Just last month, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) rose to fame with record sales of Beeple and Nyan Cat of $69 million and $590,000, respectively. Who would have thought that a collage of rainbows pooping flying kittens and a low-res meme would open the door to a whole new crypto art economy?
This phenomenon has scratched the minds of many investors, but NFTs are not an entirely new trend or technology. NFT is a token built on ERC-721 to identify unique works of art or intellectual property.
In this guide, we will unravel the complexity of NFTs, the mystery of crypto art, and provide valuable information for you to make money as a creator or investor.
What is a Non-Fungible Token?
An non-fungible token is a cryptographic token activated by ERC-721, an Ethereum-based smart contract that is indivisible – making it unique for individual intellectual property tracking!
In other words, an non-fungible token is like getting a glowing coin in an old-style arcade that can only be used for certain games; Every coin you use cannot be split or refunded. Unlike ERC-20, NFTs cannot be exchanged for other tokens.
Therefore, non-fungible tokens have three irresistible properties for crypto artists and creators: uniqueness, rarity, and indivisibility.
NFTs: Spring or No?
Do we really need NFTs? NFTs enable digital artists to watermark their work across the entire digital economy. For example, music creators can use NFTs to monetize their music and enforce IP rights to prevent piracy. On the receiving end, art collectors will find the digital art collection process simplified and validated.
One of the growing real-world adaptations of NFTs is NBA Top Shots, a platform built on the FLOW blockchain that allows users to capture highlights of NBA games and convert them into NFTs. In February 2021, sales of Top Shots NFTs skyrocketed to over $218 million. As of writing, the crypto art economy is worth $100 million.
As the world moves towards a post-pandemic digital economy, NFTs could be the key to accelerating the digitization process.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Selling Your First NFT
Similar to selling items on eBay, the NFT selling process involves creating an Ethereum account, listing the digital item, and a crypto wallet to receive payment.
Few platforms allow you to print your first crypto art. In this example, we will examine Opensea, one of the most popular platforms for NFTs.
- Step 1: Create an Account in the NFT market
First, access OpenSea and click create.
Next, you will be asked to connect your Metamask wallet that supports Ethereum. One way to create a Metamask wallet is to add it as an extension to the browser via the Chrome store. When you sign in to the wallet, it will automatically sync with the OpenSea account.
- Step 2: Start Creating Your Crypto Art!
Next, go to the collections tab to create your “first store” and start listing your digital arts. Basically, you can print any digital art format from images, sounds and GIFs.
Listing on OpenSea costs nothing, but gas fees may apply due to the use of the Ethereum network. The cost of gas fees is directly related to network congestion. Therefore, listing your digital art at inconvenient hours can only reduce the cost of gasoline charges!
Step 3: List and Sell Your First NFT!
Then access your collection and click sell! Once you have defined the parameters for printing NFTs on the sales page, you are on your way to generating a new passive income.
Isn’t that easier than selling WhatsApp stickers in App stores? Let’s take care of creative, digital artists!
Disadvantages of NFTs
Here’s the big question: Can you really sell something and get rich?
NFTs are not entirely new to the crypto world. The forerunners of NFTs in 2018 were Cryptokitties and celebrity music. So why didn’t it start then? NFT platforms were unregulated, making them expensive and inaccessible to the average internet user.
BitClout, for example, faces legal charges for selling NFTs without users’ consent. According to BitClout’s whitepaper, the profiles of 15,000 influencers have been “pre-loaded” on the BitClout platform, and users will be able to trade on these tokenized accounts by receiving BitClout’s “creative” token. However, the influencers did not allow their content to be used or re-shared.
In other words, BitClout has reportedly touched the gray area of social media regulations. Anything posted on social media is public and accessible to everyone. However, can we print someone’s post and call it our own with a coin? This is an evolving debate that needs to be resolved… it is widely debated by proponents and opponents alike in this field.
Recently, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong requested that his name and image be removed from a cryptocurrency platform after receiving media inquiries from Singapore-based media The Straits Times about BitClout.
As a result
There is no doubt that NFTs have generated a strong demand for intellectual property. However, critics dismissed it as another fad to pass. Regardless, crypto artists are happy with the recognition of their creations and the emergence of platforms to monetize their assets quickly.
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