In India, you can buy cryptocurrency through exchanges such as WazirX , Coindcx , Coinbase where you will need to create an account by providing government-approved ID proofs.
Once you have bought the cryptocurrency, you will need to create a Hot Wallet. I used MetaMask to create one. This is the wallet you will use to access your NFTs and crypto earnings.
You can now transfer the cryptocurrency you bought on the local exchange (such as WazirX etc) to this wallet. It takes a few minutes for the cryptocurrency to get transferred from the exchange to the Hot Wallet.
Next step: You create an account on an NFT marketplace. There are several such marketplaces. Some of them include Foundation, Opensea, Rarible, Knownorigin, Makersplace, Superrare, Looksrare, Coinbase, Sloika etc.
I have primarily minted my works on Foundation and Opensea. Foundation is an invite-only marketplace whereas Opensea is a marketplace that is accessible to all.
Complete your profile, link the account with your Hot Wallet and you’ve officially set up shop.
You then select an image, audio, video, or digital art you want to put up for sale and set a price for each. Once this is done, you will be required to sign the contract and list the NFTs for sale. You can decide on what blockchain you want to mint these NFTs on and what cryptocurrency you want to accept when you make the sale. I use the Ethereum Blockchain.
How can I buy an NFT?
To purchase one of my NFTs, you would need a crypto wallet with cryptocurrency in it. I accept Ethereum as payment. This does not mean you only require Ethereum to buy NFTs. Different artists accept different forms of cryptocurrency as payment.
Once you have a crypto wallet, you can connect it to any of the marketplaces — Foundation, Opensea, Rarible, etc — and start bidding or buying.
When you sell an NFT, do all the copyrights transfer to the buyer? Do you, as an artist, retain no rights?
As in the real world, there are different types of copyright models for NFTs. When I mint and list my work as NFTs, the collector who buys it holds what is called 1/1. This means that the photo will never be minted on any Blockchain ever.
But the commercial rights of the image remain with me. This means I can sell the image as a print or let someone use it digitally. I cannot, however, make a copy of it.
Yet another copyright model — Creative Commons 0 License — makes it possible for the NFT to be released free of cost for everyone to use. I have sold one such image to Punk6529 and the image is available free of cost to everyone.
