What is NFT art?
NFT art? What's that?
In the last few months the non-fungible token (NFT) art space has exploded and data shows that there’s been over 4.9 million sales worth well over $128 million to-date. But what EXACTLY is the NFT, and why should you be interested?
Cryptocurrencies and blockchain have disrupted nearly all areas of our human life. Perhaps being most synonymous with financial services, you might be surprised to find that it has paved its way into is the arts industry, too. Making the art world into the new digital gallery, purchased with digital currency.
So what is a Crypto NFT?
Non-fungible tokens contain identifying information recorded in their smart contracts. It’s this information that makes each NFG different and that’s why they cannot be directly replaced by another token. So: non-fungible tokens are not interchangeable – each of these tokens is unique. They cannot be swapped like for like, because no two are alike. This helps make non-fungible tokens (aka NFTs) take blockchain applications way beyond the usual digital currency use. So, in essence, the possible uses of this technology are pretty much endless. So when it comes to art, you can create one-of-a-kind digital art, like the Mona Lisa with boss glasses.
OK, But What Has This Got to Do with Art?
Digital artists notoriously experience a lot of difficulties when it comes to protecting their copyright online. Thanks to NFTs, digital artists can safely sell their works. Non-fungible tokens and their smart contracts allow for detailed attributes to be added, like the identity of the owner, rich metadata or secure file links — all of this greatly helps artists have copyright over their work. Also you can have royalties paid to you if your art is sold again after it’s been purchased.
How to Make and Sell NFTs
Are you an artist or content creator of some kind, looking to make a buck (or potentially several million bucks) off of work that is otherwise not inherently monetizable? You could make your piece an NFT. Say you have a doodle you want to turn into an NFT, or a comic strip, or something like Nyan Cat, the animated cat with a Pop-Tart body and a rainbow trail, which just sold as an NFT for about $580,000. The process differs from site to site, and some charge a fee (to cover the computational “gas” needed for the transaction on platforms like Ethereum). But you can start on platforms like Nifty Gateway, where you can apply to create a project to be sold as an NFT on their marketplace. There will be transaction fees too so be aware. You can’t make money without spending money.
So now what?
Now that you know about a little about NFT art. It’s up to you what you will do with the info. Will you become a seller or a buyer? Will you create your own unique pieces or will you collect then auction off making a ton of digital currency that can turn into real cash. The path you choose has many directions.
