If you want to mint an NFT on Ethereum without paying gas fees, there are a few ways to do so. Here’s a comparison between the gasless minting feature on Mintable, and lazy minting on OpenSea.
Gas wars that lead to high transaction fees are a big deterrent for both new and experienced creators, while the many different types of minting can be confusing and difficult to navigate.
Why does gas cost so much?
In a nutshell, there are two main categories for minting: with gas or without gas (gas-free minting).
Traditionally, minting an NFT meant you had to exchange the computing resources of miners on the blockchain for a fee in order to process your transaction – this is where the cost of gas comes from. The more computing power required, or the higher the volume of transactions on the blockchain, the higher the gas fees. So people used to wait to raise transactions at a time where there is less activity on the blockchain. This meant waiting till the wee hours of the night just to mint an NFT with the lowest possible fee. On top of pricey gas fees, minting traditionally is a cost to the environment as well.
But with NFTs being rapidly integrated into the mainstream, and with the number of concerns regarding the price and environmental impact of blockchain transactions exacerbated, many marketplaces have introduced ways to mint with minimal cost to creators and the environment.
Today, gas-free solutions for minting an NFT are available on some NFT platforms as a way for both beginner and experienced creators to make the most out of their creations. It helps lower the barrier to entry and increases revenue to the seller when the work gets sold.
Read more about gas fees here.
How gas-free can gas-free get?
Gas-free minting solutions come in a number of ways. Mintable has its own form of gas-free minting called gasless minting, while one of the more common ways of making gas-free transactions is through a process called lazy minting.
Source: animationguides.com
Lazy minting:
Lazy minting essentially allows the creator to create NFTs without having to pay gas-fees upfront, the person who buys the NFT will then mint and pay the gas fees at a later time. Lazy minting is essentially a deferred transaction. What happens is your data is stored on a centralised website and the person who buys it pays to mint it – the gas fee is moved to the buyer.
Your NFT is listed on the marketplace as a digital item, but only becomes written on the blockchain when it gets sold. While this provides a solution to the problem of gas fees, it is only temporary and not entirely emission-free. Until someone buys your NFT, it doesn’t actually exist on the blockchain, nor can you find it on Etherscan. You will not be able to find your NFT in your wallet, and it only exists on the marketplace servers. This is because your NFT doesn’t exist until it’s been bought and gas fees have been paid for.
Mintable’s gasless minting:
With Mintable’s gasless minting, you are able to mint your NFTs, without incurring a transaction in the process either. Just like lazy minting, it lowers the barrier to entry and removes the friction of needing to pay to mint an NFT. However, the difference is that the token you mint will be immediately found on the Ethereum blockchain – safe and decentralized.
Creators can manually add their unique item to their wallet (depending on the wallet) to view at no extra cost at all. This empowers creators to focus on honing in their craft without having to worry about the cost of gas. Mintable’s gasless is also hassle-free and emission-free on both ends of the transaction, meaning neither the seller nor the buyer has to worry about the impact minting will cost to the environment.
Because the minted NFT can immediately be found on-chain and on the Ethereum mainnet, the person buying the NFT does not have to go through the process of minting it for themselves upon purchase – both seller and buyer can remain worry-free about their impact on the planet.
Layer 2 for sustainability
With Mintable’s up and coming integration with Immutable X (IMX), a layer-2 solution for the Ethereum network and NFT marketplaces, cost of minting will be further reduced. IMX allows for transactions to be made off-chain, with improved speeds and cost, while building on an already robust layer 1 network that is Ethereum. With IMX, creators and buyers will be able to enjoy instant trades on carbon-neutral NFTs, larger scalability, and gas free transactions.
The choice of gas free minting
When it comes to gas free minting, there are no right or wrong answers – it all depends on your preference and what you would like to achieve out of your creation. For creators, turning your artworks into valuable NFTs should be an exciting experience, so have fun with it! Experiment and try different methods of minting with gas as well as without, and make the most of what platforms have to offer. For buyers who are concerned with the environment and the impact of purchasing NFTs, shopping for gas free NFTs are a good way to engage your interests and hobbies of collecting and trading with lessened worry.
Try gasless minting on mintable.app!
