Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) — Changing the Dynamics of Digital Arts
Did you know that a tweet got sold as an NFT (Non-Fungible Token)? Flabbergasting, isn’t it? You might now not buy that, we know. But as you read this article, we bet your interests will change.
With the world progressing towards a creator’s economy and the evolution of blockchain technology, digital content and arts, music files, custom-designed fashionables, video clips, gaming collectibles are being sold in the NFT marketplaces for millions of dollars.
Before getting into the technology behind and how it works, let’s go through some basics about NFTs.
NFTs are Non-Fungible Tokens, and in layman terms, the data about a digital art or collection, video clips of best moments in the sports and entertainment field, gaming skins and collectibles, stored in a distributed ledger powered by the blockchain technology. These are unique items and are not interchangeable with another NFT.
Purpose? The buyer purchases the original version of the artwork or digital design through a token but the copyright will be held by the original owner / seller of the work.
The seller or creator sells the piece of artwork but holds the copyright to it. He/she enjoys the benefit of royalty everytime the work is exchanged with a secondary buyer. The buyer trades the artwork / digital design (which is brag worthy) leaving monetary benefits for the seller. He/she becomes the primary buyer and following buyers are termed as secondary buyers.
NFTs and Blockchain — The technology behind
As the name goes, NFTs are Non-Fungible Tokens which are not interchangeable and each NFT represents a unique digital asset — digital art, painting, designer merchandise, video or music clips. Each digital asset, though copied, cannot be claimed as unique. By securing their works as digital assets in the form of NFTs, Artists and creators can have their works copyrighted.
How’s it being kept safe, you may ask. This is where the buzzword among crypto enthusiasts — Blockchain comes into the picture.
Advantages & Disadvantages of NFTs
Talking about buyers, let’s explore the bright side of owning NFTs.
- Having a decentralized marketplace for NFTs allows creators to sell their works directly to their customers, eliminating a middleman. There are also options to claim their commissions as discussed earlier.
- -Built on the resilient blockchain technology, the data cannot be forged. The digital art is copyright protected, secured and unmodifiable.
- NFTs are collectibles whose values get aggrandized over a period of time.
- It’s worthwhile to invest in NFTs for the resale value.
However, there are a few stumbling blocks here like:
- Physical arts can’t be digitized.
- The copyright for each digital asset is not purchased which means the artwork is still going to suffer the copy-paste problem.
- It needs a lot of energy and cost to build the underlying blockchain technology.
Nevertheless, thousands of people are making use of NFTs to earn a living out of it. Let’s understand more about the industries that the technology has impacted.
By now, this article might have helped you with diverse categories of NFTs. Let’s drill down further with a brief history of each.
Categories of NFTs
Fashion
Gone are the days where customers head to retail stores to shop. With the COVID-19 outbreak, online shopping has evolved greatly. The scenario favours the fashion industry to leverage AR Fashion and patent an NFT for each designer merchandise in the years to come.
How designer merchandise, fashion & luxury goods — sneakers, hoodies, streetwear have been positioned in the NFT market today?
We wish to surprise you with some intriguing information about a few fashion designer’s creatives rather than sharing news about who bought which designer merchandise for how many dollars.
Collecting inspiration from a plethora of sources, fashion designers have stored their works in the blockchain as NFTs.
Nike has secured its patent for “Cryptokicks”, an NFT Sneaker, the brand has also allowed rights to clone the production of each sneaker. However, the copyright remains with the brand itself. By doing this, Nike explores a newfound design and manufacturing approach.
Gucci is doing it in a distinctive way by rolling out its Creative Director Alessando Michelle’s Virtual Sneakers.
Brands like Tribute and The Fabricant are experimenting with Cyber Garments inspired from gaming skins.
Arts
Are you a character designer / graphics designer / doodle artists / digital artist? We’ve grabbed your attention too.
Mike Winkelmann aka Beeple, someone like you, sold his artwork — Everydays: The First 5000 days as an NFT for $69.3 million. It is the most expensive NFT sold till date.
Crypto Punks by Larva Labs is another good example of NFTs that were being sold in the marketplace.
The Disaster Girl Meme, one of the most popular photographs of the 21st century as recognized by internet meisters has been sold for $39,256.40. However, the copyrights remain with the father of the girl in the photograph.
So, kickstart your journey with buying an NFT for your creatives today!
Gaming
Gaming items can be expressed as NFT tokens. Each having a unique set of properties and potentially being a power-up, in-game user customization or any other utility.
Entertainment & Sports
The entertainment industry is no exception. The cutting-edge blockchain technology is also influencing the industry in several ways.
Collecting audio tapes of The Blues, The Beatles, Black Sabbath during our young ages would have been a hobby to many of us. Did you ever realize that those are the copies but the original file stays with the creator and he enjoys a cut when each copy is sold?
But this isn’t the case when you buy an audio file, a video clip or even a movie as an NFT. You can acclaim your ownership while enjoying monetary benefits. Here, production houses like Universal, Sony Pictures, The Walt Disney Studios are the beneficiaries.
And who really did something like this?
NFTs of basketball shots / highlight videos have been sold for $70 million dollars.
Athletes are starting to take advantage of the NFT boom in various ways and Sports Organizations across the globe perceive NFTs as a viable marketing opportunity to sell merchandise.
“Where does NFT trading happen?” and “How do one purchase those?” — Read further.
Where to buy NFT’s : NFT Providers / NFT Marketplaces
- Rarible
Built on Ethereum Blockchain , Token — RARI
Who is it for? Artists & Creators
What is traded? Digital Arts, Collectibles, Memes, Digitally designed lands.
2. Foundation
What is it? A user-friendly platform for artists to sell their artworks as NFTs. It promotes live auctions where artists sell and crypto enthusiasts / users buy.
Pros
The platform also enables “upvoting” for all the artworks placed in the auction which favors the buyer’s decision making.
The NFTs bought here can be stored in Metamask wallets and can be traded on other NFT Markets.
Foundation has a seamless user experience where users can maintain a profile for themselves with bio and links to their social media accounts.
Cons
There is a reserve amount during each auction below which an artwork is moved to the “reserve not met” section. This might disappoint the creators.
3. OpenSea
OpenSea is World’s first and largest NFT marketplace. On this platform, users can:
- Open a wallet
- Set up your profile
- Add your NFTs
- Place them for sale — Here you can sell digital assets like — images, video clips, audio and 3D arts.
4. Nifty Gateway
On par with other NFT marketplaces with wallet & account set up, auctions and selling, Nifty Gateway offers a secondary marketplace to sell NFTs apart from the primary one itself. While the primary market is for artists to sell their digital collectibles, the secondary platform allows NFT owners to sell their collectibles.
5. SuperRare
SuperRare also functions the same way like other NFT marketplaces. Creators on SuperRare mention that the platform supports only JPEG, PNG, GIF formats of artworks and allows no room for ultra or high definition formats of photographs.
Final Word
So, what’s next? If you are a creator, then it’s high time you start selling your works on the listed marketplaces. Buyers have been now introduced to newer investment opportunities.
Join the community of unique possessions, it’s never too late!
References:
https://www.forbes.com/advisor/investing/nft-non-fungible-token/
https://www.theverge.com/22310188/nft-explainer-what-is-blockchain-crypto-art-faq
https://www.zee5.com/zee5news/top-5-nft-marketplaces-to-buy-and-sell-the-non-fungible-tokens
https://fintelics.medium.com/the-advantages-of-nfts-fe0969b062b1
https://www.moneycrashers.com/non-fungible-tokens-nfts/
https://www.producthunt.com/posts/superrare/reviews
https://www.gibsondunn.com/media-entertainment-and-technology-litigation-update-april-2021/
Our Products:
- AI-Enhanced Safety Feature (SCOUR), An AI agent that acts as a watchdog to flag the spoofing transactions that manipulates both volume and price of the assets in the NFT ecosystem.
- Digital Asset Forgery Detection System (Crunch Davinci), An AI model that flags forgeries, copycats and bootleg digital art contents thereby protecting the artists and their creations.
- Fair Price value estimation for an Asset(Liquify), A fair value estimation & analytics for Digital Assets (NFTs) using AI to empower the community to embrace and value their assets in real-time.
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