Minting an NFT is a process that involves taking a digital item, this could be an image, video etc and converting it into a digital asset recorded on the blockchain.
During the process of minting, the creators of the digital assets can place royalties on sales of their digital assets which means they get a commission each time their work is sold or resold. When the digital asset is minted, it then officially becomes an NFT and can be sold and bought at any NFT marketplace.
What is Opensea?
Opensea is the largest NFT marketplace. It allows users to mint, buy and sell a wide array of digital items from art collectibles to gaming collectibles and so on.
Minting these NFTs on the Opensea marketplace creates more visibility and higher chances of closing deals and this explains why most sellers list their best works on the platform.
Tokens supported on Opensea include include Ether, USD Coin (USDC), SOL and Dai.
How to mint on Opensea
To mint NFTs on OpenSea, you will need to follow a few steps like buying ether, creating a crypto wallet, linking it to your OpenSea account, etc.
The processes involved in minting an NFT are discussed below.
Step 1: Buying Ethereum or Matic or Solana
This article focuses on using ether. The native currency of the Ethereum network.
The first step to consider before minting an NFT is buying some Ether. To buy Ethereum, you will need to buy from exchanges like Binance and Uniswap.
The amount of Ethereum needed to get started in minting an NFT is dependent on the gas fee. A gas fee is a payment for any transaction made on the Ethereum blockchain. The fee is used in compensating blockchain miners for executing the transactions.
While OpenSea does not control the gas fee, the fees required to register and gain access to an OpenSea account are determined by the gas fee which can be either high or low depending on the price of gas at the moment of transaction. To avoid creating an account when the gas fee is high, the price of a gas fee can be tracked using a Gas fee tracking website like Gas Now.
Aside from the fees required in creating and gaining access to an OpenSea account, it should be noted that OpenSea charges 2.5% on the price of an NFT after sales.
Step 2: Create and connect crypto wallet
One of the easiest crypto wallets to use is MetaMask and it’s the most preferred on the OpenSea marketplace. MetaMask can be used to ‘hold’ ether and NFTs.
To create a crypto wallet, click in the ‘Create” tab menu and select Metamask or any other crypto wallet you prefer using. OpenSea requires digital signing to confirm connecting your crypto wallet to your account.
Once you’ve successfully done this, OpenSea allows you to add your profile information like bio, username and social media links. The next thing is to verify your account through a verification email you will be sent. From there, your first NFT is ready to be minted.
Step 3: Create an NFT
To create an NFT, you may want to consider creating a collection.
To create a collection, go to your OpenSea profile and click on ‘My Collection’, after which, you can then add an NFT to it. A collection can be seen as a digital portfolio, a creator can keep adding their latest works to it.
After adding an NFT to the collection, upload it and name it. Write a description and fill in other requirements, then click on create and that’s it! Your NFT is minted and is ready to be sold.
How to Trade NFTs on OpenSea
Opensea has the largest catalogue of NFTs including blue-chips. To trade, follow the few easy steps:
Selling an NFT
After successfully creating an NFT, it can be listed for sales on OpenSea by doing the following:
- Go to the profile section of your account and click on the wallet, where you can choose which NFT you are putting up for sale.
- After selecting the NFT, go to the NFT’s description page. At the top right corner, you will see an option for selling. Click on ‘Sell’ to take you to the listing page.
The listing page allows you to either set a fixed price or an auction price. You can also fix a time frame for the sales or even set aside the NFT for a specific buyer.
At the bottom of the listing page, you will see all the fees associated with the sale of the NFT like the 2.5% service charge on all sales and the 10% royalty gotten by the creators on each sale of the NFT.
- After doing all these, confirm the sale of the NFT by signing a transaction on your Wallet.
NFTs minted on other platforms can be imported on Opensea as well. In this case, OpenSea requires you to go through some other confirmation processes to sell the NFT.
Read Also:
What you should know about NFT Floor Price
Twelve traditional companies that have adopted NFTs
Five Things to Consider Before Buying NFTs
How to buy NFT
To buy an NFT, you can make an offer for it or purchase it at a fixed price. Purchasing it at a fixed price requires you to do the following:
- Go through the listed NFT to select an NFT to buy and thoroughly review the details like the price history, e.t.c to know the value of the NFT.
- Click on the ‘Buy Now’ button. You can further assess the details of the purchase and agree to the terms and conditions.
- Click on the ‘Check out’ button to find the purchasing price of the NFT.
- To complete your purchase, click on ‘Confirm’. After confirming your purchase you can check your NFT in your wallet.
To make an offer for an NFT on auction, you can follow the steps below:
- Find an NFT you want to make an offer for. Click on the make an offer button. Review the details of the auction and the prices bided by other buyers. For your bid price to be accepted, it must be at least 5% higher than the current bid price.
- After specifying your amount, select the cryptocurrency you want to make the offer with. You may need to pay a one-time fee if you are making use of a currency that you’ve never used to make a purchase on OpenSea.
- After verifying the amount and confirming the gas fee payment. Click on the ‘confirm’ button and wait for the seller to pick which price to sell the NFT. If the NFT is a sought-after asset, you may have to keep increasing your bidding price to stay in the seam of things.
Closing thoughts
Opensea is the largest NFT marketplace and has strict policies on rights and theft. Listing purchased NFTs on sale that was previously stolen will call for punitive measures. Also, copycats are given appropriate punitive measures. Conduct due diligence before trading any NFT.
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