With the current NFT wave, interest has risen amongst creators, celebrities, and companies in transacting NFTs. With this interest, multiple platforms have popped up that creators can mint NFTs on such as OpenSea and Solana.
We discussed the process of minting NFTs on Metamask in the last article and listed a simple, detailed guide on the steps to minting NFTs using your Metamask wallet. This process is quite straightforward and easy to execute.
However, while NFTs can be minted from a plethora of minting sites, the process can be frustrating at times, particularly in the case that the site frequently crashes due to excess traffic. Because of this, you should seriously consider the Etherscan contract method of minting NFTs.
Etherscan is a blockchain analytics application that serves as a block explorer for the Ethereum network. It functions primarily as a search engine, allowing users to locate specific transactions that have been recorded on the Ethereum blockchain. Additionally, it may assist you in interacting with smart contracts and identifying any suspicious activity that may be taking place.
It is essential to take note of the fact that Etherscan is not a wallet; rather, it is primarily intended to act as a service that facilitates transparency on the ETH blockchain by monitoring and indexing all of the transactions that occur on the Ethereum network. It then makes this data accessible to users on its website.
In this article, we will walk you through the process of minting NFTs using the Etherscan contract in a manner that is both comprehensive and easy to follow. To do this, we will assist you with the following:
- Locating the address of the Smart Contract
- Searching Etherscan using the Smart Contract Address
- Linking your Crypto Wallet to Etherscan
- Minting the NFT from the Etherscan Contract.
Step 1: Locate the Smart Contract Address
To mint an NFT via Etherscan, the first thing you'll need to do is locate the smart contract associated with the NFT project you wish to mint. Etherscan utilizes a unique ID address in conjunction with smart contracts in order to index blockchain-based assets and activities. It is necessary to have either the unique ID or the address of the smart contract in order to conduct a search for it on Etherscan.io.
You may get the address either by viewing the details section of an NFT asset from the project on OpenSea or by clicking the Etherscan button beneath your project of choice on OpenSea.
You may quickly access the smart contract hosted on Etherscan by clicking the Etherscan button that is shown in the image above. There are a few factors to consider with minting on Etherscan.
Token Standards
NFTs are built on many different token standards, and different platforms are compatible with varying token types, the most popular of which is ERC-721. The first ever NFs were founded on this token standard, and each token found on it is entirely one of a kind, ensuring that whoever owns one owns an asset that cannot be duplicated. The Etherscan platform hosts ERC-721 tokens.
The ERC-721 token standard is what NFTs are minted by and to effectively mint an NFT, the contract must support ERC-721.
Building NFTs on the ETH blockchain is outlined in detail by the ERC-721 standard, which is a set of interfaces that is both open and free to use. NFTs are one-of-a-kind digital assets that can never be replicated, in contrast to ERC-20 tokens (used to build fungible cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin), which are interchangeable. The fact that NFTs are very uncommon and unique collectibles is where they get their name from.
Wallet Compatibility
Finding out if Etherscan is compatible with your favorite cryptocurrency wallet is important if there is already a wallet that you use often. At the moment, Etherscan is compatible with a total of seventy-three distinct wallets, one of which, we highly recommend, MetaMask. In the case that you don’t have a crypto wallet yet, we suggest that you download and install MetaMask by following this link to the browser plugin.
User Verification
Etherscan ensures that all of the projects hosted on the platform are verified through the Smart Contract Verification tool. Users follow a process that consists of two steps: By either locating the contract on Etherscan and then linking it straight to the Smart Contract Verification tool, or by providing the address of the environment in which the smart contract will be generated along with details about that environment. Verification of users and content helps to verify that NFT collections are real and unique. This is necessary since practically any virtual item can be stored on the blockchain and transformed into an NFT.
Verification helps to cut down on sales of copyrighted non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and inhibits manipulative trading strategies. It also gives you confidence in the authenticity of your choice project if you choose a marketplace that has strong verification processes. Etherscan also guarantees that every token contract must first pass a verification check before the contract owner may submit new information to be added to the contract.
Gas Fees
Various platforms each have their own unique set of gas fees and minting rates. It's possible that some of them will also provide discounts, increased royalties, and referral benefits. A user is obligated to pay a gas fee for each and every transaction they make on the Ethereum blockchain. This fee is intended to balance the cost of the computational power that is necessary to prove the transaction.
The fee may often skyrocket to an extremely high level, especially in the case that the project is a prominent one. The cost can sometimes reach the hundreds. Minting via an Etherscan contract does not totally eradicate competitive transactions that lead to an increased gas charge; however, it does appear to significantly slow down a rush of bidders as individuals take their time to correctly mint via the contract.
Step 2: Search Etherscan using the smart contract address
Using the Etherscan button is not the only option. The second thing you need to do is search for the address of the smart contract on the Etherscan platform so that you can authenticate the address and then start the minting process.
- Look for the address of the smart contract on the official website of your chosen project.
- When you have the smart contract address in hand, open Etherscan.io and locate the smart contract address.
- If you are inputting the address of the smart contract manually, you will need to copy the address of the contract and paste it into the search area on Etherscan.io.
- On locating the contract on the Etherscan platform, thoroughly go over the Contract Overview to confirm that the name of the NFT project is the exact one you are seeking to mint.
- Once you have ensured that the address provided for the contract is valid and that the information in Contract Overview tallies with your chosen project, scroll over to the Homepage. It provides information on the balance, transactions, and other relevant data. The “Contract” section is your primary focus since it is in this section that we will discover the functions of the NFT minting process on Etherscan.
Step 3: Link your Crypto Wallet to Etherscan
To access the Contract tab, click the link labeled "Contract" which is located on the homepage of the smart contract. Within this area, you will see a button that is marked "Write Contract." When you click the button labeled "Write Contract," multiple choices will pop up, including the many different interfaces that are included inside the smart contract and that may be used to carry out certain actions. First, however, you have to connect to your MetaMask account by:
- Clicking the "Connect to Web3" button. This will launch the MetaMask plugin that you have installed in your browser.
- In the event that you have more than one account, it is best to choose and link your preferred account.
- After that, you may initiate any of the functions.
Step 4: Mint the NFT from the Etherscan Contract
After you have successfully linked your MetaMask account, you will be able to begin engaging with the user interface for the smart contract. The mint function or the claim function is the one that we need to find in most smart contracts in order to mint NFTs. This name is exclusive to the project; you may designate the minting function with whatever function name you prefer. For the implementation of its minting function, this project makes use of the mint function name. The mint function is the fourth function on the list. Follow these steps to mint:
- Expand the mint section. The input field that allows you to enter the options you wish to mint will become visible.
- The first input field gives us the opportunity to enter the price of the minting operation and the second input field asks for the number of coins that you want to mint. Be sure to look out for the project's many minting options so that you can offer the appropriate information to the inputs.
- After that, proceed to transmit the trade to the blockchain by clicking the Write button. It is possible that the completion of this procedure will take some time in some circumstances.
- You can increase the gas fee on your MetaMask wallet. This provides the ability to pay a greater charge in order to move this process along more quickly.
Conclusion
The method of minting non-fungible tokens using a smart contract on Etherscan is outlined in the stages that are listed above. However, you should be aware that the actions involved in minting via each smart contract are not all the same. Because of the unique nature of each smart contract, you are required to have the address of the smart contract before you can use it to mint NFTs.
Additionally, since changes to the blockchain cannot be undone, it is critical that users always do a thorough examination of their transactions before confirming them. When a project's website is temporarily inaccessible as a result of significant traffic, minting new NFTs in this manner is a useful solution.
Hopefully, this tutorial has helped you bypass minting traffic and competition. We will be providing more information to help you navigate Web3 and make the most of virtual assets. You can check out our guide on the introduction to Web 3.0!
