With the popularity of non-fungible tokens or NFTs, companies are making plays to get involved in this new finTech market.
FTX is one of the prominent platforms where you can mint and own NFTs. These new kinds of digital assets are taking off in a big way, in the entertainment industry, in athletics and music, and beyond. FTX is a high-profile trading environment with a good reputation when it comes to crypto and NFT handling. But before getting involved, it’s important to know what these digital items are and the kinds of value that they represent.
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What is an NFT?
The non-fungible token or NFT is a digital asset held on a blockchain.
It's like a cryptocurrency in some ways, except that cryptocurrency tokens are interchangeable. Each one is a single unit of a particular currency, with its own market and trading volume.
An NFT is different – the token itself is unique, and not exchangeable for any other token or digital asset.
NFTs are now commonly being used as underlying assets to represent digital works of art, memes and other intellectual property.
Minting NFTs with FTX
FTX is one of the best places to work with NFTs, minting them and holding them in digital wallets
Its ecosystem makes it a good environment for NFT minting and trading. FTX also has name recognition, too, with figures like Sam Bankman-Fried and Alameda Research involved in its creation. It’s becoming a clearing house for these types of assets, as more people catch on to the potential and what’s possible with NFTs.
How to Mint
To mint an NFT 9on FTX, just select “mint” from the create menu.
Then put in the critical information about your NFT,in order to create it on your desired blockchain.
Prior to minting, you're going to have to go through KYC (know your customer) processes, providing proof of your identity,location and phone number. Like other platforms, FTX uses appropriate KYC information to make sure that assets in the exchange are not fraudulently transacted, and to make sure they comply with government agency directives.
When you go to mint, you'll also have to name an “issuer” which is how you will describe yourself as the creator of the NFT.
Then you make a name for your NFT batch.
Next, you're going to select a currency in which you will price your NFT. After that, you'll put in a range of information describing the NFT you’re creating.
FTX and NFT Approval Processes
After all of this, you will submit your NFT for approval.
There's a three dollar fee for submitting your NFT, but that money would be returned generally if your NFT is not approved.
You can choose a cryptocurrency that you hold in order to pay the fee.
Minting on Different Blockchains
In the minting process, there is a big decision you'll have to make about how to mint your NFT.
Essentially, you’re choosing between two block chains: Ethereum and Solana.
Ethereum was the king of smart contracts and NFTs for the first few years, as this market developed.
Then contenders came on the scene. Solana is one of these altcoins that is used in order to avoid high gas fees on the Ethereum network.
Gas fees, simply, are the costs of making a transaction on a given blockchain. Ethereum gas fees can be prohibitively high – think about paying $100 worth of Ethereum to trade an NFT.
There are a lot of dynamic factors in gas fees, but in general, Solana gas fees are, relatively, very low compared to, say, typical ETH fees. So NFT minters have to choose between an environment that's more traditional but expensive, and a new blockchain that's very cheap to mint on.
Depositing NFTs in an FTX Wallet
With the KYC procedures complete, you can register and choose your Ethereum or Solana wallet to input your NFT. It's important to put it in the right wallet, or the asset itself can be lost.
The Draw of FTX for NFT Creation and Holding
FTX is popular with NFT makers for a few key reasons. First, you have access to a community with over 1 million crypto and NFT traders. There are derivatives,options and various types of tokens on offer in the FTX ecosystem, and a Visa FTX card for crypto on-ramps. FTX, as mentioned, has a good reputation in the industry, and NFT minting tools are user-friendly and intuitive. For better security, there’s cold storage wallet functionality, and multifactor authentication, as well as external backing of all hot wallet deposits. Features like a withdrawal lock and capability for whitelisting IPs and wallets are also part of the appeal of FTX in today’s NFT market.
All of this adds to the utility that users can get from a platform that supports a range of investment strategies, with the functionality that drives results in blockchain asset management.