A Guide to Buying and Creating NFT’s
NFT’s, ‘nifties’ or just Crypto Art have been growing in popularity in the past couple of months. In the age of decentralization and cryptocurrency, the art world has decided to tag along for the adventure. Let me break this all down for you.
What is an NFT?
NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token. The definition of Fungible is as follows- (of goods contracted for without an individual specimen being specified) able to replace or be replaced by another identical item; mutually interchangeable.
So, when you place ‘non’ in front of this word, you get a a good that is unique and can not be replaced. There is only one (or however many the creator specifies) in existence with a unique token attached to each and logged on the Blockchain (this is a permanent ledger that can be accessed by any computer).
Another way to think about it is buying a rare comic book, a piece of art, or a baseball card. If it is rare enough, you receive a certificate of authenticity and other paperwork to prove that is the real thing. Except, people can steal or create fakes of these items. That becomes much more complicated when it comes to digital artwork purchased with decentralized currency all recorded on the blockchain.
How do I buy NFT’s?
The catch with all of this- you must use a cryptocurrency, such as ETH or BTC. So you will need a Crypto Wallet (like Coinbase) to purchase art. You can convert everything back to your native currency when you’re done.
When NFT’s are created, purchased, and exchanged, there is a unique registration number produced for that piece. Whoever purchases the NFT is logged for that particular item and it is known by everyone. So, yes you could duplicate an NFT or just screenshot the art, but it won’t be worth as much. Similar to if you buy a poster of the Mona Lisa. The original is worth much more than your poster you got in the gift shop. You might be able to trick someone who doesn’t know much about exchanges, but that seems like a terrible approach to this.
The point of all of this is to sell it down the road for a profit. Just like people who invest in fine art, that is what people are doing with digital art.
How do I create NFT’s?
To create or sell an NFT, you must use an NFT marketplace. Some of the most common are OpenSea, Rarible, SuperRare, and KnownOrigin. Anyone can create NFT’s, you just need to have to be able to pay the ‘gas fees’ to mint your artwork and have it on the market. From what I have read, most fees are around $100. Once you set all of that up, you upload your artwork and list how many editions you would like to have. You can sell as many as you’d like, but the less there are, the more rare it is…which means a greater value for you.
What is the future of NFT’s?
I really wish I could predict the future, but no matter what happens, this is great for artists. I think creators have been in a weird bucket where people undervalue them. Sites like Fiverr make it easy to find cheap labor low skill labor (they often just rip other artists *rolls eyes*), but harder for artists to charge a sustainable rate for their work. People have lost their appreciation for art and the skill that goes into it.
With the shift in attitudes on art thanks to the Crypto movement, I think this is only a positive for creatives. For buyers…I can’t say what will happen.
Someone to Look Into-
Beeple aka Mike Winklemann sold $3.5 million worth of NFT artwork over the weekend back in December. Yup, just over the weekend. Now his NFT’s are being auctioned off at Christie’s (fancy British auction house). This will be the first time a completely digital artwork will be auctioned off at Christie’s AND they will accept Crypto to buy it. So, if you read this article and are still in the mindset that NFT’s are silly and a fad, did this information change your mind?
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