TYPES OF NFT MINTS

Minting an NFT (Non-fungible Token) is uploading a digital asset onto a blockchain, this in turn grants the NFT distinct features and a unique ID. This is done so that it can be bought, sold, traded or permanently registered on-chain.

Below @DanMazz sheds light and important information on a few type of minting and their features;

1️⃣・LAZY MINTING is pocket friendly for creators and allows them to list NFTs on marketplaces at no cost (gas fees). However it may solve the problem of high transaction rating on a blockchain network, it also presents a major disadvantage especially to utility-based NFTs because they will exist off-chain which implies it is not validated on the blockchain and possesses no smart contracts yet.

The implication of this for utility-based NFTs is that as long as these assets are not minted and belong to “no one”, not even the creator, no one can benefit from it. We can call these sleeping assets.

2️⃣・BLIND MINTING is a category of minting which does not reveal purchased NFTs unless the entire collection is sold out. These NFTs are initially uploaded through IPFS (or equivalent) and bulk minted with no gas fees. Compared to open-display NFT collections, investors do not have the luxury to choose what they are buying, making them solely dependent on luck to get a good NFT. The investors might end up with multiple NFTs with almost identical attributes. This, in turn, will have a bad impact on secondary market. When you have too much of the same thing you end up selling the ones you don’t want to keep. High secondary market supply usually tends to bring the price down.

If the collection doesn’t sell out, the situation becomes critical and two main solutions are then available, each with serious consequences. One, the creators decide to delay the unsold NFTs for a second drop, which will dilute the rarities that were prorated after the reveal of the first batch. Two, the creator simply burns the unsold NFTs and never reveal them, which will have an effect on; the initial collection dynamic, and the opportunity for the creator to raise the money they need to continue developing the project’s roadmap.

3️⃣・PAID MINTING is when creators go through all the process, like Blind minting, but they mint all the collection for themselves; pay the gas fees, which will deploy the NFTs and smart contracts on the blockchain. These NFTs are then visible on the marketplaces and the FULL collection is revealed.

Compared to lazy minting, paid-minted NFTs are the property of the creator until they are purchased by someone else. And unlike blind minting, collectors have the luxury of choice to select whichever NFT they wish to acquire. Investors can see the rarity levels of NFTs regardless if the collection sells out or not, this gives them the ability to create their preferred collection of specific NFTs according to their budget, the features they need, the advantages they might get and create a diversified portfolio within that specific asset.

Creators who utilize paid minting are willing to spend money on their project, which proves that they believe in their project and that the hype is not important.

Paid minting for utility NFTs is the most favorable type of minting for investors. Whenever investors are at the epicenter of the creators’ concerns, projects can only succeed!! They won’t succeed over a “couple of minutes sell out” but they will succeed over the long run. These utility-based NFT projects are the ones that are here to stay!”