NFTs or non-fungible tokens are on everyone’s mind nowadays. They can be bought online, are unique and recorded on the blockchain, which also records the name of the creators and subsequent owners. People seem to be making money from them; then why have you been hearing about people destroying or rather burning them?
In this article, we’ve covered the following topics around burning an NFT.
- What does it mean to burn an NFT?
- Why people are burning NFTs?
- How to burn NFTs?
- How much does it cost to burn NFTs?
Burning an NFT: Explained
Burning NFTs is the equivalent of destroying them. Since the record of any NFT that is minted will stay on the blockchain, there is no way to completely destroy it — wipe off its existence. That’s where burning NFTs comes into play.
When someone burns an NFT, they’re essentially removing it from circulation by sending it to an inaccessible address.
Also read: Opensea vs Rarible vs Mintable: 4 key differences
Why do people burn NFTs?
NFTs can neither be destroyed nor replicated, sounding a bit like atoms. However, if one does want to get rid of an NFT, they can do so by burning them, which means sending the NFT to an unverified or ghost address — a place where no one will ever be able to use it again.
Since NFTs are valuable tokens for individuals owning them, NFTs are mainly burnt due to the following reasons:
- Creating an availability for a new range of tokens.
- A shortage of a particular range of tokens is purposefully done in order to increase the value of the remaining tokens.
- To increase the popularity of a range of NFTs.
- Enhancing the value of some NFT tokens.
- To bring exclusivity to the range of NFTs about to be burned.
Also Read: What is an NFT Airdrop?
How to burn an NFT?
As you cannot easily delete an NFT, burning is the only option.
Keep in mind the following steps when you are going to burn an NFT:
- Since you are transferring the NFT to a void address, burning will take up some gas charge. Your NFT token will only be burnt if you have enough gas fees for the transaction.
- Once gone, there is no way of getting the NFT back. Even though it will never get destroyed, having been minted on a blockchain, it will be rendered useless. So think twice or more, before you go through with this step.
- The amount of gas fees you may need to pay will depend on how many NFTs you are looking to burn. More the number, the higher the power consumed in burning them and therefore higher the gas price.
- Gas price also depends on your timing, if the number of transactions taking place is significant, the exchange amount will keep increasing.
- You will need to make sure that the destination wallet NFT is not owned by anyone.
- Check if the platform or exchange you want to burn your NFT from will allow burning. If not, you can use a black-hole address. These are commonly used for cryptocurrencies as well.
Also Read: Airnfts vs Opensea: 6 key differences
How much does it cost to burn an NFT?
Burning is similar to a transaction, therefore gas fees is non-avoidable. This fee varies according to the time of the day and the number of NFTs you are looking to burn. A heightened rate of NFT transactions may raise gas prices.
The gas price for burning an NFT may be a bit high for you in the beginning, but you can get rid of an NFT successfully. Gas prices can also rise because of the number of NFTs you might want to burn, as processing takes more energy.
Also Read: How to avoid gas fees on Opensea?
