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diff --git a/static/src/_posts/2021-12-01-minting-a-single-nft.md b/static/src/_posts/2021-12-01-minting-a-single-nft.md deleted file mode 100644 index 20f6ff3..0000000 --- a/static/src/_posts/2021-12-01-minting-a-single-nft.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,86 +0,0 @@ ---- -title: >- - Minting A Single NFT -description: >- - Harder than I'd thought it'd be. -tags: tech art crypto ---- - -In a [previous post][prev] I made a page to sell some NFTs I had designed. I say -"designed", not "made", because the NFTs don't actually exist yet. - -On [OpenSea](https://opensea.io), where those NFTs are listed, the NFT isn't -actually "minted" (created) until first sale. This is primarily done to save the -artist the cost of minting an NFT which no one else is going to buy. There might -be a way to mint outside of a sale on OpenSea, but I haven't dug too much into -it because it doesn't matter. - -It doesn't matter because a primary goal here is to not go broke. And OpenSea is -primarily on Ethereum, a blockchain that can't actually be used by normal people -because of the crazy fees. There are some L2s for it, but I don't have any set -up, and keeping an NFT in an L2 feels like borrowed time. - -So, as an initial test, I've printed an NFT on Solana, using -[Holaplex][hola]. Solana because it's cheap and fast and -wonderful, and Holaplex because... a lot of reasons. - -The main one is that other projects, like [SolSea](https://solsea.io/) and -[AlphaArt](https://www.alpha.art/), require a sign-up just to print NFTs. And -not a crypto signup, where you just connect a wallet. But like a real one, with -an email. [Solanart](https://solanart.io/) requires you to contact them -privately through discord to mint on them! - -Why? NFTs are a weird market. A lot of these platforms appear to the -~~customer~~ user more like casino games than anything, where the object is to -find the shiny thing which is going to get popular for one whimsical reason or -another. The artists get paid, the platform takes a cut, and whoever minted the -NFT prays. - -For reasons involving the word "rug", the artist, the one who is attaching their -work to an NFT, is not necessarily to be trusted. So there's a lot of mechanisms -within the Solana NFT world to build trust between the audience and the artist. -Things like chain-enforced fair auctions (open to everyone at the same time) and -gatekeeping measures are examples. - -Which is all well and good, but I still couldn't mint an NFT. - -## Metaplex - -So I tried another tact: self-hosting. It's like, my favorite thing? I talk -about it a lot. - -I attempted to get [Metaplex][meta] set up locally. Metaplex is an organization, -associated with Solana Labs in some way I think, that's helped develop the NFT -standard on Solana. And they also develop an open-source toolkit for hosting -your own NFT store, complete with NFT minting with no fees or other road blocks. -Sounds perfect! - -Except that I'm not a capable enough javascript developer to get it running. I -got as far as the running the Next server and loading the app in my browser, but -a second into running it spits out some error in the console and nothing works -after that. I've spent too much time on it already, I won't go into it more. - -So metaplex, for now, is out. - -## Holaplex - -Until I, somehow, (how actually though...?), found [Holaplex][hola]. It's -a very thinly skinned hosted Metaplex, with a really smooth signup process which -doesn't involve any emails. Each user gets a storefront under their own -subdomain of whatever NFTs they want, and that's it. It's like geocities for -NFTs; pretty much the next best thing to self-hosted. - -But to mint an NFT you don't even need to do that, you just hit the "Mint NFTs" -button. So I did that, I uploaded an image, I paid the hosting fee ($2), and -that was it! - -You can view my first NFT [here][ghost]! It's not for sale. - -I'm hoping that one day I can get back to Metaplex and get it working, I'd much -prefer to have my store hosted myself. But at least this NFT exists now, and I -have a mechanism to make other ones for other people. - -[prev]: {% post_url 2021-10-31-dog-money %} -[meta]: https://www.metaplex.com/ -[hola]: https://holaplex.com/ -[ghost]: https://solscan.io/token/HsFpMvY9j5uy68CSDxRvb5aeoj4L3D4vsAkHsFqKvDYb |