ConclusionNonfungible tokens are revolutionizing the way digital assets are created, bought and sold. With the Polygon blockchain becoming the preferred platform for many NFT marketplaces, investors and artists can now create, mint and sell their own NFTs with utmost security, proof of ownership and low transaction fees. From selecting a digital file to creating an immutable version of it on the blockchain, the journey of creating a nonfungible token is quite straightforward. Similarly, the process of buying and selling NFTs on Polygon is also fairly simple and can be completed in a few steps. As a result, the popularity of NFTs is only set to increase in the years to come.
The world of cryptocurrency has been gaining immense traction over the past few years, with a new asset class, Nonfungible Tokens (NFTs), emerging as a viable alternative. NFTs are digital certificates that prove the authenticity of a collectible, and also provide proof of ownership and security. This has been a major factor in the proliferation of NFTs as the future of representing real-world objects in the virtual world.
Investors are now looking to invest in metaverse platforms and are purchasing these unique digital assets on blockchain protocols such as Polygon, using cryptocurrencies. Polygon is a layer-2 Ethereum protocol that is designed to address Ethereum’s scalability concerns. It acts as a parallel blockchain or sidechain that runs alongside the Ethereum blockchain and uses a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism to validate on-chain transactions. It offers developers a much higher degree of flexibility and scalability than Ethereum, while also providing the security, interoperability and smart contract features of the Ethereum blockchain.
In addition, Polygon is known as a multichain network of Ethereum-compatible blockchains, as it is capable of deploying other blockchain networks and enabling communication among them. This makes it the most suitable for developing decentralized applications (DApps). With its Finity Design System and Polygon Bridge, developers can not only build cross-platform DApps but also connect them to other compatible blockchain networks to transfer assets such as ERC-20 tokens and NFTs to the Polygon sidechain.
In light of this, a number of platforms using the Polygon blockchain to host nonfungible tokens offer their users the ability to mint NFTs for free. This is known as “lazy minting” and involves the NFT being minted when a user buys it. This reduces the number of transactions that get relayed onto Ethereum and ensures that the buyer pays for the applicable gas rather than the NFT creator. To create an NFT, a digital file needs to be selected or created, which could be an image, video, GIF or even a song. All related data is then stored on the InterPlanetary File System, a distributed file storage protocol.
To purchase NFTs, investors and NFT enthusiasts can choose from a range of Polygon NFT marketplaces such as Floor, TixHive, NFTrade, Candy Shop and Hodl My Moon, in addition to OpenSea and Rarible marketplaces. Depending on whether it is a fixed-price sale or an auction, the process of purchasing NFTs differs slightly. For fixed-price NFTs, users can add one or more of such NFTs to their cart and pay for them in one single purchase flow. For auctions, users will need to lock ETH in a Wrapped Ether (wETH) smart contract to place pre-authorized bids.
After minting an NFT, the digital collectible can be put up for sale by the NFT’s owner. The type of token depends on the preference set by the seller and, therefore, the buyer will have to comply with the price. By bridging ETH tokens to the Polygon network, users can save on the high and volatile gas or transaction fees requested by the Ethereum network, thereby bringing down the cost of acquisition.
In conclusion, the Polygon blockchain has been instrumental in the proliferation of NFTs. It has introduced an easy and secure way for investors and artists to create, mint and sell their own NFTs. The process of buying and selling NFTs on Polygon is quite straightforward and with more than 43 million OpenSea Polygon NFTs already listed, the popularity of NFTs is only set to increase in the years to come.
