I minted my first NFTs about a year ago, and I wanted to relay this info to all artists and creators like me who want to start making their own digital assets.
How do you mint an NFT with MetaMask? There are several steps to this. First, you will use the browser plug-in to create the Meta-mask wallet. You’ll send Ethereum to the wallet. You’ll use a marketplace like OpenSea to create the NFT. Then you’ll complete some other processes and approve the NFT for sale. It’s that simple!
Use the MetaMask Browser Plug-in
First of all, the MetaMask browser plug-in is designed to help you to set up a wallet the right way to facilitate NFT creation and transfer. It works with Chrome and some other kinds of browsers.
You’ll click on the extension add-on and get Meta-mask on your browser.
Then you’ll unlock MetaMask, and you’re ready to send some Ethereum to this wallet.
Sending Ethereum to MetaMask
In order to mint an NFT, you’ll have to have some cryptocurrency in the right place.
Now here, you can choose the blockchain that you want to mint the NFT on, so you can select the coin or token that you need to have in the wallet.
Ethereum typically has high gas fees, but it is far and away the most prominent blockchain on which to mint NFTs. If you can afford the fees, go ahead and use the Ethereum blockchain. If not, you may want to go with a blockchain like Solana or Bitcoin SV.
Exchange Your Fiat for Crypto
If you haven’t already, you need to set up an account with a crypto exchange. There are many to choose from, but I’d say try Coinbase first to keep it simple. It has a user-friendly interface and is perfect for beginners.
What does Coinbase do? It allows you to hook up your bank account, send dollars to the exchange, and turn those dollars into the crypto you choose.
If you are minting on the Ethereum blockchain, you will need to convert dollars to ETH. Make sense? When you have ETH in your Coinbase account, you can send that ETH to your MetaMask wallet, which can be used to mint your NFT.
Remember minting an NFT on Ethereum is not cheap. It costs anywhere from $75 to $125 or even more depending on Ethereum traffic. To learn more about the costs and energy demands of minting an NFT, check out these articles:
- What is the Average Cost to Mint and Sell an NFT? (Top Marketplace Examples)
- How Much Energy does it Take to Make an NFT?
Sign Up on the Marketplace
You’ll need to have an account on an NFT marketplace. For example, take a look at OpenSea, the biggest marketplace for NFTs around.
There are several places where you can set up your NFT minting account, but OpenSea gets you the most access to the mainstream of the NFT community.
On the other hand, some other platforms will allow you to bypass gas fees entirely until later on when your NFT is purchased. This is highly valuable to people who are wary about how all of this works and don’t want to pay the money upfront.
In fact, I wrote about this process called “Lazy Minting” and how to do it here.
Implement NFT Creation
After you have found your marketplace, you need to go through the process of creating your NFT.
The first step is to hit the ‘create’ button. But then there is a raft of information that you need to enter in order to fully document how your NFT is set up.
For example, you have to answer specific questions. What is the underlying file that you’re using to send the NFT? Are you transferring certain copyright to the NFT holder or not?
Plus, you can set your royalty amount. This is a sweet feature you can use with NFTs so that you get paid a percentage of the sale on every secondary sale. Check out this article to learn more about NFT royalties.
Many of these platforms have easy checkboxes you can use to determine these things. You’ll have to read through and follow the instructions to figure out the finer points of NFT creation.
When all of that is done, you may have additional questions related to your identity as the issuer of the NFT and how you want buyers to be able to purchase.
Signing Your MetaMask Wallet
Signing and validating your creation on MetaMask is one of the last steps you will perform to create your NFT.
After creating the NFT, you’ll have to approve it for sale. This works differently on different market platforms, but in general, it won’t take you too long.
Plus, this is where you get to choose the type of sale you want to participate in. There are “Buy it Now” and “Creative Auctions” you can choose from. Learn more about NFT sale types in this article.
Minting NFTs: Difficulty
Simply put, minting an NFT is confusing to a lot of people. It’s jot not just like buying a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin or Ethereum. In those kinds of transactions, you only have a few basic steps.
In minting an NFT, you really have to proceed according to the wallet of your choosing and the marketplace you’re working in. The good news is that coding isn’t involved….thank God!
You also have to note all of these settings and paperwork options that we talked about above in order to make sure that you set your NFT up the right way.
One other thing to look out for is depositing your NFT in the right kind of wallet. NFTs can be kept on exchanges or downloaded to a wallet, but the way you do this is important because the underlying asset can, in some cases, be lost.
So a lot of minting an NFT requires knowing more about the underlying industry in the foundation of the blockchain marketplaces you’re using. It’s not just about working blindly in a marketplace without understanding the context.
Minting NFTs and Risk
Some people factor certain kinds of risk into their NFT minting process.
One is the risk of volatility in crypto values. Whatever kind of cryptocurrency you bought in order to put NFTs on a specific blockchain, that cryptocurrency can gain or lose value. So the more you’re putting into it, the more you stand to lose if the value goes down suddenly.
However, a lot of people have a long-term philosophy about this: they even coined the term “hodlers” for long-term buy and holders of a cryptocurrency. If you’re trying to make a play on NFTs, your cryptocurrency is your payment medium, so you’re not trying to arbitrate your crypto that much in most cases.
In other words, people who are creating NFTs and selling them are often able to ride out volatility in a way that other traders aren’t.
There are also certain tax considerations for NFTs and sales. In the USA, any time you gain in crypto, you have to figure out how you’re going to put that on your annual filing. (Disclosure: I’m not a tax expert, and this is not tax or financial advice. Seek a professional tax and financial consultant.)
The IRS has been very vehement that they want to capture the capital gains from cryptocurrency, but some tax preparers may still be confused.
You’ll have to have a tax reporting and cost basis strategy that works when you’re trying to make these kinds of transactions. That’s even more significant if you’re making a higher number of transactions or creating more expensive NFTs. So a lot of people want to wade in carefully and do some smaller trial projects before scaling up.
And then there’s compliance. That’s mostly a headache for the platforms themselves, but the investor has some skin in the game, too. You want to ensure that you’re minting NFTs on and participating in compliant and secure platforms and exchanges. That’s part of the task of setting up a strategy that’s going to work for you long-term.
Again, all of it is new to a lot of people. Cryptocurrency is changing rapidly, and the rules of the game are sometimes changing, too.
Some of the exchanges and big players are putting out appeals to regulators to be able to stabilize the rules for cryptocurrencies and NFTs.
It doesn’t make sense always to be changing regulations and what investors and exchanges are responsible for. But there are going to be some growing pains in this industry that everyone has to watch out for.
With all of the above in mind, minting NFTs can be fun and rewarding. You can tie NFTs to digital pieces of artwork, physical artwork (like sculptures even), and other products that are your own personal intellectual property.
Here are a few basic examples:
- Art
- Memes
- Music
- Video Game Assets
- Books
- Tweets
- Facebook Posts
You can get involved in a thriving marketplace that is starting to grow and expand. And you can do it all from an informed perspective, having understood how to do these kinds of NFT processes.
Still, need help? check out the MetaMask FAQ.
Related NFT Minting Questions
Here are some of the most asked questions when it comes to NFTs and how to mint them.
How many NFTs can I mint?
You can mint as many NFTs as you want, as long as you can pay related fees or have a way to track the NFTs that you’ve made. Some of the most popular collections have been around 10,000. But does that cost a lot?
Yep… here’s how much:
Many experts recommend creating sets of NFTs or collections in order to really boost your new status as an NFT maker.
Collections are sets of NFTs that have a lot of characteristics or attributes in common. It might be as simple as creating a number of NFTs with the same avatar character wearing different hats or in different types of costumes.
If you want to get inspired, check out these two highly successful collections, CryptoPunks and Bored Ape Yacht Club.
Whatever you create, you’re micromanaging what the buyer gets by filling out the forms on the NFT marketplace.
Why does blockchain make a difference?
As mentioned above, Ethereum was the original smart contract handler, but the gas fees can be expensive.
There are many factors in the gas fees as well. Some of them have to do with what’s happening in the market as you mint the NFT. You’ll need to consider what these gas fees mean and how to deal with them.
So the alternative blockchain is an excellent way to avoid high gas fees with Ethereum.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, minting an NFT while using the MetaMask app is not that difficult. The steps are simple, and it usually only takes one time to really understand the entire process.
With emerging technologies, NFTs, and the rise of cryptocurrencies, it’s essential to stay in the know. When it comes to NFTs, this website has got you covered.
We’ve written numerous articles to help educate and spread the word about NFTs. Check out these recent viral articles to see what I’m talking about.