What does it mean to mint an NFT?

Minting an NFT refers to the process of writing a digital item to the blockchain. This establishes its immutable record of authenticity and ownership. This process usually involves things like assigning metadata to the NFT, which can include information about the creator, a description of the content, and other relevant details. Minting establishes ownership and provenance of the digital item on the blockchain, ensuring its uniqueness and authenticity.

Both creators and collectors can mint NFTs. For both creators and collectors, minting NFTs establishes verified ownership and ownership history. For creators, minting their own NFTs gives them ownership and control of their own work, and allows them to build special communities and perks for those who hold their NFTs. When either the creator or a collector mints an NFT from a project, they become the first-ever owner of that NFT, since the NFT is written onto the blockchain during the mint.

What does it mean to drop an NFT or an NFT collection?

When a new NFT collection is released it’s referred to as a “drop.” When NFTs are dropped, they become available for individuals to claim, purchase, or acquire in some way. Often, those using the term “drop” are using it to describe a release in which the general public or specific group(s) (like a particular collection’s community) is given the first opportunity to mint the NFTs within a new collection, as opposed to the creator of the collection minting the NFTs into their own wallet and then later listing them for sale. On OpenSea, our “Drops” page showcases projects that fall into the former category.

NFT drops can be released to the public, or a specific group called an “allowlist,” which is a list of wallet addresses that are given the opportunity to mint NFTs before a drop is opened to a general audience. Typically, when an NFT project announces its upcoming drop (often on the project’s official Twitter or Discord), it will include information about the allowlist, “the reveal” (of metadata and artwork), and the drop schedule. 

What is the reveal?

Sometimes, NFT projects don’t reveal their artwork until after the project drops. This means that when buyers participate in the drop, the NFTs everyone mints will at first look the same (often they’ll display placeholder pre-reveal artwork until the intended artwork is revealed). Later, the NFT metadata and artwork will be “revealed” when the drop owner updates the NFT’s metadata. 

Although the NFT you own is still the original token, the image will look different in the end. This is common when NFTs within a given collection have different traits or varying rarity. It’s up to the creator to decide when they want to reveal the collection’s artwork, and the timeline varies from creator to creator.

What is a drop schedule?

Many times, an NFT drop will include multiple stages, including an allowlist phase (sometimes called a “pre-mint”) that gives early access to those who are on the allowlist. Sometimes, a project might have more than one allowlist phase. The drop schedule (sometimes referred to as “mint schedule”) will outline who’s eligible to mint and when. The reveal date may also be included in the drop schedule, although the reveal timeline may also be announced after the drop happens.

What is the difference between minting and dropping NFTs?

This is a commonly asked question because sometimes the terms are used interchangeably. For example, a drop might be referred to as a project’s mint, an allowlist phase might be called a “pre-mint,” and a drop schedule can be called a “mint schedule.” Despite these phrases, minting and dropping are distinct from one another.

The key difference is this: minting creates a new NFT through the act of writing it onto a blockchain while dropping simply means releasing new NFTs (dropped NFTs may or not already be minted, as minting can be done by creators at the time of the drop, or collectors when buying for the first time). Said another way, minting establishes the token's existence and dropping provides a way for collectors to acquire the NFT.