May 17, 2022
Our Guide on How to Hire an NFT development company
Co-Founder & CEO
May 17, 2022
Loading...Table of content
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have taken the world by storm. They are not only a great way for people to express themselves in the virtual world and an excellent revenue option, but they are also becoming more popular in various industries. The hype around NFTs is not just mainstream. There are many valuable reasons for their immense popularity. According to a report, the NFT market reached $40 billion, and the number seems to grow in the upcoming years. This makes the NFT domain one of the fastest-growing markets globally.
As a result, lots of people and companies started considering entering this space with their ideas. However, the NFT market is not only about beautiful arts and game items. The whole industry is based on the blockchain, which ensures the safety of the tokens and users’ data. Therefore, those who want to drop the NFT collection or build an NFT marketplace require in-depth knowledge of blockchain and other vital technologies for this space.
Since blockchain is a challenging topic that can be too tricky for newcomers, not everyone is able to bring the idea to reality. The NFT market also experiences constant changes and trends that have to be followed if someone wants to achieve success. Luckily, the modern world doesn’t require you to learn the NFT industry from scratch to enter this domain. There are many developers and NFT development companies who can easily take your project and let you relax.
But since the NFT industry is still in its development stage, it might be hard to understand what developers should know and how you can make sure you find the best option for your project. This guide goes over the leading tech skills your future blockchain developers should have. We also will show you the best ways to hire NFT developers to guarantee your success.
Outsource vs. Freelance vs. In-house
Even though there are many companies that will assure you they provide the best NFT development services, only some of them have the required knowledge in this space. There are many ways you can build your NT marketplace or create an NFT drop. Let’s find out what option suits you best:
Outsource
It is the most popular model for most NFT projects today. When you outsource the NFT development process to a company, you ultimately get the highest quality of services while focusing on more vital business things. Since outsourcing allows you to just show your concept and rest, this method is best for those who don’t know much about the NFT industry and don’t want to waste time looking for developers, designers, and calculating costs. In addition, most companies provide only niche-specific engineers, so the product will be compliant with regulations. Check our NFT development services!
Pros:
- Cost Reduction
- In-depth knowledge of the industry
- Better communication
- More free time for business
- High-quality the final product
- Full return to your project
- Clear costs & precise working control
Cons:
- It might be expensive in some cases
- It might take years to finish the product in some cases
- It might be hard to find a trusted company
Freelance
This method is more in demand for small projects like NFT drops. This option is beloved among US companies as they usually try to find cheap services while still getting quality products. This is why they usually hire developers from Europe, as they are cheaper than US engineers. However, when talking about the blockchain industry, reports show that the US collects the best NFT and blockchain specialists with the required skills. It is also worth noting that freelance developers usually work on several projects, so they won’t be as dedicated to your product as outsourcing companies.
Pros:
- It might be cheaper than outsourcing
- Reduced costs for BAs and PMs
- Better for quick projects
Cons:
- Lack of communication
- You will lead the project
- Longer to develop complex projects
- Usually, extra costs for hidden hours
- Poor quality of the final project
- It takes longer to find high-quality specialists
In-house
Last but not least option – creating your in-house team. Even if you run the development company and want to create NFt drop or build a specific NFT project, you may notice a significant skill gap in your team. This is because the market moves fast and requires engineers to always improve their skills to produce quality products. In-house teams might be an excellent option for those who have time to look for engineers, but in most cases, it is a really time-consuming method. Check our staff augmentation services.
Pros:
- Control of the process
- Better communication
- United development team
- It might be cheaper than freelance
Cons:
- Time-consuming to create the team
- Usually more expensive than outsourcing
- You might need to lead the project
- Challenging to find blockchain developers
| Outsource | Freelance | In-house | |
| Cost | Moderate | Usually High | Usually High |
| Time | Quick (complex projects may be longer) | Time-consuming | Extremely time-consuming |
| Experience | Developers with relevant experience | Hard to find tech-savvy engineers | Requires time to |
| Communication | Best | Lack of communication | Great communication |
| Quality | Usually the highest | Hugely depends on developers and the project | Might be great but may require education |
Skills Needed to Work on NFT Projects
Now you can come up with the best model for your project, but what skills should you look for in your developers, and how to choose an NFT developer for hire? Let’s find out below:
Ethereum (ETH)
Ethereum is one of the most popular blockchains used to develop NFTs. It comes with a vast range of technical documents that engineers should know and use for building smart contracts or decentralized apps. Developers should also be familiar with EIP-2309 standards that facilitate NFT minting, allowing engineers to mint an unlimited number of NFTs per transaction.
Understanding of Cryptography
Your NFT developers need to have a strong understanding of cryptography that will be used to create and verify digital signatures. It is not only the basics of cryptography. Engineers have to easily work with the documentation that will ensure the protection of every NFT transaction. This includes knowing ring signatures, encrypted storage, hash functions, zero-knowledge proofs, as well as private key encryption.
Web Development
Since a vast part of Ethereum’s decentralized app (dApp) web traffic goes through browsers, highly-skilled NFT developers must have experience and a solid background in HTML, JavaScript, and CSS to quickly convert necessary features into an NFT.
ERC-721 Token Familiarity
The NFT developer should understand the ERC-721 standard and the various use cases of the token. Since most NFTs on Ethereum are built based on this standard, they must know how to create and implement ERC-721 in their project.
Solidity
Every experienced blockchain developer must have worked with Solidity and be familiar with its development process. It is also vital to know the Truffle tool for developer workflow.
Flow (FLOW)
Flow represents a PoS-based blockchain that has been specially designed for mint NFTs and to create crypto applications or games. AIt is now also used as an alternative to Ethereum for token development. Smart contracts on Flow work with Cadence, which is a new programming language all blockchain developers should know.
Contracts
A contract refers to a program deployed to Flow that is responsible for initiating the NFT’s logic. It is essential for all blockchain developers to know how contracts work and how to use them in practice.
Scripts
When using Cadence, scripts work as programs that read the blockchain’s state. To use scripts, developers won’t need to sign up or pay gas fees, so they have to know the working process of them precisely.
Solana (SOL)
Solana is now a solid competitor for Cardano and Ethereum. This is because it is a much faster programmable blockchain. This blockchain contains a vast range of projects, such as Web3, Defi, and NFTs.
C, C++
These are the most valuable programming languages for blockchain engineers. The C and C++ knowledge is essential for the Solana platform as writing on-chain programs is usually done using both these languages.
Rust
Rust is also an intermediate programming language that allows specialists to build apps and libraries on top of it. Therefore, any blockchain developer has to be familiar with data structures, object-oriented programming, as well as package management, testing frameworks, and other structures.
See Our NFT & Blockchain Development Process
Download this file to see how we helped our NFT clients, how we can lead you to success and what process we use to achieve this
Where to Hire NFT Developers?
Upwork
Upwork is a vast website that allows companies to find developers, project managers, business analysts, UX/UI designers, technical writers, and more people in the IT industry. Being one of the most popular platforms for hiring tech specialists, Upwork is mainly used by those companies that need freelancers. However, there you can find engineers for in-house and outstaff projects. The platform allows you to check one’s previous work and see how other clients estimate one’s work.
LinkedIn is an excellent choice for anyone looking for NFT developers. To find only relevant suggestions for you, use the search with keywords like “NFT,” “blockchain,” or combine. Here you can find outsourcing companies, freelancers, or those who want to join in-house teams. Trusted development companies make sure you can easily get through their experience within social media, or you can directly go to the website to check how everything works.
Clutch
Clutch is also a great place for anyone looking for tech people. Like Upwork, it allows companies to hire a wide range of specialists in most spheres, like development, design, marketing, business services, and other IT services. There is an excellent option for those who need to hire an outsourcing company, as here companies can present their services on their personal accounts. You can easily check the company’s rating according to the client’s reviews and see the exact points that other clients like and don’t like about the company’s services.
Word of Mouth
This will be perfect for those who always communicate with other tech people. Practice shows that through connections, there is a great chance to find a relevant and trusted development company. You can reach out to any of your friends or partners to find their suggestions or register on any social media like Linkedin and create a post so your followers can advise something.
How to Choose an NFT Development Company?
Check Company’s Rating
Rating is an essential point that will show you how a company works with other clients, divided by points like cost, quality, speed, and more. For instance, Clutch allows you to easily check reviews and ratings of a particular company alongside feedback from the client. Make sure the rating is not based only on one feedback, as trusted companies have over 10 reviews on Clutch.
Learn Others’ Opinions
As a rating, feedback from other clients can say more than the company itself. Since platforms allow people to leave only verified reviews, you will also know that this is true. Check what points the client highlights – both pros and cons. You can also check reviews on the company’s website or social media.
Get Through Portfolio
Case studies that companies place on their website will show you the exact ways they solve clients’ issues and in what ways. Great case studies can verify whether the company has relevant experience and needed knowledge about your sphere. However, some companies do not place their case studies on the website, which is usually bad. But you can still ask for them during the first consultation. In a case study, you need to focus on the development process, its duration, tech stack, and more things that are vital for you.
NFT Developer Interview Questions
Now you know how to choose your NFT development company. Let’s find out how to find an NFT developer through questions during the interview:
What is your experience in NFT development?
This question is more about what issues the developer has faced and how he resolved them in a previous working place. So try to understand what pain points the engineers can cover and in what ways.
Do you have any prior experience minting NFTs?
The answer to this question should not only be yes. Make sure the specialists can freely talk about their previous experience and how they achieved this.
What is Your Tech Stack?
As the question suggests, here, you need to learn about technologies the specialists know and operate with. You need to craft a list of languages and knowledge the ideal candidate should have in advance and ensure this one can cover everything.
Which Blockchain Do You Think You’ll be Most at Ease With?
Ask this question to figure out what blockchain is best for a particular engineer. If he has relevant experience and solid background, he will know what the best blockchain for both your company and himself is.
Can You Provide References for Your Previous Projects to Check Their Quality?
A high-quality and honest specialist will be able to show his previous work and freely talk about it. However, NFT projects are usually anonymous, so if the project is still in its development stage, the person won’t be able to show something. So make sure in advance his previous projects are live.
How Can Interexy Help?
Interexy is on the list of Top Dubai Blockchain Development companies. We have worked with various NFT and blockchain projects, including the $11M NFT launch – Lil Durk NFT Drop with Gary Vee Involved – American rapper with the best album award 2022. During this project, we also partnered with Sandbox and now work with them for all our NFT launches.
Being experts in both NFT and blockchain, we provide top-notch NFT marketplace development services with your unique requirements and the latest technologies. Our team is made up only of engineers with relevant backgrounds and in-depth knowledge of all tools and technologies used in modern NFT projects. We can help with smart contract analysis, NFT drop, NFT marketplace development, NFT game development, and other ideas you have!
Bottom Line
The NFT industry is flourishing. Every company and every person now wants to somehow benefit from this immense boom. However, it might be challenging to achieve success without highly-skilled tech specialists. We covered the most vital points of choosing your NFT developers and the best ways you can make sure they will craft a worthy product. Let’s get a free consultation, and let us know more about your project!
FAQs
Who is an NFT Developer?
An NFT developer represents a skilled professional who understands what NFT means and how it works, can work with smart contracts and blockchain, and have a relevant tech stack to work with NFT projects.
How to Find an NFT Development Company?
NFT development companies can be found in Clutch, Linkedin, Upwork, other social media, portals for CTOs, and word of mouth.
How to Hire an NFT Developer?
If you want to hire an NFT developer, you need to verify he has relevant experience and a solid understanding of this industry. You can ask questions provided above, check experience, connect with previous employers, ask for work examples and give a test task.
