NFT art is a great way to add value to your collectibles. In January 2022, the average sale price of an NFT was $3,257. That’s a massive increase from the average cost of just $347 in January 2021. But where can you find free NFT art?
Using the Ethereum blockchain requires gas fees, so buying unique digital assets often costs money. To get free NFT art, collectors can win pieces from social media giveaways or from an NFT artist trying to get exposure. Creating or minting pieces for your own NFT collection is also an option.
If you know where to look, free NFTs are not impossible to come by. So, collectors of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) rejoice and go through these three places for free digital art to add to your NFTs collection. But first, you need to understand why it usually costs money to buy NFT artwork…
Why Most NFT Art Is Not Free
If you’re new to the non-fungible token world, you might be wondering why so much of the art is not free. After all, isn’t the point of blockchain technology to reduce costs and make transactions more efficient?
The reason for this is twofold.
1. Computing Power Costs Money
First, blockchain technology, which underlies NFTs, uses a ton of computing power and energy. This is necessary to verify transactions and prevent fraud, but it also means that there are actual costs associated with each transaction.
Every time a transaction is made on Ethereum, the most popular marketplace for NFTs, it costs “gas” – a small amount of ETH that goes to the miners who process the transaction.
Miners are people who use their computing power to help process and secure transactions on a blockchain network. They’re rewarded with new cryptocurrency tokens (like Bitcoin or Ethereum) for their efforts.
Verifying transactions and adding them to the blockchain ledger is difficult because it requires computers to solve complex mathematical problems. So it is perfectly understandable that miners want to be compensated for their work.
2. Artists Use Sales To Make A Living
Second, most NFT images are created by professional artists who rely on sales of their artwork to make a living. NFT artwork is often created using high-quality graphics and audio, which can be expensive to produce.
For example, the popular game CryptoKitties uses 3D graphics that require a lot of computing power and memory to render. This costs money, so the team behind CryptoKitties needs to charge for their work to make a profit.
Additionally, most NFTs are sold on a marketplace, and marketplaces frequently take a fee from each transaction, leaving most NFT creators to charge for their work.
However, some other smart contract networks are more cost-effective and developing as rivals to Etherium for NFTs. A few examples are Solana, Polkadot, and EOS.
In a nutshell, most NFT art is not free because there are real costs associated with blockchain technology, and professional artists need to make a living. However, as technology develops, we may see more free NFT art in the future.
Now that we know a little about why free NFTs are not as common as one might think, let’s look at three places where free NFTs can be found.
1. Social Media Giveaways
In the wake of the recent NFT craze, some companies are using creative new ways to get customer attention. One such method is through social media giveaways.
Companies will often give away free NFT art to entice people to follow their social media accounts or sign up for their newsletters. This is a great way to get free NFT art, as you can simply enter a contest or giveaway and have a chance to win.
Many new creators and platforms also host giveaways of their work to increase exposure and build a following.
To find these giveaways, you can search Twitter or Reddit for keywords like “free nft art” or “nft giveaway.” Following relevant accounts and hashtags can also help you stay up-to-date on the latest opportunities.
A list of cool previous NFT giveaways to get a taste of what’s possible:
- Twitter gave away 140 NFTs in a giveaway campaign to celebrate its official foray into the digital assets world.
One of the winners in Twitter’s giveaway was a Brit woman. She ended up selling the NFT art for $110,000. Isn’t it incredible?
- Pantone is celebrating this year’s Color of the Year, PANTONE® 17-3938, by giving away their first-ever NFT collection on Instagram.
- Decentraland held a free land giveaway, where people could win parcels of virtual land by retweeting their tweets.
So if you’re looking for a free NFT art piece, keep an eye out for social media giveaways! You may get lucky and find some incredible new artwork to add to your collection.
2. Drops To Previous Customers
If you’re lucky enough to have purchased from them in the past, some digital artists are dropping bonus work to their early patrons and clients. All you have to do is buy the original work and contact the artist. It’s a great way to get free NFT art and helps support the artist directly.
Check the artist’s website or social media channels to find out about drops. Drops are usually announced in advance, so you’ll have plenty of time to prepare.
Also, note that when an artist gives away NFT art to previous customers, they usually do it through a smart contract. This means that you’ll need to have a digital wallet that supports smart contracts to receive the art.
3. Create Your Own Free NFT Art
But why limit yourself to physical assets when so many possibilities exist beyond that?
You can use Mintable to create and sell your own NFT art. All you need is a computer with an internet connection and some creative flair.
Whether you’re an artist, musician, or just looking for a new way to express yourself, Mintable is a user-friendly marketplace to get you started.
Once you’ve created your artwork, simply upload it to the Mintable marketplace and set a price. When someone buys your NFT images, you’ll receive a percentage of the sale in cryptocurrency directly to your crypto wallet.
Not only is this a great way to make some extra money, but it’s also a great way to get your art out there and seen by people worldwide.
Check out this great beginner-friendly tutorial by an art-loving YouTuber, Dave. The video will show you how to use the Mintable app.
video link: I’ll be embedding https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOS2wZ-8ycU
After getting your feet wet, you should take the next step and visit Mintable Academy. They’ll teach you the ins and outs of Mintable, the platform.
As you can see, there are many ways to get free NFT art. Whether through a social media giveaway, a drop to previous customers, or by creating your own piece of art, there’s sure to be a method that suits your needs.
What’s important is that you take the time to explore the options and find what works best for you. So get out there and become a free NFT art collector!
Once you’ve collected some NFT art, have you thought of how to display your digital artwork?
