NFTs are cryptographic assets that reside on a blockchain, i.e. a distributed public ledger that records transactions.
Each NFT contains unique identification codes that distinguish them from each other. This data facilitates the transfer of tokens between owners and the proof of ownership.
NFTs are digital representations of assets that can also represent real-world items such as art and real estate.
Each NFT contains detailed information about the creator, buyers and transactions that were carried out with his participation. Such a token is unique, it cannot be divided or replaced by any other coin. Almost any product can be sold in the NFT format. It can be a 3D model, video, text information, pictures and music.
To create an NFT token, you need a crypto wallet and a file with digital content.
Top 5 NFT Collections
CryptoPunks
CryptoPunks is an NFT collection by Larva Labs released in 2017. The project created 10,000 unique digital items on the Ethereum blockchain. Most of them are guys and girls who look like punks, but there are also a few rarer types: monkeys, zombies, and even strange aliens. Each punk has its own profile page showing their attributes and ownership/sale status
The current minimum price of CryptoPunks is 66.88 ETH
Bored Ape Yacht Club
Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) is a collection of 10,000 monkey NFTs, each with completely unique traits. Selling NFTs at Sotheby’s for an incredible price of $3,400,000 (USD) apiece.
Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) minimum price today is 80.0 ETH
Mutant Ape Yacht Club
Mutant Ape Yacht Club is a collection of 20,000 mutant monkeys that can only be created by affecting an existing bored monkey with a vial of MUTANT SERUM or by minting a mutant monkey on the public sale.
Mutant Ape Yacht Club minimum price MAYC 18.27 ETH
Otherdeed
Otherdeed is the key to getting land in Otherside. Each has a unique mixture of environments and sediments — some with resources, some home to powerful artifacts. To date, 99,999 NFTs have been released, owned by 33,703 unique owners.
Otherdeed minimum price 1.47121373535508 ETH
Azuki
Azuki, a Web3 brand with a collection of 10,000 unique NFT characters, has been a hit since its launch in early 2022. Now this project holds the top 5 NFT market by capitalization, only BAYC, MAYC and CryptoPunks are higher.
Azuki minimum price 11.99 ETH
Floor price is the lowest fixed price for items in the collection.
Many collections have lost a lot of value along with the entire crypto market and you need to be careful.
For systematic earnings on NFT, active work is needed, otherwise it is more a matter of luck.
The cost of NFT tokens is unlimited and depends on the popularity of the creator and the demand for the product. For example, singer Grimes sold drawings in the form of NFTs for $5.8 million, and DJ 3LAU managed to sell an album in the form of a non-fungible coin for $11.6 million.
How to make money on NFT in 2023?
NFT allows you to get good earnings for literally any user. At the same time, there is no need to make multimillion-dollar investments, and sometimes just simple luck is enough.
To get started, you will need to create a non-custodial wallet. If you use a browser, then this can be done using Metamask, if you are more comfortable using a phone, you can install, for example, Trust Wallet or SafePal.
After creating a wallet, you will definitely need ETH tokens to pay for gas on the Ethereum network. Without this, almost any interaction with the NFT will be impossible. I also need to add that the cost of gas in the Ethereum network is quite high, so for beginners with small budgets, Binance Smart Chain or Polygon is better suited. Both of these networks are EVM-compatible, which means that the NFT technology on them is the same as on Ethereum.
After you have deposited ETH to your wallet, you can proceed directly to buying NFTs. You can buy NFTs for different purposes. The simplest example is for resale.
The NFT Marketplace is a digital platform for buying and selling NFTs. These platforms allow people to store and display their NFTs, as well as sell them to others for cryptocurrency. Some NFT marketplaces also allow users to create their NFTs on the platform itself.
In exchange for a fee, the NFT marketplace usually handles the transfer of NFTs from one party to another.
Each NFT trading platform has its own system of work. Available NFT types, fees, payment options, allowed blockchains, and other rules will depend on which one you use.
To date, there are many trading platforms where you can buy NFT, but we will focus on 6 of the most popular
«opensea
OpenSea is one of the largest and most popular NFT marketplaces today. The variety of offers overshadows many other trading platforms. Thousands of different NFTs are presented here: from paintings by contemporary artists to game cards. In addition, the platform has multiple auction features and is fully integrated into the crypto infrastructure.»
«Rarible
The Rarible is a well-known site that has managed to gain popularity around the world. Using the native RARI token, artists here can create and sell their work. Another important difference is the opportunity for authors to receive remuneration every time their work is resold.»
NBA Top Shot
If you’re a big basketball fan, NBA Top Shot Marketplace is where you can buy NFTs celebrating great moments in basketball history.
Users can purchase Moment NFT with credit/debit cards or choose cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, DAI or USDC.
Binance
Binance NFT offers typical digital assets found on other major platforms: art, in-game items, and collectibles.
The main advantage of Binance NFT is the very low fees. The platform only takes 1% of the trading fee. It is also a user-friendly platform built with the same technologies and layouts as their exchange.
Nifty Gateway
The NiftyGateway platform has convenient functionality for buying and selling NFTs, as well as an impeccable reputation. It was bought by the Gemini exchange.
The key feature of this site is that users can buy NFTs using fiat currency, and merchants can withdraw the proceeds to their credit or debit cards.
SuperRare
SuperRare is an upscale NFT art marketplace that positions itself as an art gallery within the NFT ecosystem. This market does not accept meme-style NFTs and is very selective about the NFTs that are presented.
For its services, SuperRate charges 15% on the first NFT sale in the primary market. There is also a fixed 3% from each transaction, which is paid by the buyer.
Now a purchase is not a mandatory action for making money on NFT, because there are many activities that allow you to earn money without investments.
Not so long ago, freemints were popular, which, by random selection from a list of registered users, gave some of them the opportunity to have a free NFT mint. A lot of people flew into popular projects, so the chance of success with participation from one account was extremely low.
Also, NFTs are necessary for making money on crypto games.
Examples of blockchain games:
Ev.io is a shooter where you equip a character to start earning an ev token (which converts to SOL) for every kill.
Million on Mars — Build rovers, build buildings and clean up the planet as you strategize and pave the way for the NFT Empire in a blockchain MMO.
Tiny Colony — The first ever blockchain building and management game built on Solana. For completing tasks, players receive internal currency and NFT characters
NFT whitelists
Whitelisting is a common practice in the NFT world. Let’s take a closer look at what a whitelist is and how to get into a whitelist in NFT projects.
In NFT technology, whitelisting usually means that a crypto wallet address is pre-approved for NFT creation within a certain period of time.
Whitelisting allows NFT projects to reward early adopters with guaranteed slots to mint (generate) NFTs, or multiple NFTs depending on the project’s whitelisting rules.
Whitelisting also allows supporters to avoid «gas wars» where multiple people try to mint NFTs at the same time, which drives up the cost of transactions.
Pre-approved users on the whitelist can allocate their mints in such a way that they do not transact at the same time, thus avoiding a sudden spike in transaction prices.
To be whitelisted for a project, one usually has to join the selected project’s Discord group to find out the criteria for being whitelisted by the NFT.
Being whitelisted means that you have gone through the steps defined by the NFT project team to have your ETH address pre-approved for NFT minting at a predetermined date and time.
Usually this date and time for addresses from the NFT whitelist is set as a time window. For example, some projects may allow whitelisted addresses to mint NFTs at any time during a predefined 48-hour period.
There are 3 main steps to get whitelisted for an NFT project.
Find a project before starting it.
Join the project group on Discord.
Follow the instructions to get whitelisted.
Prospects for NFTs
At the moment, NFTs do not represent a value outside the cryptocurrency community, because cryptocurrency technologies have not yet gained universal coverage. But this is a matter of time.
Now NFTs allow you to earn both with and without investments. With earnings on investments in NFT, everything is clear — resale or hope for a future drop. As for earning without investments, here you are also essentially counting on a drop of tokens in the future, but at the same time, do not spend your money on a purchase, but invest your time. For example, you can receive whatlists and sell them before mint on OTC markets. Popular collections are in demand. However, such actions are not always approved by the creators of collections and require a lot of time.