Getting Started With NFTs on Solana

What's an NFT?

Let's start at the beginning. An NFT is a non-fungible token on a crypto blockchain. The NFT can be art, a ticket to an event, access to a website or game, or another form of digital good or access. What's important about NFTs is that they are a 1 of 1. If you lose your NFT it can't be replaced (like you could replace a lost phone or key). 

NFTs are still in their infancy and the use cases, or utility, for NFTs is nascent, but growing and changing with the crypto economy. Below, I'll help you get started with NFTs on Solana, a cryptocurrency known for extremely low transaction costs. This low cost is leading to great innovation in the Solana NFT marketplace. 

Start by Buying Some Solana

The first place to start is buying Solana that can then be moved to your crypto wallet. The biggest marketplace is Coinbase, which has over 68 million users. If you use this link you'll get $10 in Bitcoin just for signing up! 

Coinbase will require you to confirm your identity, which includes taking a picture of your ID. This is part of KYC (know your customer) laws and they're intended to keep bad actors out, so don't be alarmed by this part of the process. 

Once your account is created, link a bank account and buy some Solana! 

Open a Wallet

You now need a place to put your Solana where decentralized apps (dapps) can access it. That location is known as a wallet. 

I suggest the Phantom wallet because it works well with dapps in the Solana ecosystem. The catch is that you have to install the Chrome browser to use the Phantom wallet. We didn't say this was going to be easy... but it's worth it. If you don't have Chrome, install that first. 

Once you're in Chrome, go to this link and click the "Add to Chrome" icon in the top right. Follow the prompts to create a wallet. 

While creating a wallet you'll create a password, which will give you access to the wallet on the computer you've signed in on. But there's one key for Phantom and all crypto wallets: 

WRITE DOWN YOUR 12 WORD SECRET PHRASE

WRITE DOWN YOUR 12 WORD SECRET PHRASE

WRITE DOWN YOUR 12 WORD SECRET PHRASE

If you lose this phrase or share it with anyone you could lose access. So, write it down in a safe place. Or more than one place to be safe. 

Move Your Solana To Your Wallet

To get crypto to your wallet, start by copying your Phantom wallet address to the clipboard. Click on the extension icon (it looks like a puzzle piece). 

Next, select Phantom and login using your password. This icon will pop up. 

Select the wallet address at the top of the wallet and click to copy the address to the clipboard. 

Go back to Coinbase and sign in to your account. Now you're going to send crypto from your Coinbase account to your Phantom wallet. In the top right there's a "Send/Receive" button that looks like this: 

Click this button and the following display will appear. Paste the wallet address from the previous step in the "To" filed. Choose how much Solana you want to send to the wallet. Click "Continue" when ready and verify using Coinbase's prompts. 

In a matter of moments, you should see your Solana balance updated in your wallet. 

Buying NFTs

There are two main ways to obtain NFTs. You can mint an NFT when sales are opened to the public, which sometimes requires you to be available to purchase within a few seconds of when the mint opens. The other option is the buy NFTs on secondary markets. I'll cover secondary sales here. 

Solana has multiple marketplaces, including some private markets for specific NFTs. But most NFTs are listed on at least one of three marketplaces. 

• Magic Eden: https://magiceden.io/

• Solanart: https://solanart.io/

• Alpha Art: https://alpha.art/

On these marketplaces you can browse collections and select NFTs you want to buy. The "Buy Now" feature is usually listed along with a price and by clicking "Buy Now" and approving the transaction through your wallet you will buy the NFT. 

You have now started your journey into NFTs. It's a process learning this ecosystem, but have fun and make sure you love what you're buying. 

Happy shopping!