What is an allowlist? 

As a creator, minting your work as a non-fungible token (NFT) allows you to establish authenticity and verified ownership. Putting your work on the blockchain also makes it transactable, allowing it to be bought, sold, or transferred (unless the creator chooses to restrict those functions, through the creation of a soulbound NFT).

But how do you ensure your biggest fans and supporters have access to your work? By creating an allowlist. An allowlist lets creators put the wallet addresses of their closest and most involved community members on a special list that grants them early access to mint the creator’s work. This works similarly to musicians who pre-sell concert tickets to their biggest fans before opening sales up to the general population.

Certain users are allowed to mint an NFT before the collection is open to the general public. When you mint an NFT from a project, allowlists give you the chance to become the first-ever owner of that NFT.

Allowlist participants have the opportunity to mint the NFT first and usually retain that privilege by being active members of a given NFT community. 

How do allowlists lists work?

Allowlists are actually common in the field of cybersecurity, where one might be used to specify which IP addresses or domains are permitted to access certain files or systems inside a computer network, or for a website to define which third-party services are authorized to use its APIs. 

Like other things that rely on code, allowlists work using a binary. They are set up to permit addresses included on the list and deny all others by default. If a device with a non-listed IP address or domain attempts to access a resource or perform an action that is not explicitly allowed, the request will be rejected. 

In the case of NFTs, allowlists include the permitted wallet addresses that are allowed to mint an NFT. The NFT collection’s smart contract can be programmed to check if a potential collector is listed on an allowlist before granting access to the mint.

Users can check to see whethere they've been included in an allowlist by signing into OpenSea with their wallet of choice and checking their eligibility on the drop page and appropriate stage.

How do I get on an allowlist? 

Creators have full discretion over who they choose to add to the allowlist for their new collections. There are a few common ways creators often decide to grant someone permission to join an allowlist. 

Team mint

Many creators will reserve and mint a small number of NFTs for their own team or for use in community events. When creators choose to do this, the best practice is to disclose this as part of a drop's FAQ.

Early follower

‍Being an early follower, community member, or supporter can increase the likelihood of getting your wallet address added to an allowlist for a specific collection. For example, Discord moderators may add their most active members to an allowlist list ahead of an NFT drop. 

Owning related NFTs

‍Sometimes, a creator will state that anyone who has purchased an NFT from a past collection may automatically join the allowlist list for a new collection. 

Social media and platform applications

‍Staying engaged on social media or Discord could be a reason a creator adds someone allowlist. Following the creator closely and staying in the loop on social media, and specifically, Discord, is also a great way to know when a collection is set to drop or if the collection will have an allowlist application. 

How do I set up allowlists on OpenSea? 

On OpenSea, you can create presale stages for your drop. “Mint stages” are phases of the drop during which only specified sets of allowlisted wallet addresses can mint NFTs from your contract. Mint stages are enforced on-chain, so even tech-savvy users won’t be able to get past this limitation unless they’re on the allowlist. 

To add a presale stage, in your Drop settings, you can click + Add a presale. This will open a pop-up window where you can edit the stage. Make sure to do this in advance, as you can’t edit the allowlist for any presale stages after minting begins.

As a default setting, drops on OpenSea currently enforce additive allowlists, meaning that if a user is included in all presale stages, the stage per-wallet limits you set in one presale stage will roll over to the next stage.

Within an allowlist for a certain presale stage, you can also customize the number of mints and the price for an individual wallet address, regardless of the broader specifications for that presale stage. 

Your allowlist file for each stage must be:

• A .csv file
• Formatted as [valid Ethereum wallet address, customer per-wallet limit (optional), custom per-wallet price (optional)].
• Note: ENS names aren’t supported at this time.
• The file should not include headers or any duplicate addresses.
• We support a limit of 30,000 addresses per presale stage

What are the advantages of allowlists? 

Special community perks

‍Those who are allowlists may benefit from surprise drops or discounted prices thanks to their allowlist status. 

Preferred access to a mint

‍Preferred access to a mint is one of the biggest perks to being on the allowlist list. Being a part of the first round of minting also may afford users the benefit of gaining early access to a highly valuable NFT. 

Where can I see allowlists timing on OpenSea drops? 

OpenSea’s “Drops” section is full of upcoming NFT drops. When you click through to a specific collection and scroll down, you will see a “Mint Schedule.” Any white list, pre-sale, or allowlist drop dates will be listed in this section. The Haas x RENGA Racing drop page shows an example of how a mint schedule may look.