NFT Development – Fully Updated 2022 Guide

Video Transcript:

Rob: We’re gonna go through the article about nft development, a fully updated guide written by professionals I have with me here Josh our lead blockchain development manager. Hi Josh how are you?
 
Josh: Thank you for asking Rob. Thanks for inviting me again.
 
Rob: Yeah thanks for being here let’s dive right into it. Let’s start with what benefits would you say of nft development.
 
Josh: So I mentioned in the article that there are several benefits. The first one is assured authenticity because nft development employs the advantages that we have using blockchain technology, it provides an accurate assured authenticity of any token that is being minted. The second one is simple transferability, which means that nfts can be traded easily on different platforms like opensea, rarible, and other third-party marketplaces. The third it’s a new technique of making money because using nfts companies can raise funds to support their roadmap and projects in the next two to five years, wherein previously startup companies will need to employ the help of angel investors and other VCs to be able to do so, and lastly, it eliminates thirds parties. So you get frustrated when you pay intermediaries or third parties like banks when you’re buying or selling something, with nfts, it eliminates these third parties because blockchain is definitely decentralized and nobody is controlling it, so that’s the benefit of nft development.
 
Rob: Okay let’s go into understanding the different types of blockchain technologies.
 
Josh: Different blockchain network has been established, during the start is just bitcoin and then Ethereum was made. A lot of new blockchain technologies have also been created in the past few years including Solana, Polygon which is a layer2, layer2 network for Ethereum, this being able to understand this type of blockchains and how it will fit into your project is very important these days to be able to maximize whatever benefits every existing blockchain has.
 
Rob: All right what about storefront development?
 
Josh: It is really important to have an easy-to-use landing page for nfts where people can buy and sell similar to what we have with Shopify and other e-commerce sites, so being able to allow easy access to buying and selling nfts will be very beneficial to any nft project.
 
Rob: And wallet incorporation?
 
Josh: Yeah one thing the difference between using nfts and the usual fiat system is one needs to have a web3 wallet like metamask, so it is really important that your nft website has an incorporated wallet like metamask to be able to do transactions.
 
Rob: And what kind of storage platforms are involved?
 
Josh: There are a lot of choices for storage platforms. Some projects will be using the usual cloud storage that we have like amazon s3, but the majority of the products to provide a way of centralization uses ipfs like pinata.cloud wherein the assets are stored in a decentralized manner so it will not be controlled by any single entity like the usual cloud services providers like Amazon and Google cloud.
 
Rob: Okay what can you tell us about smart contract creation?
 
Josh: Smart contract is actually the backbone of any nft project or any blockchain project being able to build smart contracts is the most important part of the project. So in building smart contracts we have to make sure that these smart contracts are secured. So we need to employ people who are experts on their field, especially in the field of nfts development to do the job there are a lot of people these days claiming to have the ability to build smart contracts but the question is are they experts enough to build the smart contracts to provide enough security so that the project will not be compromised in the future.
 
Rob: Okay what about the steps of nft development?
 
Josh: The steps actually is very simple the first one is developing the nft, so for expansion you need your assets and ipfs, the nft name design, and the total supply which is very important, adding functionality to the smart contract depending on the project, and lastly you need to test the product properly so like I said to be able to know if there are any vulnerability or security issues that might be a problem in the future.
 
Rob: And what to keep into account when hiring an nft development company?
 
Josh: So hiring an nft development company the right one is very important because as mentioned if you have a project that is deployed in a blockchain this is expected to last almost a lifetime, and if a simple mistake is done by the company that you hired this cannot be reversed because smart contracts are immutable in nature. So the first one is very important, check the company’s portfolio, make sure the company has enough experience in building this type of project, nft projects, and smart contracts, to be able to have that confidence in that company and second check reviews from previous customers. So a lot of companies are everywhere, they offer services similar to this, but are there customers or previous customers satisfied with what they’ve done in the past? So that’s two things that are very important to check in hiring an nft development company.
 
Rob: And what about nft exchange development?
 
Josh: Exchanges are important platforms where it facilitates nft selling and buying so we can also opt to build these nft exchanges if you feel that your project needs it, because if you have nfts after a successful launch especially if it’s a project that is a long-term one you will love to have people to be able to sell and buy these nfts in an exchange. So it’s better, I mean it’s not required but it’s a good thing to have your own nft exchange.
 
Rob: Understood, and marketplace design and development places?
 
Josh: So building a marketplace for your nfts is one thing, there are a lot of things that you need to take into account the first one is crypto wallets so what particular wallets are supported in that particular chain, some marketplaces allow multiple or multi-network changes so they can transact using Ethereum, you can transact using Solana or polygon. You have to define which particular crypto wallets that are specific to that blockchain, so for example most of the time it is metamask then it can accommodate multiple Ethereum chains and multiple Ethereum-based chains. Solana, it’s a phantom wallet, so you have to know which wallet you need to incorporate for marketplace designs. Auctions and sales, so marketplaces like useful marketplaces, it’s also good to have an auction in the sale. So the smart contract that is being built for your specific marketplace needs to have the ability to do an auction and allow adjustment of the prices if you want to put something on sale. Yeah, smart contracts are mentioned, so this is the backbone of any project including marketplaces, and it’s important that you have enough functionalities done with a smart contract that you built to allow you to easily trade, set auction, set sales inside your marketplace, and lastly the cost of operations. So since these platforms consume energy, it is important for you to know um how much it costs to run a certain platform, annually or in the next five years. Thus the budget for your project needs to be able to be adapted to that particular cost.
 
Rob: All right and let’s go to the erc721a smart contract in terms of the reduction of gas fees.
 
Josh: Okay so erc721a for people who are not familiar with it, is actually an improvement of the erc721 which is the standard for Ethereum nft development, or Ethereum based blockchains like polygon and Binance smart chains. So the introduction of erc721 addresses the problem with gas fees or transaction fees within the nft smart contract that was built for Ethereum. So if you wanted to build a new nft project make sure that the agency that you are working with to build this platform has experience in building an erc721a smart contract, because this will definitely help you in reducing gas fees and will allow your customer to be able to buy more nfts when you launch your product.
 
Rob: All right and then how to mint nft, what things to consider?
 
Josh: Yeah for minting nfts, things that you need to consider. The first one is the type of blockchain that you want your nfts to be built on top of, for example, most of the time it’s Ethereum as mentioned but Solana and Polygon are also popular choices especially for nft projects, because of the lower gas fees they offer. So you need to find a balance between the liquidity of the nft and then the transaction fees. So most of the time people will still opt to work on top of Ethereum, but there are also several products already built on top of Solana, on top of Polygon, and on top of another evm alternative, the Binance Smart Chain.  
 
Rob: And what should people know about the nft minting costs?
 
Josh: As mentioned minting cost is definitely something that you need to know. Why? Since being able to mint an nft will require two types of cost, the first one is the minting cost which is the actual price of the nft, and then it will be added to the transaction fee, so the total minting cost of an nft is the price of the nft plus the transaction fees so for third party marketplaces like opensea they also charge additional transaction fees on top of it, that’s why some people are surprised when they buy nfts, why they’re charged way more than they expected. So just to wrap things up with nft minting costs, you have to take into consideration the price of the nft, plus the transaction fees, plus the royalty or charges that the third-party marketplace is adding on top of the transaction.
 
Rob: Excellent thank you so much, Josh, appreciate it, and see you all next time goodbye.