NFT's and my two cents.
NFT’s or non-fungible token’s are this new jargon and nerd or tech talk that you’ve likely heard of. Maybe it’s your nerdy boss or co-worker or in the news, but I’d bet you’ve heard of an NFT.
So, what are NFT's?
I’ll try and explain as best as I can as I currently understand them without using a copy and paste from Google or another website.
NFT’s are a digital item, like a photo or digital asset like a ticket stub that are unique. They live in the decentralized world of crypto currency and are tradable or sellable to other wallets that accept that form of crypto. I have only done research on the Ethereum blockchain but other chains do exist. From what I’ve found so far, the Ethereum network seems to be the best blockchain for things like this but like any technology, things change often and quickly.
The blockchain technology and decentralized network also act like a certificate of authenticity which helps digital artists and creators build their own following and brand. What is unknown is how to display and show the world or your friends what you have, yet. Each part of the blockchain has a unique identifier that acts like a certificate of authenticity.
Right now, I’m extremely sketchy of digital art except with known digital artists or elite tier marketing. Even though there has been break out artists like CryptoPunks or Beeple I’m still unsure as the future of digital artwork long term for the upcoming artist.
The problems I have aren’t specifically art, it’s copy and paste. As an unknown artist and relatively unknown brand, if someone wanted to remint my exact image, I wouldn’t know what to do right away, except post everywhere “FAKE!!” which does nothing but give the thief more exposure. A copycat artist could buy and sell originals on a different Rarible.com when the original art is on Opensea.io.
With that said, I think a brand logo is harder to copy and paste into their own NFT but what about an actual art piece? Except with time stamps and only if you find both images at the same time on a website like Opensea.io how would you know the difference?
That is the problem I have with art NFT’s. Good thing there are other uses for NFT’s as well.
NFT’s could also be used for much deeper value. As a fan of Gary Vaynerchuk, I purchased a Secure Sparrow for 1 ETH with the USD value of around $2200 at the time. This Secure Sparrow is the ticket for a convention put on by Gary called Veecon where the only people invited are those with his NFT. It’s very interesting on this take on this. He also produced a Gift Goat token that he will physically mail you 6 gifts per year for three years. I’m currently unsure on how he gets the mailing address or change of address if the token changes hands.
Things like this are exciting because it creates the possibilities of a digital ticket going beyond just art. A possibility beyond just a ticket, it creates the ability for a creator to market, sell, and interact directly with their fans.
There is also a possibility of a long term incoming of royalties from each sale of the NFT. A smart contract can behind every NFT, for example the Kirwan’s Game Store NFT will forever provide a 10% royalty back to Kirwan’s Game Store each time one of the NFT’s changes hands. This alone lets creators create items and experiences that will go directly to their fans. The creator can focus on their brand, craft, and experiences and will help grow their own income by creating NFT’s that have a secondary market.
I still have a ton to learn about NFT’s and how they work and the long term benefits and issues that will arise from the scaling of the Ethereum blockchain. I feel like there is a ton of protentional and I’ll continue to learn on what is going on with NFT’s.