NFT minting phases explained
Quick answer
A minting phase is a defined period during which a collection can be minted under specific rules — price, supply allocation, per-wallet limit and who is eligible. Collections on Elevate can run several in sequence.
Phases let a creator sell to their allowlist first, hold back a team allocation and open to the public, each under different rules, without redeploying anything.
Who this is for
Collectors reading a collection's phase table, and creators planning a launch.
What is a minting phase?
A minting phase is a window with its own price, its own supply cap, its own per-wallet limit, its own start and end time, and its own eligibility rule. When one phase ends or sells out, the next can open.
- Reserved (team)
- Allowlist
- Public
- Reveal
- Secondary trading
Public phases
Open to any wallet. No signature is required; the only checks are timing, the phase's supply cap, the per-wallet limit and payment.
Allowlist phases
Restricted to wallets the creator has approved, each with its own maximum allowance. Elevate implements this with a per-wallet signature rather than a merkle tree, so the list can change up to the moment the phase opens.
Reserved phases
Team allocations and special distributions — a fixed supply for named wallets, usually at zero price.
What a phase defines
| Setting | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Price | Per token, quoted in TAO (stored in wei on-chain) |
| Start and end | Unix timestamps; an end of 0 means open-ended |
| Phase supply | Maximum tokens mintable in this phase |
| Wallet limit | Maximum tokens per wallet in this phase |
| Signer | The address that must sign allowlist approvals (zero address for public) |
| Pause | The owner can pause a phase without deleting it |
The contract owner can update a phase's configuration before it begins. Once a phase has started its rules are fixed.
Wallet limits
Limits apply at two levels. The contract tracks how many tokens each wallet has minted in each phase, and it keeps a global per-wallet counter across all phases. Both are checked on every mint, so a wallet cannot exceed its overall share by minting a little in each phase.
How Elevate implements phases
- Phases live in the collection contract; the site reads them over JSON-RPC and shows each one's status, price and remaining supply.
- The page refreshes phase status immediately before you sign, so you never mint against a stale phase.
- Creators configure phases at deployment; Elevate reviews the schedule as part of contract integrity.
Common mistakes
- Assuming the public price applies to the allowlist phase — each phase has its own.
- Expecting an allowlist spot to carry into public — allowances are per phase.
- Reading a countdown as a guarantee — the phase table on the collection page shows actual on-chain state.
Frequently asked questions
- Can a collection have more than one public phase?
- Yes. Phases are a list; a creator can run several public phases at different prices.
- What happens if a phase sells out early?
- Minting in that phase stops when its supply cap is reached. The next phase opens at its scheduled start.
- Can the creator change a phase after it starts?
- No. Phases can be edited before they begin and paused at any time, but a started phase's price, supply and limits are fixed.
Written and maintained by the Elevate team. Last updated . Corrections: reach the team on the official Discord.
Related
- How NFT allowlists workSigned per-wallet allowances, verified on-chain — no merkle trees.
- How to mint an NFT on Bittensor EVMThe ten user-facing steps from wallet setup to verifying your minted token.
- The Elevate collection contractOne ERC-721A contract per collection, with phases, royalties, transfer lock and reveal built in.
Ready to mint? View verified Bittensor NFT collections.