Blockchain technology has already disrupted many industries over the past few years. The transparent ledger behind Bitcoin offers many benefits, among which the ability to track a product’s originality.
The reason people buy Bitcoin is that it has high value. And this value is obtained from high demand. Why is there a high demand? Well, Bitcoin cannot be copied, and blockchain technology is to thank for this. Every Bitcoin is unique, and all participating nodes know this.
And this is where the concept of art comes in. For years, artists found it difficult to sell original paintings, since there were so many fakes in the market. Apart from that, no one can track the ownership rights of a piece, making it hard to understand what the true value of a piece really is.
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Enter the world of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)
Non-fungible tokens are products that are backed by a specific Ethereum address, making them unique and scarce. The NFT space started growing back in 2017 with the introduction of Crypto Kitties, and later became even more popular with the introduction of virtual real estate on a project known as Decentraland.
However, in recent time, we have witnessed an explosive growth in NFT art pieces. By this, we refer to digital paintings and animations, which were heavily promoted on the Pomp Letter just a few months ago.
The concept opens up many doors and allows painters to finally get paid what they are worth. We already see many artists transitioning into the NFT space with some as young as 17 and others as old as 67. Here is a list of some artists you might want to check out:
- Fewocious
- Coldie
- JohnOrionYoung
- Trevor Jones
- Zach Thompson
The concept is simple. You scroll through a platform that lists NFTs from various artists and finds the one that interests you the most. You can then purchase the Ethereum address that the art piece is linked to and own the rights to it. Once you feel ready to sell, you can then list the piece again with an adjusted pricetag.
Where can I find NFTs?
NFTs are currently found on centralized locations – a.k.a. Websites that list them. We do eventually hope to see a more decentralized way of artists joining such platforms, but the current section process is very strict. Here is a list of the most popular websites you can visit to find NFT art:
- Nifty Gateway – The most popular of the three options, lists the art of selected creators that can rank up to $100.000+ per purchase. It is the best way to find digital paintings
- OpenSea – Another great website to spot great NFT art and invest in it with just a few clicks.
- Rarible.com – Rarible became more popular for its collectibles (a.k.a. Cryptokitties, etc) and has since shifted its focus to support art-related pieces as well.
Note that the current way of distributing NFT art is very similar to centralized trading platforms when buying cryptocurrency. Within a few months, we should see decentralized NFT marketplaces getting developed and surpassing the abovementioned options in popularity.
What else can blockchain do when it comes to art?
At the moment of this writing, most NFTs in the crypto space are digital paintings. These can be animated to static, but serve the same purpose. Since the problem of web-based originality is now resolved, we should eventually see this concept transition into VR as well.
Here is what we mean by that: With NFTs becoming more popular, we should start seeing digital exhibitions as well. These would sooner or later start to take place on virtual landscapes, and users will be able to access them using VR equipment.
Once these types of exhibitions become a reality, it will also become a lot easier and more popular to sell other forms of digital art, like sculptures, or even experiential paintings. We are still very early in the growth curve of these developments, and we will need to wait before such practices become mainstream.
Closing
After reading this post, you should have a better understanding of digital art, commonly known as Non-Fungible Tokens, and their differences from traditional art. As blockchain technology continues to disrupt different industries, we expect to see a better understanding and preference for digital uniqueness, which will further elevate the status of creative artists.
For the first time in history, we have a technology that does not allow others to copy digital information. This has initially helped the financial industry (through Bitcoin) but will completely transform all creative sectors in the short term future.
Until this time comes, remember that, similar to cryptocurrencies, NFTs are risky purchases and fluctuate in value depending on the demand of the public. Therefore, invest responsibly.
