The Ultimate NFT Tool Stack for Developers

Businesses today are fast waking up to the power of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Just in 2021, investors poured $2.5 billion into the space – and brands are jumping on the bandwagon, too.

However, taking a step into the exciting world of web3 may require some adjustments to your existing tool stack and infrastructure. Whether you want your audience to mint NFTs directly into their wallets or buy digital assets directly on your platform, you need to rely on some development legwork along the way.

What is needed in the NFT space to start building? Let’s take a look at the ultimate tool stack for developers to hit the ground running. 👨‍💻👩‍💻

The basics

1. Blockchain wallets

Flexible wallet functionalities are critical for users to access all the benefits of NFTs. That’s why developers should look into seamless wallets or wallet application programming interfaces (APIs) to enable the creation of wallets while offloading complex management and security risks. Here, you can leverage Venly’s wallet services. 💰

Other market options you could integrate within your app include MetaMask or WalletConnect, an open-source protocol for connecting decentralized apps to mobile wallets with QR code scanning or deep linking.

For optimal functionality of users’ wallets across blockchains, you need smooth execution of various tasks through set functions. Here, the Venly Wallet can help out. For example, you might want to enable the creation of wallets across multiple blockchains or different asset types such as fungible (ERC20) and non-fungible (ERC721 and ERC1155) tokens. With Venly’s API, you can perform tasks that would otherwise be impossible due to security implications across blockchain, such as creating signatures.

2. NFT minting tools

From smart contracts to minting, setting up effective NFT issuance can be a difficult process. You can leverage tools like Moralis’ APIs, which even made the code needed to create your own minting page on GitHub. Then, there are Tatum.io’s APIs, or you can also go for Venly APIs to build your own product or use our ready-built minter, too. 

3. NFT selling tools

To sell your NFTs, you can either choose to create your own marketplace to build a direct storefront (website) for your audience or integrate within an existing platform. 

Mauer.Digital is a great example of a platform that has leveraged the Venly APIs to sell NFTs directly from their webpage. You can also create your own marketplace using Venly’s marketplace APIs, with a set of endpoints that allow you to manage it with full control – meaning you can pick which NFTs you want to support and the payment providers you wish to integrate.

If you choose to integrate within existing marketplaces, some of the biggest ones include OpenSea, Rarible, and LooksRare.

Even if you’re not looking to provide a whole marketplace functionality to your users and instead want to find a straightforward way to sell NFTs via your store, there’s an easy fix. You can opt for a Shopify integration that works as effectively as with any other eCommerce product. 

4. NFT secondary marketplace

For NFTs, you also need to partner with a secondary marketplace, in which case it may be best to integrate with those like Venly Market or OpenSea. However, you could also build your own one – such as Axxie Infinity and Aavegotchi have – making sure your users can trade in-game items without leaving the platform. Why partnering? To collect your royalty fees on those marketplaces.

5. NFT to email for those not crypto-savvy

For mass adoption of blockchain technology, you need to add integrations that allow the less tech-savvy users to reap the benefits of NFTs, too. With API integrations, such as those Venly offers, you can make sure your customers don’t even require a blockchain wallet. They can simply receive NFTs via email, where a blockchain wallet awaits them directly.

Advanced tools

1. Decentralized storage of NFTs

When issuing NFTs, you also need to store the metadata via storage platforms. This also has the benefit of securing the visuals and data linked to the NFT on decentralized servers. This can be important if the project needs to have a life beyond your brand's existence. 

One of the most famous decentralized storage where to host your metadata and visuals is IPFS. It’s a peer-to-peer hypermedia protocol that stores media content in a decentralized way. There’s also Filecoin, decentralized storage that is very developer-friendly. Lastly, a popular option is Pinata, a platform where you can upload and manage files on IPFS, providing secure and verifiable files for NFTs. 

2. Custodial wallet solutions

If you are targeting corporate clients, you need to consider custodial wallet solutions. These refer to NFT wallets whose private key is available to a third party – a crypto custodian – that protects this key to ensure the assets are safe. 

Here, you can leverage either the Venly wallet, which offers custodial setup or MetaMask Institutional, a corporate service by the popular wallet provider.

3. NFT analytics

NFT analytics are vital for you to understand who is holding your NFTs and how your latest drops have performed. Royalty fee tracking, for example, helps you ensure your projects reach their desired success. 📈

With Venly’s NFT analytic APIs, you can track collections and NFTs in wallets, which could enable you to airdrop NFTs to holders of a specific collection/NFT.

Depending on the specific solution, APIs can help users take actions, including token transfers as well as more complex contract calls – without taking power from developers to set up the desired user interface (UI) and user experience (UX). As a developer, you can even set up NFT analytics and monitor anonymized user trends across your app. 

You can also integrate third-party tracking platforms. Here, Nansen’s analytics have some powerful functionalities, analyzing millions of data points across wallets, transactions, and smart contracts. Other options include Dune XYZ, ICY.tools, or Moby, a great option with detailed minting insights in real-time. 

Gary Vaynerchuk predicts that within a decade, every business on the planet will have an NFT strategy, “so you might as well get ahead of it now.” 💪

Are you ready to enter Web3? Talk to Venly and start building today.