The Future of Digital Ownership: A Deep Dive into NFTs, Blockchain, and Cryptocurrency

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NFTS, BLOCKCHAIN CRYPTO ART-EXPLAINED

Nothing beats an explosion of blockchain news to leave you wondering, “Um… what’s going on here?”

That’s how I felt when I read about Grimes being paid millions of dollars for NFTs or Nyan Cat being sold as one.

And just when we thought we had a handle on what was going on, Twitter’s founder put an autographed tweetup for sale as an NFT.

You may be wondering, what exactly is an NFT?

I think I’ve figured it out after literally hours of reading. I’m also expecting to cry.

Let’s start with the fundamentals:

WHAT EXACTLY IS AN NFT? WHAT EXACTLY DOES NFT STAND FOR?

The token is not fungible.

That doesn’t make it any clearer, does it?

Sorry about that. “Non-fungible” means that it is one-of-a-kind and cannot be replaced with something else. A bitcoin, for example, is fungible — trade one for another and you’ll get exactly the same thing.

In essence, an NFT is a collectable digital asset that has value both as a form of cryptocurrency and as a form of art or culture. NFTs are now regarded as a value-holding investment in the same way that art is. But how do you do it?

First, let’s define the term. NFT is an abbreviation for a non-fungible token, which is a type of cryptocurrency similar to Bitcoin or Ethereum. 

However, unlike a standard coin on the Bitcoin blockchain, an NFT is one-of-a-kind and cannot be exchanged for another (hence, non-fungible).

A one-of-a-kind trading card, on the other hand, is not fungible. You’d get something completely different if you traded it for a different card. 

For Instance, You traded a Mercedes S  for a Maserati.

Crypto art has been around for about five years, but NFTs appeared out of nowhere for many speculators outside of the crypto world.

A number of speculative factors, such as the pandemic, the wild rise in bitcoin prices, and institutional acceptance, are inflating the bubble (as companies such as Tesla buy and validate bitcoin).

In the pandemic, homebound investors armed with the latest trading platforms have nothing better to do than hunt for new trends in chatrooms: the next bitcoin, decimating hedge-fund short-sellers or foraging for the next bubble.

Because there is so much money, speculators and producers of NFTs are supplying and rushing into this space, NFTs are likely to be overinflated at some point. 

Digital tokens operate on the same principles as crypto-currency cousins. 

They are immutable, cannot be duplicated, and can be easily verified and authenticated on the blockchain. However, there is no guarantee that they will retain their intrinsic value over time. Currently, scarcity is the sole driver of value.

How do NFTs work?

Most NFTs are, at a high level, part of the Ethereum blockchain. Ethereum, like bitcoin or dogecoin, is a cryptocurrency, but its blockchain also supports these NFTs, which store extra information that allows them to function differently than, say, an ETH coin. 

Other blockchains, it should be noted, can implement their own versions of NFTs. (Some have already done so.)

What should you buy at the NFT supermarket?

NFTs can be anything digital (such as drawings, music, or your brain being downloaded and turned into an AI), but the current buzz is focused on using the technology to sell digital art.

Do you mean people paying for my good tweets?

I don’t believe anyone can stop you, but that’s not what I meant. Much of the discussion revolves around NFTs as an evolution of fine art collecting, but with digital art.

(As a side note, we were trying to think of something so ridiculous that it wouldn’t be a real thing when we came up with the line “buying my good tweets.”) .

So, of course, the founder of Twitter sold one shortly after we published the article for just under $3 million.)

Do people really believe this will become as popular as art collecting?

I’m sure some people really hope so, like the person who paid nearly $400K for a Grimes 50-second video or the person who paid $6 million for a Beepl video.

Whoever acquired that Monet can appreciate it as a physical object. A copy of digital art is literally as good as the original.

The flex of owning an original Beeple, on the other hand…

So, what’s the point here?

That depends entirely on whether you are an artist or a buyer.

I’m a Digital Artist.

First and foremost, I want to express my admiration for you. Congratulations. 

You might be interested in NFTs because they allow you to sell work that would otherwise be difficult to sell. What will you do if you come up with a really cool digital sticker idea? Is it possible to sell it on the iMessage App Store? No way, no how.

Also, NFTs have a feature that you can enable that will pay you a percentage every time the NFT is sold or transferred, ensuring that if your work becomes extremely popular and skyrockets in value, you will reap some of the benefits.

I’m a purchaser.

One of the most obvious advantages of purchasing art is that it allows you to financially support artists you admire, and this is also true for NFTs (which are way trendier than, like, Telegram stickers). 

Purchasing an NFT usually includes some basic usage rights, such as the ability to post the image online or set it as your profile picture. Of course, there are bragging rights to owning the art, with a blockchain entry to prove it.

No,  Wait! I meant to say I’m a collector.

Wow, Cool NFTs can function similarly to any other speculative asset in that you buy it and hope that the value of it rises one day so that you can sell it for a profit. But I feel a little dirty for bringing it up.

So each NFT is distinct?

In the dull, technical sense, each NFT is a distinct token on the blockchain. 

But, unlike van Gogh, where there is only one definitive actual version, it could also be as a trading card, with 50 or hundreds of numbered copies of the same artwork.

Who would pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for something that is essentially a trading card?

That is, after all, one of the reasons why NFTs are so complicated.

Some regard them as the future of fine art collecting (read: as a playground for the mega-rich), while others regard them as Pokémon cards (accessible to the general public but also a playground for the mega-rich).

Is it possible to purchase this article as an NFT?

No, but technically anything digital (including articles from Quartz and the New York Times) could be sold as an NFT if you have between $ 2K and $600K

Deadmau5 has made digitally animated stickers available for purchase. Shatner-themed trading cards have been sold by William Shatner (one of which was apparently an X-ray of his teeth).

Resources:

Check out the Comprehensive List  of  NFT Related Blogs 

Is it possible for me to pull off a museum heist in order to steal NFTs?

That is dependent on the situation. Part of the allure of blockchain is that it keeps a record of every transaction, making it more difficult to steal and flip than, say, a painting hanging in a museum. 

However, cryptocurrencies have been stolen in the past, so it really depends on how the NFT is stored and how much effort a potential victim is willing to put in to get their stuff back.

Please don’t steal anything.

I want to make the most of my blockchain experience. Can I purchase NFTs using cryptocurrencies?

True. Most likely. Many marketplaces accept Ethereum. However, technically, anyone can sell an NFT and ask for whatever currency they want.

Can I construct an underground art cave or bunker to store my NFTs?

NFTs, like cryptocurrencies, are kept in digital wallets (though it is worth noting that the wallet does specifically have to be NFT-compatible). However, you could always store the wallet on a computer in an underground bunker.

ARTISTS ARE ALWAYS VERY VULNERABLE WITH THEIR CONTENT IN THE INTERNET”

NFT Art?

In layman’s terms, an NFT is a one-of-a-kind token that denotes ownership of a digital product or art. When you buy something, a contract is created and then minted on a blockchain network.

This contract is open to the public and is a permanent part of the blockchain. While this is an oversimplification, consider an NFT to be a digital certificate stating that someone “owns” a tweet, YouTube clip, or piece of artwork.

NFTs are being sold by artists and content creators as an evolution of fine art collecting, allowing one person to claim ownership of a specific piece of work.

Functionally, it is impossible to enforce because anyone can simply download their own version as a JPEG or PNG.

However, the idea is that if your purchase places you on the Ethereum cryptocurrency ledger, you will have something to “prove” that the piece of art belongs to you. Theoretically, tangibility is irrelevant.

Blockchain Technology

The use of blockchain technology might make the market more secure.

Verifying a work’s authenticity and establishing its provenance is among the most difficult tasks presented by the art market for pieces for which the creator is no longer living.

The Fine Arts Expert Institute (FAEI) in Geneva revealed in a report that they had conducted in 2014 that more than fifty per cent of the artworks they had assessed were either forgeries or were not ascribed to the appropriate creator.

The blockchain may make this possible. The fragmented form of the blockchain is the defining characteristic of this public, decentralized list of data that are linked and safeguarded via the use of encryption.

Because the information is being hosted by millions of computers at the same time, there is no centralized version of the data that a hacker could possibly access and modify. 

Because of this, many people think that using blockchain to move digital data is the safest option currently available.

The chief executive officer of Verisart, Robert Norton, was quoted as saying, “When it comes to selling artworks, two things are vital.” “Is the artwork legitimate, and do I have permission to sell it to you?” “Do I have the authorization to sell it to you?”

This issue may be remedied thanks to the capability of blockchain to monitor and verify authenticity through the use of timestamps on transactions and cryptographic signatures.

New collectors, new works of art

Both as a theme and a medium, blockchain has found its way into the work of contemporary artists. 

There is an emerging trend in blockchain art, which ranges from bitcoin graffiti art to pieces such as The Last Bitcoin Supper by French artist Youl, which was listed on eBay in 2014 and sold for roughly 3,000 US dollars. 

Blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies have been studied as a subject for many years by people such as Dean Martin ( An Artist based in Melbourne)

Other examples include Plantoids, which are blockchain-based robotic plants that interact with people who donate via Bitcoin and Ethereum, and CryptoKitties, which is a virtual game that enables players to buy, collect, breed, and sell various types of virtual cats. Planetoids and CryptoKitties are both examples of decentralized applications.

During the Codex Art Auction that took place this year, special copies were auctioned off for up to USD 140,000, which attracted a new class of collectors – one that is maybe less attracted to more conventional kinds of art.

Resources:

List of Courses to Learn NFTs. Blockchains

About the Author:

Manny Acharya is the co-founder of Artmellows. Your Goto place for Design, Digital Art, Digital sculpting, Photography, Design Tools & Gears Info, and Product Reviews. Manny is a Digital Artist, 3D Sculpt Designer, Ardent Photography, Drone flying Enthusiast & Tech Lover. He supercharges Digital Art & Design by crafting memorable 3d Sculpts & 2D Design & Art.

PS: Manny has created a Beginner Friedly ebook to Learn Nomad 3d Sculpt App. Know More about the eBook. Know more about Manny

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