Do you have a piece of digital art that you're constantly in awe of? You've looked at it multiple times through different eyes? Maybe even showed some of your friends and they've gushed at how amazing those pieces are. You've imagined sharing it with the world and you don't know how to go about it?

The solution and what you need is simply Non-fungible tokens, also known as NFTs. NFTs represent a new way of trading digital assets with the world whilst still getting credit for what you've done and generating compensation for your work. Your art could be anything; GIFs, paintings, photographs, etc.

NFTs are unique and serve as a unique representation of ownership of digital art and collectibles. Are you just starting your journey into the world of NFTs? Read on to get some insight into this world of digital assets.

What are NFTs?

NFTs stand as a digital asset that serves to represent unique ownership of an item. It could be anything from an art piece, to a domain name, etc.

They are stored on the blockchain which serves to ensure that they are foolproof and secure. All transactions on the NFT collection are recorded on the blockchain. This further ensures that all of the ins and outs of the NFTs are well-recorded and can be accessed by everyone.

How Do NFTs Work?

The process by which NFT works simply follows a flow of creation, minting, and selling.

Choose a Blockchain Platform

To create an NFT, you need to choose a platform where you will store it and where you can sell it. The most popular blockchain platform for NFTs is Ethereum, but there are other options available, such as Solana and Polygon.

Create a Cryptocurrency Wallet You'd Make Use of

You also need to create a crypto wallet, which is like a digital bank account where you can store your NFTs and cryptocurrency. This wallet will also be where you'd get to pay the minting fee.

Connect Your Wallet to an NFT Marketplace

An NFT marketplace is a platform where you can buy, sell, and trade NFTs. Once you have set up your crypto wallet, you would need to connect it to an NFT marketplace.

Create Your NFT

Once you have connected your wallet to an NFT marketplace, you can go ahead to create your NFT. This will involve uploading your digital asset, such as an image, video, or music file. You will also need to set a price for your NFT and set a reasonable price to be paid in cryptocurrency.

Mint Your NFT

After you have created your NFT, you need to mint it on the blockchain. This is the process of adding your NFT to the blockchain platform that you chose earlier, i.e. when it gets converted from being a digital asset to being an actual NFT.

Once you've minted your NFT, it means that you've created a digital record of the NFT on the blockchain. This means that the NFT automatically has a unique identifier, which is called a token ID. Note that there is a fee for minting this NFT, which is called a gas fee. Also, note that each blockchain has a unique means of minting NFTs, so you'd need to do more research in this area to get the hang of it.

Listing Your NFT for Sale

After you've succeeded in minting your NFT, you can list it for sale on the NFT marketplace. From then on, anyone can buy your listed NFT with the set amount of cryptocurrency you've allowed for it.

When someone buys your NFT, the transaction will be recorded on the blockchain and the NFT will be transferred to their crypto wallet. The new owner will then possess the token ID which would help them to be able to prove that they're the actual owners.

What are the Benefits of NFTs?

There are several benefits to getting NFTs:

Ownership: NFTs provide a clear and verifiable way to prove ownership of digital assets.

Security: NFTs are stored on a blockchain, which is a secure and tamper-proof ledger.
Liquidity: NFTs can be easily traded and bought on secondary markets.

Uniqueness: NFTs are unique and cannot be replaced. This makes them ideal for representing ownership of digital art and other collectibles.

How to Buy and Sell NFTs?

If you want to buy and sell NFTs, you'd need to create a Crypto wallet where you'd deposit cryptocurrency into.

Once you have this wallet, you can connect it to the NFT marketplace you're interested in, then go ahead to browse the NFTs listed for sale and start bidding.

What are the Risks of NFTs?

As much as NFTs provide so many benefits, you'd also need to be wary of the risks it possesses as well.

Some of these risks include:

Volatility: The prices of NFTs can be extremely volatile. This means that it can go up or down in value within the twinkle of an eye. Before buying any NFT, it's best to do thorough research and get into NFT projects with string utility.

Scams: There are so many scams in the NFT space. Some might create a scam NFT just to make profits off buyers and that would be the end of that project. You must do intense research before jumping into any project, NFT or not.

Tips to Mitigate Loss When Buying and Selling NFTs

If you want to go into the NFT world, here are a few tips that would help you mitigate losses when buying and selling your digital assets:

Always do Intense Research: Before you buy any NFT, do thorough Research on the project as well as the owner. Ensure that the owner is reputable in the space as someone who is trusted and doxxed as well.

Make judgement from the community values: Join the community of the project. Are they excited about the project? Do they seem botty? Are they interested in what is being built? These metrics would also be a pointer to let you know if it's a valid project.

Use a reputable NFT marketplace: There are so many NFT marketplaces and not all of them are legitimate. It's important that as the creator of an NFT, you pick one that's known to be very reputable. This will also help to ensure that you get attention to your project as buyers would not be interested in an NFT listed on a marketplace that's not reputable. One way to detect good marketplaces is to find those with good reviews, a track record of security as well as good customer support service.

Securely store your NFTs: Once you purchase an NFT, it's important to store it in a wallet that's not been exposed to scams or hacks. As a rule of thumb, I'd usually make use of a new wallet to take part in a mint and then store it together with the others I have later. This is to protect myself from losing all other assets in case the minted NFT turns out to still be suspicious even after my research.

Watch out for Scams/ Scam Alerts: Multiple accounts on Twitter do validations and research in regards to tokens as well as NFTs. You could take time out to check such accounts and what they think about the particular NFT you want to purchase. Also, be alert and careful before authenticating any smart contract.

Final Words

NFTs are revolutionizing the way digital assets are traded. Nevertheless, you mustn't lose your guard in observing key security tactics when buying or selling NFTs.

Some African artists are already making use of NFTs in selling their art and one way this benefits them is that they get to reach a wider audience across the globe. Of course, monetization is also a key benefit for these artists who could not make money from their work before now. With NFTs, African artists can now sell their work directly to art/ NFT collectors and get paid directly for the food work done.

If you're looking for a new means of income, it might just be time for you to delve into the world of NFTs. You'd get to share your work with the world as well as make money from the job well done.