Why Near?

Here at Minting Music we love the Near blockchain. We believe Near to be the best blockchain for so many reasons. It’s green. It’s scalable. Transactions are inexpensive. They foster inclusive, democratic teambuilding. Read more about why from our friends at Mintbase. We have also had the privilege to work with the Near Creatives DAO. We are excited for the decentralized system of teams that Near is building to support and develop on its blockchain.

Please remember that cryptocurrencies are volatile and that nothing on this site or an any correspondence you may have with Minting Music, our clients, or partners should be construed as financial advice. Also scams are ever-present in the crypto industry before you enter any sensitive information double check that the website bar contains exactly the website you expect. Never give anyone access to your private keys. With any activity you conduct in the cryptoverse you are at your own risk.

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How to Buy Near

You will notice then that in order to buy some NFTs on our and our clients marketplaces you will need some Near Tokens.

There are few ways to get Near Tokens

Near tokens are used to buy, sell and trade assets, like NFT collectibles, within the Near blockchain ecosystem, such as Mintbase, Paras, and others.

Contained here is how to set up a Near wallet, set up an MetaMask Near Wallet, buy Near, and convert Ethereum assets to Near. Near tokens will also be made available by grant to our community and Near community members who build content and technology that helps propagate the Minting Music and Near ecosystems. More info on that coming soon.

Buy Near on a Centralized Exchange

The easiest way for a complete crypto novice to buy Near tokens in the USA is through the exchange OKCoin using your debit card or credit card. This method may be subject to a waiting period of up to 10 days.

1. Sign up for an OkCoin account by using your preferred email and password.
2. Once you have an account set up with OKCoin click on the “trade” tab.
3. Clicking on the trade tab will direct you to a search bar.
4. Type in “Near” and click.
5. After clicking on Near from the search bar, you will have the option to purchase your desired amount of Near tokens, in US Dollars.
6. From here, you will be prompted to enter your payment information.
7. You can directly link your bank account to OKCoin, or type in the payment information manually, as you would with any other standard online shopping transaction.
8. Your funds will appear in your account almost immediately. However, you cannot move your tokens to another exchange or wallet until OKCoin and your bank complete a final user verification process. This process takes a few days (up to 10) to fully verify your account information.
9. Once your account has been fully verified, you can begin moving your tokens in and out of OKCoin, into other exchanges and wallets, like your own Near wallet.

Creating a MetaMask Near Wallet

For those currently with a MetaMask wallet and Ethereum:

You can set up your Near wallet for free by going to the Paras Faucet and logging in with your MetaMask account. This will automatically deposit the necessary amount of NEAR to activate your wallet.

Converting Ethereum to Near

In addition, you can connect MetaMask with the Rainbow Bridge and convert Ethereum into Near tokens.

This is a little more complex of a maneuver and we’ll be putting out a full video soon. The steps are listed below:

1. Go to the Near Rainbow Bridge
2. Connect your Metamask Etherium Wallet
3. Connect your Near wallet
4. Transfer the tokens. (This will move tokens from Ethereum blockchain to Near blockchain. Your Near wallet will now contain nETH i.e. Near Wrapped ETH.)
5. Go to Ref Finance
6. Connect Ref Finance to your Near Wallet
7. Convert nETH to Near

Here is a "How To" video from the Official Near Youtube Page.

Creating Your Own Near Native Wallet

1. To set up your Near Wallet, go to https://wallet.near.org/
2. The homepage will prompt you to “Reserve Account ID.”
3. For example, your Near Account ID will look something like: username.near
4. Near is different from many other blockchain wallets, because the Account ID (wallet address) looks very much like a social media handle, instead of the random set of numbers that most blockchains use.
5. This Account ID will be used to buy, sell, trade, and HODL your Near tokens and NFT collectibles.
6. To finalize setting up your Near wallet, you will need to deposit 0.2 Near into your account.
7. You can deposit Near tokens by sending Near from OKCoin or another source to your Near Wallet ID.

Once you deposit 0.2 Near, your Wallet ID will be activated and ready to use.