Tezos and NFTs: A match made in blockchain heaven
By: Adam Shinder
Tags: Nft, Blockchain, Tezos, Cryptocurrency, Crypto

Tezos and NFTs: A match made in blockchain heaven

Why the boom on Tezos? How do I get involved in the eco-system? Adam Shinder Follow Apr 21 · 4 min read

It’s no secret that the Tezos blockchain has become a hotbed for NFT engagement from buying and selling, to minting and trading. The traction from NFT platforms like Hic Et Nunc and Kalamint have helped Tezos grow exponentially in the last month. Just take a look at these stats from better-call.dev. Between February and March there has been a ~380% increase in contract calls. From 95k in February to 360k contract calls in March and April is on track break over 1,000,000 calls (It’s currently at 643k). That would be over 10x from February. Check out these statistics and see the explosion of the Tezos ecosystems growth.

This article has been updated five times since the original writing because the contract calls keep increasing.

This massive engagement is being driven by the NFT (non-fungible token) hype. We see a lot of this traction coming from Hic Et Nunc which has ~38k NFT’s minted and tens of thousands of buys and sells. Additionally, there is the Kalamint platform from the Tezos India Foundation (funded by Draper Goren Holm) where artists must be approved to mint and sell NFTs.

But Why Tezos?

Of all the NFT platforms and all the chains to choose from, why mint and sell your artwork as NFTs on Tezos? Why not on Ethereum through Rarible or OpenSea? What makes Tezos so unique that it’s gotten this type of traction? I believe the answer is due to three main reasons: eco-friendliness, low transaction fees, and the strong NFT community.

Eco-Friendly

According to an article from TechCrunch in March, 2021, “Each Ethereum transaction requires nearly as much energy as two American households use per day”. That means that for every action of an NFT that’s minted, sold, or bought, wastes tht’s as much energy as two households in the US. Though not as big an impact as Ethereum and Bitcoin, all PoW chains cause a big environmental impact. In a time when it’s crucial to avoid additional carbon emissions, why mint your NFT on a chain that creates a deep environmental footprint when Tezos is ecologically friendly and just as secure?

You may be wondering how Tezos validates transactions more efficiently while not creating an environmental footprint. This is because of its Liquid Proof-of-Stake validation protocol instead of Proof-of-Work. You can read more about that here.

Low Transaction Fees

This one is obvious. Tezos transaction fees are about .0004 XTZ which is (as of writing) $.0023 or a 1/4th of a single penny. This allows NFTs of any value, big or small, to be transacted easily and cheaply. Especially for a beginner whose NFTs may only be worth a few dollars, a high transaction fee in addition to the platform fee can really cut into your earnings, even make it economically unfeasible. Ethereum based platforms have high network fees in addition to their platform fees, making it much more difficult to start your NFT career.

Strong NFT Community

The entire community on Tezos, and more specifically around NFTs, is a lively & welcoming one. People are always open and willing to answer questions, offer support, and they are active members of the community. Ask a question on Twitter and within the hour, I’m confident someone from the Tezos NFT community will answer it. It’s a strong community rallied around art, technology and a love for the ecosystem as a whole. Some groups to join are the Hic Et Nunc Reddit and Discord groups with 680 redditors and ~3k on the Discord channel. Also, check out the Kalamint Telegram channel which is always very active and supportive. I’m looking forward to seeing you on the channels and always feel free to ask your questions.

Time to jump into the NFT Tezos ecosystem!

You may be thinking, I love Tezos and see why I should mint and sell my NFT’s but where do I start? First, join all the channels above and start reading! There’s a lot of good information on those. Follow artists on Twitter who are minting NFTs on Tezos, who are involved in the ecosystem, and feel free to start posting/asking questions. Start a Hic Et Nunc account and mint your first NFT on Tezos! Here’s a helpful PDF on how to mint your first token from u/Survivor_Oceanic815 on Reddit.

It’s quite an exciting time to be in the Tezos ecosystem and there is much, much more to come from it. This is only just the beginning.