What Is A Non-Fungible Token (NFT)?
A non-fungible token (NFT) is a digital asset stored on a blockchain. These assets cannot be traded like for like, this is in direct comparison to cryptocurrencies.
NFTs have unique metadata and identifiers encoded within them which distinguishes them from other tokens. These are encoded within a smart contract tied to the token. Having it still functioning as a token of sorts allows for the transaction history to be verified on the blockchain and thus the legitimacy of the NFT.
What Does It Mean To Mint An NFT?
The term “minting” is derived from the process of bringing new money into the economy.
Similarly, minting an NFT is the process of officially publishing a token and its metadata to a blockchain. This allows for the NFT to start trading on a blockchain, converting an ordinary JPEG or similar file into an NFT, usually on the Ethereum blockchain as an ERC-721 token.
Once the NFT is minted, it doesn’t need to be minted ever again, minting is a one-time process.
What Is Lazy Minting?
Typically an NFT is minted prior to being listed on a marketplace such as Rarible or OpenSea, although sometimes creators get lazy.
Lazy minting means that the NFT is only minted once it is purchased and in this case, the gas fees associated with the NFT are paid for by the buyer.[1]OpenSea – Create NFTs for Free on OpenSea The NFT is minted in the creator’s wallet before being automatically transferred to the buyer’s wallet through the use of a smart contract.
Gas Fees When Minting NFTs
A gas fee is usually needed for this process as publishing the token’s smart contract is technically a transaction. In the same sense that miners will use computational power to verify a transaction on the blockchain, they must do the same to verify an NFT being added to the chain.
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