadata for BAYC tokens would include the unique digital image of each ape. This data can be stored either on-chain or off-chain.
- On-Chain Metadata: Permanently stored on the blockchain, increasing security but limiting file size.
- Off-Chain Metadata: Stored via IPFS or other cheap centralized servers, reducing costs but requiring trust in third-party storage.
But what exactly is metadata? It includes:
- Title and description of the NFT.
- Link to the digital asset (image, audio, video).
- Traits and attributes (rarity, properties, characteristics).
- Creator and owner history.
Closing Тhoughts
Creating an NFT is a great way to participate in today’s digital economy. Non-fungible tokens allow creators to distribute ownership of their content without a middleman, while blockchain provides the infrastructure to buy and sell those assets instantly. As the Web3 creator economy continues to grow, and the use-vases of tokenization reach new industries, knowing how to create an NFT of a file may even become essential knowledge.
Whether you’re joining an NFT marketplace, distributing your digital content to a community or simply experimenting with different blockchain assets, it pays to know how to create an NFT.
