NFTs are the most popular verticals spearheading web 3.0 innovation and development. Today, the majority of NFTs exist on the Ethereum blockchain, the biggest network for many DeFi projects and applications. For this reason, the Ethereum network is pretty congested, something that affects transaction speeds and gas fees. For instance, popular DEXs, such as CoinList, note that it takes between four minutes and five hours for a single ETH transaction to be considered final. That is after more than 30 confirmations. As for gas fees, they are high, but the actual amount depends on the transaction at hand. These parameters don’t favor the average NFT user or creator in many ways. That’s why it’s prudent to know where you can mint and buy NFTs with low gas fees to enhance your overall experience and profit margins. Keep reading to learn more as we delve deeper into this subject.
Understanding Gas Fees
In blockchain, gas fees have nothing to do with fuel consumption. Simply defined, a gas fee is a reward for miners who validate and execute transactions on the underlying blockchain network. This works in a Proof-of-Work mechanism where anonymous miners with advanced computational resources confirm transaction blocks to get newly minted ETH tokens as rewards or part of the ETH in the transaction.
Gas fees are calculated in gwei, a denomination that is equal to 0.000000001 ETH. To calculate your gas fee costs, you’ll need to multiply your gas limit by the sum of the base fee and tip. Gas limit is the amount of gas a typical user is willing to remit and get a transaction through. The base fee is the amount of gas needed to add a transaction to an ETH block, while the tip is whatever you might be willing to pay miners to prioritize your transaction.
5 Places to Mint and Buy NFTs with Low Gas Fees
SpaceSeven- Concordium Blockchain
SpaceSeven is the go-to platform for many NFT enthusiasts who want to mint or transact artworks at relatively affordable gas fees. Unlike traditional Ethereum networks that leverage smart contracts, SpaceSeven features a Reg-DeFi-centric Layer 1 blockchain that is up to 10 times faster in real finalization. For this reason, transacting on the platform costs a fraction of what proof-of-work protocols require in gas fees. Moreover, the gas fee on the Concordium blockchain is relatively stable and predictable in fiat terms, thanks to the oracle that feeds in the CCD/€ price.
Other Concordium features that minimize energy consumption and gas fees when minting or transacting NFTs on SpaceSeven include a Nakamoto-centric proof of mechanism that offers better consensus as a first layer. This feature also resists network attacks and unauthorized access to prevent network congestion. Even better, from the ground up, SpaceSeven was built with the environment in mind and remains one of the most eco-friendly NFT marketplaces on the planet. Using SpaceSeven’s carbon calculator you can see the greenhouse gas emissions that are generated when you create your NFTs on SpaceSeven. Whether it’s 1 NFT or a 1000 you can now better understand the emissions associated with your work. Typically, SpaceSeven offers the easiest and most affordable way to mint NFTs in the industry. All you need is passion to get started. No coding skills or exorbitant rates, whatsoever.
Polygon
Another alternative place for buying and minting NFTs at a lower gas fee includes platforms built on the Polygon network. Although MATIC (another name for Polygon) is originally built on the Ethereum network, it features an additional layer 2 protocol that gives high speeds of up to 65,000 transactions per second. Since this speed is on a single outer chain, Polygon’s gas fees can be affordable by nearly 1,000 times, as opposed to Ethereum-centric chains. Polygon is the home to AirNFTs, a fast-rising NFT marketplace that focuses on creating an intuitive user experience. Just like SpaceSeven, getting started with the marketplace doesn’t require coding or programming skills. All you need is to go through the sign-up process, account verification, and you’re good to go as far as minting, buying, and selling NFTs is concerned.
Solana
You would want to consider Solana if you’re looking for a platform that allows you to do more than just mint, buy and sell NFTs. The decentralized marketplace leverages Solana, a blockchain technology that is scalable and user-friendly for DApp developers. Just like SpaceSeven’s Concordium technology, Solana leverages a Proof-of-Stake (POS) mechanism to process faster and relatively affordable transactions in terms of gas fees. Typically, Solana processes more transactions per second than Ethereum-centric networks. Also, Solana blockchain has more than 1000 validator networks across the globe to confirm transactions as users put forth requests. Popular NFT platforms that attract lower gas fees of up to $0.00025 include Magic Eden. However, AirNFTs is also planning to make its interface available via Solana too, since the project focuses on building a marketplace with multi-chain support.
Avalanche
Avalanche, popularly known as AVAX, is arguably the fastest blockchain network in the industry in terms of time-to-finality. The network recently introduced AVAX sub-nets that have the potential of up to a 10-fold speed improvement for typical transactions. Since the network is fast, platforms built onto it allow users to mint NFTs in seconds, leaving an insignificant environmental impact, while also enjoying relatively affordable fees. However, Avalanche isn’t that synonymous with NFTs as its ecosystem mainly comprises play-to-earn games and decentralized exchanges. A promising NFT platform on the network is NFTrade, which allows users to mint all types of non-fungible tokens, including art pieces, in-game items, and collectibles.
Binance Smart Chain (BSC)
The Binance Smart Chain Network came as a parallel alternative to the Binance NFT marketplace, which is synonymous with the challenges users experience with Ethereum-based platforms. However, unlike the traditional Ethereum Network, BSC can handle up to 160 transactions per second, at about $0.15 in gas fees. The fee is relatively higher than all the other networks discussed above but still way better than Ethereum.
NFTs Can Be Lucrative If You Get It Right
Gas fees for mining and buying NFTs don’t need to be unreasonably high, sometimes higher than the transaction itself. Moreover, you can’t keep enriching the miners who validate ETH transactions while you’re making peanuts, sometimes losses. Like any other investment, NFTs can be profitable too if you optimize your minting and buying approaches. Source
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