Fri, Jan 14, 2022
Read in 4 minutes
So you've been hearing about NFTs and now you're getting curious what the fuss is about. Not sure how to get started? This is the post for you!
After this tutorial you’ll be setup and ready to purchase your first NFT with confidence! Here are the high level steps we’ll cover:
- Install the Phantom Wallet on your computer
- Buy some SOL using MoonPay
- Browse to the NFT 4 Cause Candy Machine
- Click “Connect Wallet” and select “Phantom”
- Click “Mint” and approve the transaction
- Look at your new NFT!
Install the Phantom Wallet on your computer
The first step to effectively using cryptocurrency is setting up a good wallet. A wallet is a software program used to securely store your digital assets. Since our NFTs are based on the Solana blockchain, the go-to wallet is going to be Phantom.
Stop here. Put down your phone and fire up your laptop, because Phantom is not currently supported on mobile devices. Open your favorite browser, then Navigate to this great guide with step by step details to install Phantom and setup your your new wallet.
Buy some SOL using MoonPay
Now that Phantom is setup, one of the first things to notice is that it’s empty! You’re going to need some SOL tokens before you can make purchases with your new wallet. SOL is the currency used to fund transactions on the Solana blockchain, similar to how the U.S. Dollar is the currency to fund transactions when you’re in the United States.
If you already have SOL somewhere else, you can transfer it to your wallet. We’ll assume for this tutorial that you don’t have SOL and need to purchase some. Phantom makes this process really easy through integration with the MoonPay service. MoonPay allows users to purchase SOL with a credit card from within the wallet.
- Open Phantom and click “Deposit”
- Click “Buy with MoonPay” and follow the prompts
- Buy some SOL (you’ll need about 1.05 SOL for our NFT)
After completing your MoonPay transaction, you should see some SOL in your wallet.
Browse to the NFT 4 Cause candy machine
You might be wondering why we keep talking about a candy machine. In the Solana community, a candy machine is the program creators use to randomly generate a new NFT. Creating a new NFT is referred to as the “minting” process. After the NFT is minted the user is the first and exclusive owner. From there, the user has the option to keep the NFT in their wallet or sell it to somebody else.
Our candy machine is located here, and while you navigate there here’s a quick summary of how a candy machine works:
- Candy machines typically open at a specific time. In our case, we go live on February 1st @ 18:00 UTC (1:00 PM EST).
- User connects Phantom wallet to the candy machine
- Users request to “mint” an NFT and the Candy machine randomly generates one
- Phantom Wallet confirms the transaction with user
- Upon approval, user pays the set price for NFT from their wallet and receives the new NFT
The fun part about a candy machine is that a user doesn’t know exactly what NFT they’ll receive when they request a mint. The anticipation factor can make the process exciting. Kind of like when we were kids dropping a quarter into the gum ball machine, hoping our favorite flavor would be on the other side of the door.
Connect your wallet
Now that you understand what a candy machine is, let’s click the “Connect Wallet” button on the NFT 4 Cause minting website. The Phantom wallet will pop up and confirm that you approve connecting to the candy machine.
One security note, it’s very important that you trust any website that you connect your Phantom wallet. Don’t give access to the contents of your wallet to a website you don’t trust, similar to how you don’t typically give your physical wallet to a stranger.
Mint your NFT
If you’re going through these tutorial steps before February 1st, you will see a countdown timer after connecting your wallet. This simply means the candy machine is not yet open. Once it opens, a “Mint” button will be available.
After clicking “Mint” on the candy machine, the Phantom wallet will pop up and ask you to approve the NFT transaction. It will tell you how much SOL you are spending, which in this case will be 1 SOL. There is also a small fee attached to all Solana transactions, so you’ll likely see some decimals after the 1 SOL which equate to a few cents.
Check out your new NFT
The candy machine will display a message indicating the NFT transaction was successful. At this point, your purchase is complete. The NFT is now in your Phantom wallet! To view the NFT, click the icon with 4 squares at the bottom of the Phantom Wallet. This is the gallery of your NFT collectibles.
Questions?
Thanks for taking the time to go through this tutorial. We hope it helped you understand the NFT experience on Solana. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out on Twitter!