By Zachary Stone
The full meaning of NFTs is Non-Fungible Tokens. They are basically cryptocurrencies, but are slightly different in that they are non-fungible. Cryptocurrencies have many characteristics, one of which is that they’re fungible — you can split them into smaller pieces.
For example, you can buy a fraction of a Bitcoin, and the smallest unit is called a Satoshi (SAT). NFTs are not so — It is either you buy the full token or have none of it.
NFTs are digital or tokenized versions of articles such as music, a piece of art, a picture etc. NFTs are also stored on blockchains, and can be sent from one wallet to another. The process of creating an NFT is known as minting, and it is done on a marketplace.
After that, you can place it on sale on the same marketplace after setting a price. While most people buy NFTs, we want to show you how you can get them without having to buy. Are you ready? Here are the top ways to get free NFTs.
- Giveaways
New NFT projects give away NFTs to their community of followers. This is a marketing strategy to grow their presence on the internet. Like in airdrops, the community members have to play some roles to support the project such as following the handle on Twitter or other social media platforms.
Not all members of the community who participate in giveaways always get to receive though, because winners may be selected randomly through a draw. In some cases, anyone who meets certain requirements is qualified and receives such giveaways.
Most giveaways are done on Twitter and Discord, so to participate, you need to be a part of the community on these platforms. That way, you’ll have information on when and how such giveaways will be carried out. This puts you in a position of advantage compared to those outside of the community.
2. Referral Programs
NFT marketplaces are where NFTs are traded. There are some of these marketplaces that run NFT referral programs that allow participants to earn free NFTs. Under such arrangements, the marketplace rewards you with NFTs for referring new users to its platform.
Of course, some of these referrals are more rewarding than others, so you should check to make sure you like the one you’re signing up for. Interestingly, you don’t need to use the marketplace to participate.
Just sign up, obtain a referral link, and start sharing with friends. As they sign up and use the marketplace, you’ll receive rewards. There’s no limit to how much reward you can get here since the project is open to have an unlimited number of users.
3. Mint for Free
The above-listed ways do not require minting, but if you’re comfortable with the technicalities of minting NFTs, you can mint your own NFTs for free. Just like some projects do airdrops to gain attention and grow, some projects also allow people to mint their NFTs for free.
That way, they can easily reach a large audience and create a community. Although the NFT itself is free, minting it is not free. You will need to pay transaction fees for it, which can be quite high on Ethereum. It is therefore advisable to use alternative blockchains that cost much less in order to reduce fees.
If you’re lucky, you may mint a free NFT that is worth thousands of dollars immediately, but some can be absolutely worthless in monetary terms.
Conclusion
If you are curious about owning an NFT but you don’t want to buy since they can be quite expensive, these are ways through which you can get some for free. They may still involve some form of cost, but it’s nothing compared to the cost of actually buying one.
The first two methods you can use without any technical knowledge, but even the third one doesn’t require so much technical skills and anyone who’s really interested can do it. It only requires a few steps to mint and NFT.