Category: NFT How To

Blur’s NFT Market Domination

Posted on by Tiffany Behnam

Blur.io has taken the NFT marketplace by storm since its launch in October 2022. The platform has quickly become the largest trading platform for NFTs by volume, with a user-friendly interface that caters more to professional NFT traders than retail users.

Unlike other marketplaces, Blur offers batch shelf and floor-sweeping transactions in addition to order book NFT transactions, allowing traders to make batch operations more conveniently (buying NFTs with the lowest price at once). Buyers can not only browse NFTs on Blur but also on other NFT marketplaces and place orders directly through Blur with instant liquidity.

In terms of fees, Blur has a very trader-friendly fee structure and does not charge any transaction fees for users on the platform. In terms of royalties, which are mandatory for a certain percentage of secondary transactions on other marketplaces, Blur recommends a default royalty rate of 0.5% for buyers. However, this can be customized and even set to 0 if the user wishes. Overall, Blur.io offers a more convenient and cost-effective platform for professional NFT traders.

Blur was founded by PacmanBlur, an MIT-graduate and member of the Peter Thiel Fellowship. The product was built in conjunction with support from leading venture capitalists, such as Paradigm. The platform recently completed its $BLUR token airdrop after Season 1 of the incentivization program finished. Users were rewarded ‘Care Packages’ for providing liquidity and trading on the platform, which were available to be opened on the 14th of February. Some traders earned up to $3 million in $BLUR tokens and the project launched at an eye-watering $400 million valuation.

Blur has minted 3 billion BLUR tokens, which will be made accessible over 4 to 5 years. The token allocation is divided into 51% for the community, 29% for past and future core contributors, 19% for investors, and 1% for advisors. A community treasury of 360m BLUR tokens, equivalent to 12% of the total token supply, can be claimed by NFT traders, historical users of Blur, and creators.

The community treasury will distribute 39% of the BLUR supply through contributor grants, community initiatives, and incentive programs, with 10% allocated to the next incentive release. The vesting of BLUR tokens will occur continuously according to a set schedule for each group of token recipients.

Blur has grown to become the largest NFT Marketplace in the world with the help of their incentives program. It has successfully flipped OpenSea within 6 months of release due to its user-friendly UI, low fees, and deeper liquidity for NFTs. The platform boasts impressive stats with over 400,000 active users and $1.4 billion in traded volume according to Dune Analytics.

The Blur platform runs ten times faster than other NFT aggregators, displays the pending transactions on the NFT in less than one second, and updates the list every four seconds. The fast display of pending transactions, together with the nearly real-time metadata update on the collection art display, constitutes a huge advantage for users who want to quickly come in and out. In addition, Blur’s gas priority preset can help traders to outperform the competitors who purchase NFT through other exchanges or aggregators. Most importantly, the contract in Blur is more optimized than that in other markets, saving up to 17% on gas fees.

Another popular feature of Blur is that it can clearly show the rarity of different NFTs and the floor price under specific attributes. Rather than using sales history or a series list to evaluate NFTs that are priced higher than the floor price, Blur’s platform instead searches for the lowest priced NFTs based on their individual characteristics. This function can greatly simplify the process of finding undervalued NFTs, and thus it has become one of the main reasons why collectors and investors are drawn to Blur.

Additionally, the Blur team has also put a lot of effort into improving the user experience of their platform. The website is user-friendly, visually appealing, and easy to navigate, which makes it accessible to even those who are new to the world of NFTs. The team has also made sure that the platform is secure, reliable, and can handle a high volume of transactions without any technical glitches or issues. This has resulted in a seamless experience for users, which has contributed to the platform’s success.

Comparison to other platforms

Blur has emerged as a dominant player in the NFT marketplace due to its unique features, user-friendly interface, and emphasis on security and reliability. With the growing popularity of NFTs, it will be interesting to see how Blur continues to innovate and stay ahead of the competition in the coming years.

The launch of Blur has immediately pushed OpenSea to launch OpenSea Pro, their version of an aggregator. OpenSea Pro aims to compete with this by offering a similar experience, but with added benefits.

One of the key features of OpenSea Pro is its advanced search capabilities. Users can filter and sort through millions of NFTs with ease, making it easier to find exactly what they’re looking for. It also offers better curation tools, enabling collectors to create and manage collections of their favorite NFTs.

OpenSea Pro also boasts faster transaction times and lower gas fees than the regular OpenSea platform. This is due to its integration with a Layer 2 solution called Polygon. Transactions on Polygon are faster and cheaper than on the Ethereum network, which is the main blockchain used by OpenSea.

Another advantage of OpenSea Pro is its dedicated customer support team. OpenSea has received criticism in the past for its lack of customer support, and OpenSea Pro aims to address this by offering a dedicated team that is available to answer questions and resolve issues.

OpenSea Pro is currently in beta, but it’s already making waves in the NFT community. Its advanced features and improved user experience make it a strong competitor to other platforms, including Blur. If you’re an NFT collector or seller, it’s definitely worth checking out.

How to Buy NFTs on Coinbase

Posted on by Andrew Amarosa

Coinbase is the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, with over 73 million users. It’s best known for its easy to use interface and in-depth educational resources, making it the perfect exchange for new investors. 

Now, Coinbase has entered the NFT market with Coinbase NFT. Coinbase NFT works as an extension to the traditional Coinbase platform and requires users to re-sign in with their crypto wallet. 

Here is a step-by-step guide on how you can buy NFTs on Coinbase. 

How To Buy An NFT On Coinbase

  1. Start by heading to https://www.coinbase.com/ and creating a Coinbase account. On the login page, enter your email address and “Get started,” or click the Sign In button on the right side of the page. 
  1. Once logged in, click on the NFT tab on the bottom left hand side of the page. This will open a new tab for the Coinbase NFT platform. 
  1. From here you’ll need to sign in again. Click on the “Sign In” button on the top right and select your wallet. MetaMask and Coinbase are the two most popular options. 
  1. After signing in, look at the current trending NFTs or alternatively search for the collection you want to buy an NFT from. 
  1. Click on your chosen collection and select the NFT you want to buy. After clicking on an NFT, you can view its unique attributes, offers, and recent activity. You’ll also be able to see its “Buy Now” price. 
  1. If you want to buy the NFT instantly, click “Buy Now.” Alternatively, you can make an offer slightly lower than the Buy Now price to bag a bargain. 
  1. After placing your bid, the NFT owner will need to accept your offer. Once accepted, the transaction will be made, and the NFT will be sent to your wallet. 
  1. Congratulations! You’ve now purchased an NFT on Coinbase. 

How To Connect With Your Friends On Coinbase

As well as buying NFTs, the new Coinbase market is also introducing a social side to NFTs. Through the Coinbase extension, you can follow friends, look at their recent activity and show off your latest purchases. Here’s how. 

  1. When logged into Coinbase NFT, click on the “Following” tab at the top of your screen. 
  1. Search through the different accounts to follow, or use the search tab to look for your friend’s account. 
  1. Click on the account to look at the NFTs they own or look at their most recent activity to see what they’ve been up to.  

Coinbase NFT: The New OpenSea?

With Coinbase dominating the cryptocurrency industry, could it overtake current NFT exchanges such as OpenSea when it comes to NFT sales? At the moment, it’s a little hard to say. 

Coinbase NFT is still in its Beta phase, and it definitely feels that way. It uses a similar interface to Coinbase, but doesn’t quite have the usability of OpenSea. It lacks the different categories offered by OpenSea and seems a little limited in its offerings, with the main focus being on popular collections. 

That being said, it definitely has the potential to influence the NFT market, especially if Coinbase can successfully convert its new crypto user base to NFTs. 

Coinbase NFT FAQs

Does Coinbase Sell Solana NFTs?

No. As of December 2022 Coinbase only offers Ethereum NFTs. 

Are There Any Selling Fees On The Platform?

Coinbase is currently running an early phase sale program where there are no fees for sales. Fees will be a part of the platform after its Beta phase, though no official date has been released. 

I Have No Experience With NFTs. Can I Still Use Coinbase To Buy NFTs?

Of course. Coinbase makes it easy to buy NFTs with their dedicated wallet. This wallet will already be used as part of your cryptocurrency account, which makes it easy to adapt. You can also learn more about NFTs through the Coinbase Learning Portal. 

What Wallets Can I Use To Buy Coinbase NFTs?

Current wallets include MetaMask, Coinbase, and WalletConnect. 

I’m Experiencing An Issue With My Coinbase NFTs. Who Can I Contact?

You can contact the Coinbase team directly here. Using the support center you can report issues about the product you’re having issues with or contact the support team directly.  

Can I Buy Music NFTs on Coinbase?

No. As of December 2022 music NFTs are not available via Coinbase.

What Are The Most Popular Collections On Coinbase?

Coinbase offers some of the most popular NFT collections, including BoredApeYachtClub (BAYC), CryptoPunks, Otherdeed For Otherside, and More Loot. 

Does Coinbase Offer New Collections?

Yes! Drops are a part of the Coinbase NFT platform and can be found on the “Drops” tab. Each drop has its own countdown and a “Remind Me” button, where you can sign up with your email to be the first to hear about any project updates. You can also view comments from other investors underneath each drop. 

What Does Minting Mean When It Comes to NFTs?

Posted on by Anthony Georgiades

Minting is the process of creating an asset on the blockchain. It’s the process used to create non-fungible tokens (NFTs,) which are blockchain-based tokens that prove ownership of an item such as a piece of music, profile picture, or image. 

They first grew in popularity in 2021, with collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club and CryptoPunks making international headlines for their huge price tags. Since then, brands such as Nike and Adidas have created their collections, doubling the number of collections in just one year. 

So what exactly is minting an NFT? How does minting work, and what does it cost? In this article, we’ll answer each of these questions: how long it takes to mint an NFT, the most famous mints, and how an NFT gas war can impact the minting price.

What Is Minting An NFT?

Minting an NFT is the process of creating an asset stored on the blockchain, where its authenticity and ownership are proven. The blockchain itself can’t be edited, which makes ownership indisputable.

Minting an NFT is usually completed on platforms like OpenSea, which provides users with the tools to mint their collection. In addition to these tools, creators will also need the art they plan to use and details of unique accessories and features. Some general knowledge about blockchain technology is also useful but not essential. 

To mint a collection, creators will need a crypto wallet with the cryptocurrency needed to put their collection on the blockchain. Most NFTs are created with Ether (ETH), though Solana (SOL) and Cardano (ADA) are also popular options. 

After paying all fees and uploading the necessary files to create a new token, the platform you use will register your new asset on the blockchain, which can be listed on exchanges to generate a crypto income,

How Does NFT Minting Work?

Minting For Creators

As a creator, minting an NFT lets creators create scarcity, secondary earnings, and verified ownership. Creators can create limited edition pieces, specialized collections, and more, all of which are validated on the blockchain. 

Minting also lets creators build communities and perks for collectors who buy their NFTs and generate a passive income through “creator fees,” which charge a small percentage of each secondary sale. 

Creators can complete the process on platforms like Solsea and Opensea, which cover all complex coding, allowing creators to focus on the art. 

Minting For Collectors

As a collector, minting allows you to become part of a community. When minting from a new project, collectors become the first-ever owner of a particular NFT. Minting from a new collection is like buying a pack of collectible cards; you never know how rare the NFT will be. 

Minting as a collector requires you to go to the developer’s website. On the website, there will be an option to “Mint.” Connect your wallet, pay all fees, and your NFT will arrive in around 30 minutes. 

How Much Does Minting Cost?

The cost of minting depends on the “gas price” (transaction fee.) This is paid to the blockchain and will vary depending on the time of day and overall activity. Minting an NFT can cost as little as $0.01 but can go as high as $500 to a few thousand dollars. If gas fees are particularly high when minting an NFT, you can always return later to mint at a lower price. Just make sure the collection won’t sell out before then!

How Long Does It Take to Mint an NFT?

Minting an NFT can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 3-4 hours, depending on how experienced you are with the platform. 

The actual minting process is the stage at which your NFT is published. Before minting, you need to create the art for the collection and decide how many NFTs you plan to create and how you plan to promote the collection.

Most Famous Mints

CryptoPunks

CryptoPunks was first released in June 2017 and became the most popular NFT collection of all time. What makes this mint famous is that it was completely free. Anyone with an Ethereum wallet could claim a CryptoPunk.

Following its release, many collections replicated the 10k profile picture trend, and CryptoPunks went on to sell for millions. As of December 2022, CryptoPunks remains the most valuable NFT collection on the planet. 

Quantum 

Quantum is commonly cited as the first NFT ever minted. It was minted in May 2014

(May 2014) on a site known as Namecoin. After its initial mint, Quantum was forgotten about for years until going on auction at Sotheby’s in June 2021, where it sold for over $1 million. 

The Eternal

The Eternal is the fastest-selling NFT collection to be minted, selling out in just seven minutes. It was released by Anthony Hopkins, who partnered with NFT company Orange Comet. It was sold on 13th October and showcased 1000 NFTs consisting of 10 unique animation NFTs and 990 unique images. 

What Is an NFT Gas War?

An NFT gas war is a bit like a bidding contest with too many bidders. It starts when the demand for an NFT is higher than its supply- for example when a popular new NFT collection is released. This increase in demand causes the blockchain to slow, and consequently, some investors tip blockchain validators to speed up the transaction. As a result, the gas fee increases based on the tip. 

To beat other bidders, investors will keep paying higher fees until most investors can’t afford the gas fees. This causes the overall traffic to decrease and prioritizes the highest bidders, which can be frustrating for investors with smaller budgets as it could price them out completely. 

It’s important to note that gas fees will also differ based on the platform and the time of day. In some situations, the gas fee can be higher than the listed sale price of the NFT. Therefore, it’s important you research the gas fee before selling or buying an NFT. 

Final Thoughts: Minting Isn’t As Complex As You May Think 

Minting an NFT isn’t quite as complex as it’s made out to be. While you need to consider factors such as gas fees and the platform to mint, once you have the designs in place, most platforms will take care of everything for you. Be diligent with your research beforehand and ensure that the gas fee is within your budget- the last thing you want to do is bid for an asset only to realize you can afford the gas. 

Minting is a great way to make money as a digital creator. As NFT technology advances, its use cases and widespread adoption will also increase, making it a great time to get involved in the market. 

Magic Eden NFT Marketplace Explained (Read Before Using)

Posted on by Anthony Georgiades

Magic Eden is the world’s most popular Solana NFT marketplace, with over 10 million unique users and 20,000 daily transactions. It lets users sell non-fungible tokens (NFTs), including art and music NFTs. 

In August 2022, the company announced it would release Ethereum NFTs, though its primary blockchain would remain Solana. It also released an optional royalty model in October 2022, replacing the 2% platform fee. 

In this article, we’ll look at what the Magic Eden marketplace is, how it works, who founded it, and its unique launchpad feature. 

What Is The Magic Eden NFT Marketplace?

Magic Eden is a decentralized NFT marketplace where users can buy, create, sell and trade Solana and Ethereum NFTs. 

The platform showcases a range of NFT collections, including digital collectibles such as Okay Bears, y00ts, and the Degenerate Ape Academy, as well as music NFTs and gaming collectibles. 

As the world’s most popular Solana NFT marketplace, 90% of all secondary Solana NFT platforms are completed on Magic Eden, which has a trading volume of over $1.44 billion. 

Magic Eden raised $27 million during its Series A funding round, helping it compete with other NFT marketplaces such as OpenSea. In July 2022, Magic Eden raised an additional $130 million in a Series B funding round, which was led by Electric Capital and Greylock. Magic Eden was valued at $1.6 billion following this second funding round. 

As of December 2022, Magic Eden users have access to a marketplace where they can search using different categories such as “Most Popular,” “Auctions,” or by release date. They also have access to an insights tab, a tab for Magic Eden games, and a unique launchpad. 

When searching for a collection, users can filter stats based on the last 24 hours, week, or 30 days. They can also filter NFTs based on the unique attributes of a collection. These attributes include eyes, mouth, background, and other features. Or, if an investor has a specific budget in mind, they can filter an NFT collection based on its status and price. 

Through the insights tab, users can view live auctions and recent market activity for all collections. This is great for collectors who want to stay up to date, with options for everything from recent transactions to top holders. 

How Does The Magic Eden Marketplace Work?

To get started with Magic Eden, you need a Solana-compatible wallet such as Exodus, Trezor, or SolFlare. You then need to purchase SOL to cover the price of the NFT plus the Solana blockchain fee. 

From here, you can connect your wallet to Magic Eden by clicking the “Connect Wallet” button on the right side of the screen. You don’t need to make an account. Once connected, you can buy any NFT collection on the platform by bidding on it at auction or clicking “Buy now” to make an instant purchase. 

In November 2022 the most popular collection on Magic Eden was Claynosaurz, followed by y00ts and DeGods. The most popular collection of all time remains Okay Bears, a profile-picture NFT collection showcasing a range of bears with unique, quirky characteristics. 

Alongside a comprehensive website, Magic Eden has its own iOS app. This app lets users browse a range of NFT collections; however, it doesn’t let users buy NFTs. NFT purchases are currently limited to the web browser. 

Although mostly focused on Solana collections, Magic Eden also supports Ethereum (ETH) collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), Otherdeed For Otherside, and Azuki. These can be found on the “Popular Collections” tab under the “Ethereum” section. 

If you want to get involved in the future of Magic Eden, you can also purchase Magic Tickets on the site. Each ticket grants you access to the Magic Eden decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). The DAO is currently an exclusive Discord channel where users can vote on future marketplace policies. 

Who Founded The Magic Eden Marketplace

Magic Eden was founded in 2021 by four friends: Sidney Zhang, Jack Lu, Zhuoxun Yin, and Zhuojie Zhou. Before founding Magic Eden, each member had previous crypto and development experience. 

Sidney Zhang formerly worked as an Uber Eats developer, Jack Lu worked at FTX, Zhuoxun Yin was a product manager at Coinbase, and Zhuojie Zhou worked as a Facebook developer. 

Magic Eden Launchpad

To promote the adoption and success of Solana NFTs, Magic Eden created a unique launchpad to kick-start NFT artists’ projects. The launchpad works in a similar way to an art auction house, with all collections accepted by the launchpad being featured on the front page of the site. 

As well as promoting NFT collections, the Magic Eden Launchpad helps creators actually mint their NFTs. It uses an innovative automatic distribution system that takes care of the technical side of NFT creation. This lets creators focus on the artwork instead of worrying about complex coding. 

To be part of the launchpad, creators are required to go through a vigorous application process, which will look at the project, its utility, and its design. This process is extremely strict, and only 5% of applications are accepted. 

Popular launchpad collections include Syberials: Mint Scrolls, Moon Strike NFT, and WADE Collab. HumanX, Plato Eats: Foodies, and Toys R Us are also set to be released at the start of December. 

Final Thoughts: Magic Eden Is The Best Marketplace For Solana NFTs 

With over 90% of secondary Solana NFT sales, Magic Eden is by far the most preferred NFT marketplace for Solana-based projects. It’s easy to use, with a seamless interface that makes it easy to find top collections, analyze current stats and search for gaming-based NFTs. 

By combining Solana and Ethereum NFTs, the platform has made itself a one-stop shop for NFTs, where both creators and investors can find and buy the collections they want. 

The standout feature of the Magic Eden marketplace is its launchpad. As its launchpad grows in popularity, it will help the platform become the first place new creators look towards when creating their collections. This will only speed up the widespread adoption of Magic Eden, which could one day compete with the likes of OpenSea to become one of the world’s largest NFT marketplaces. 

SmartMint Banff Release

Posted on by Tiffany Behnam

Our latest release includes refined functionality, a number of additional features, support for minting on Solana, and much more!

We are very excited to announce that we have just released our SmartMint Banff update, our largest upgrade to the novel no-code minting platform to date! In this release, we have refined functionality of SmartMint’s core workflows, added a number of features to enhance user experience and minting capabilities, and extended SmartMint compatibility to support minting NFTs directly on Solana.

First, a refresher on SmartMint.

SmartMint is an NFT minting platform where users can easily create, manage, and mint NFTs on their own custom smart contracts. The tool also provides creators with additional peace of mind as it leverages Pastel’s infrastructure for near-duplicate NFT detection (Sense) and permanent NFT data storage (Cascade).

SmartMint enables creators to mint NFTs directly on Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, Pastel, and more with a simple click of a button. Creators can launch drops on SmartMint as their backend management platform and list NFTs for sale on their own site or marketplaces like OpenSea.

SmartMint makes minting NFT drops and collections easy and more powerful than ever.

SmartMint Banff Release Features

The SmartMint Banff release was a labor of love for the Pastel team. We spent countless hours ensuring SmartMint is the easiest and most powerful NFT creation platform in the ecosystem.

Please see below for details on what’s included in the latest upgrade:

Bulk Upload

  • Users can now easily utilize CSV or JSON files to automatically upload metadata and generate mass quantities of NFTs with the click of a button. No need to manually enter properties and traits for individual NFTs one at time.

Additional File Format Support

  • SmartMint now supports minting of various file types such as SVG, GIF, MP3, MP4, and more.

Solana Support

  • Users can now create NFT collections and drops directly on the Solana network via SmartMint, as we support the industry’s most up-to-date standards like Metaplex’s Candy Machine Protocol.

List-For-Sale (“Sell”) NFT Button

  • NFTs that you have created, minted, or own now have a Sell NFT Button to make listing for sale easier than ever. Simply click the button and select the marketplace of your choosing.

Submit a Request

  • User can submit tickets directly to the Pastel support team regarding issues they face on the platform. Submissions can include any issues such as those related to logging in, creating collections, and more.

Deleting Drops/Collections/NFTs

  • Creators can now delete draft collections, drops, and NFTs that have yet to be deployed.

Social Share Profile/NFT Button

  • Users can now share their own profile and NFT creations through the Social Share Button. Creators will have a link that they can send to their followers to view their profile or NFTs.

Additional Filters to View Drops and Collections

  • As your NFT profile continues to grow, we have implemented additional filters to help creators better view their various drops and collections. Filters include networks minted on, release date, mint price, and more.

Directly Download CSV Files for NFTs

  • Users can download a CSV file containing all the different metadata, properties, rankings, and stats of their NFTs.

Click on User Profile to View Collections in One Place

  • Under the Creator Info Tab, users can now view all the NFT creations as well as their Collections/Drops in one area.

CertiK Audit — Awarded the Gold CertiK KYC Badge!

Recently, we engaged CertiK to run a Smart Contract Audit of SmartMint Factory and Drop Contracts deployed on Ethereum and Polygon. We have successfully resolved all identified issues and updated the core contracts.

We are also pleased to confirm that we have successfully passed every stage of the CertiK KYC process and were awarded the official — and highest level — Gold CertiK KYC Badge!

This Comprehensive KYC Badge brings an additional security layer to our project and proves to our community and to the world our willingness to demonstrate the highest level of transparency and trustworthiness.

Our CertiK KYC Badge Award has been published on the CertiK Security Leaderboard, and can be verified here: https://www.certik.com/projects/pastel-network

SmartMint is a game-changer for the NFT ecosystem because of its simplicity and versatility. Start creating on SmartMint today!

Link to sign up: https://smartmint.pastel.network/signup

About Pastel Network

Pastel Network is a fully decentralized, developer-friendly layer-1 blockchain serving as the preeminent protocol standard for non-fungible tokens (“NFTs”) and Web3 technology.

Pastel allows for the development of third-party decentralized-applications (“DApps”) to sit on top of its Network, enabling developers to enjoy the scalable registration features, storage processes, and security of the broader ecosystem. Lightweight protocols such as Sense — which was built to assess the relative rareness of a given NFT against near-duplicate metadata — and Cascade — which conducts permanent, distributed storage of underlying NFT data — can be integrated cross-chain across various layer-1 blockchains, layer-2 protocols, or other third-party apps.

Pastel is managed by world-class developers, cryptographers, and technologists, supported alongside an experienced and extensive network of marketers, influencers, and third-party agencies. Pastel is backed by key stakeholders including Innovating Capital, a prominent venture fund.

For more information on Pastel Network, visit https://pastel.network/.

Originally Published on Pastel Network’s Medium

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