NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, have been in circulation since 2017. But in March 2021, with the sale of Beeple’s Every days: the First 5,000 Days, they truly took off. Crypto-art, whether it’s a million-dollar digital masterpiece or a kitten video bought on a whim, is fascinating and mysterious. Yet, what exactly is NFT art, and how is it influencing the field of digital art?
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Despite its somewhat obscure moniker, NFT digital art’s core concept is rather straightforward. It’s the act of exchanging monetary value for works of digital art. When first proposed, just a few years ago, it seemed completely out there. However, with the advent of the non-transferable and non-reproducible property title, it is now feasible to own an original work of digital art for private use. Each token purchased with bitcoin or ether has its own unique number, much like a bill. Also, each one is linked to a certain work of art.
Using blockchain, a single owner may protect the integrity of any piece of material, regardless of how many times it has been viewed or copied. So, works of NFT art at catalog have a dual purpose. Certificates of authenticity double as permission to reproduce an original work. Whoever owns the NFTs associated with an artwork also owns the rights to that artwork. Therefore, he has the authority to make copies, use them commercially, and sell them.
Opens up exciting new opportunities for both collectors and non-traditional artists.
With the ease of NFTs, any art lover may make a purchase in a matter of minutes. Art has never been more accessible to anyone interested in purchasing, collecting, or reselling it.
The same goes for the decision to resell one’s artwork using NFTs; the artist need not consider the work’s repeatability. This is a game-changer for digital artists, for whom free dissemination has always been more important than making a profit from their work. Content producers may conduct quick and easy business with the help of specialised platforms. To cut out the middleman, they deal directly with their customers. A sale of artwork not only results in a short-term financial windfall but also has long-term implications. This is so because of a royalty scheme that pays out close to 10% for each subsequent sale of the work.
Precautions to consider while working with NFT art
Tokens for NFTs are kept in a digital wallet, the code for which is known only to the owner, therefore the tokens themselves cannot be stolen. In the instance of piracy, however, the whole contents of this digital wallet may be stolen. Some artists discover their works on exchange sites, even if they had no intention of selling them there in the first place.
These unwarranted monetary exchanges are compounded by the environmental damage caused by NFTs’ exorbitant energy consumption, a problem shared by all cryptocurrencies. Many creators are wary of the blockchain sales model because of the pollution it produces.
Finally, the volatility of the currency employed in NFT art means that it has the potential to lead to the bursting of a speculative bubble.
It’s impossible to foresee the future of crypto-art since the market for digital artwork like catalog is so young. However, the economic and ecological future of NFTs needs be clarified over the next several years.
