If you have decided to collect NFTs like me, in this article, I will get you up to speed to collect NFTs for free. This is not a financial advisory article and you will not learn how to make money from NFT. There are a lot of articles that talk about pros and cons of the various platforms and wallets, but I will not discuss here. My starting point is that you, like me, just want to experience NFT collection without spending money. Free NFTs are out there, but before you can receive them into your possession, you need to do a few things. If you are serious in trading NFTs and buying NFTs, then this article will not address your answer.
Step 1: Create a Cryptocurrency Wallet
A wallet is needed so that the NFT creator can associate NFT to it and you can authorise transaction through the wallet. Technically speaking, the NFT does not “deposit” into the wallet, but for beginners, you can assume that the wallet is where the NFT is “stored”.
There are many crypto wallets out there, and depending on the purpose, you might find one wallet better than others. For beginners collecting free NFT, I would recommend MetaMask because it is one of the most popular wallets so you get a lot of support from NFT collectors. It also works very well with OpenSea, the most popular NFT marketplace.
MetaMask is a browser extension which works with selected browsers, iOS and Android phones. Instead of creating my own video, let me point you to this 2-minute YouTube video:
Step 2: Link the Wallet to the NFT Marketplace
There are many NFT marketplace out there, but as mentioned, OpenSea is the most popular and that is where most NFT creators will put their NFTs for sale or gifted. Once you visit OpenSea.io, click “Account” icon, and you will automatically be asked to connect to your wallet. Click your wallet providers, e.g. MetaMask. If nothing is happening, click the MetaMask extension fox icon next to the browser search bar and a pop-up should appear to request for connection. If you skip Step 1, then you will just have to start creating your wallet before successfully linking to OpenSea.
Once you are done, then you are able to update your profile information in OpenSea and people will be able to see your NFT creation, NFT collection and your profile information.
Beware! Do not reveal your 12-word secret recovery seed phrase on suspicious platforms. You should always use the MetaMask extension to verify and connect any marketplace platform, just like what you did with OpenSea. If you go through MetaMask, you will only be asked to either enter your MetaMask password or to click “Sign” on the pop-up.
Step 3: Share your Wallet Address
The wallet address can be found below your MetaMask wallet name which is 42 characters long. Click it will auto-copy to your clipboard. Whenever an NFT owner does a giveaway and asks for “ETH Address”, this is the wallet address that you can provide to him. As far as I know, there is no risk to sharing the wallet addresses, as this is like your email address or your mobile number. I mean, there is still a risk of misuse, which is why you must ensure you do not reveal the seed phrase. If someone submits your wallet address to transfer NFTs into it, isn’t it all the better? This is why you must provide the correct string, or else there is no undo.
You can also check your wallet transaction history, go to polygonscan.com to check your Polygon NFT or etherscan.io to check whether the transfer is being made by the sender. Nothing can hide from the blockchain, and that is the benefit!
Ready? Set? Grab NFT!
Proceed to the next article for a list of NFT collections that I am involved in.