NFT as a Digital Art

NFT (non-fungible token) is the analog of securities created in the cryptocurrency decentralized network. These tokens denote the digital asset's affiliation with one or another author. Because they belong to a cryptocurrency system, these tokens cannot be stolen or counterfeited. This protects digital asset owners from plagiarism or copyright theft. 

In the last 2 years, NFTs have become more and more talked about on the Internet. More often than not, these tokens are copyrights on paintings, drawings or music. That is, they are mostly used in the arts. Previously, artists and other creative artists could only sell copyrights or physical goods (books, articles, paintings). Now people can perpetuate their right to even a virtual asset that does not exist in documentary form. 

How NFT deals happen in the arts

Many people wonder how NFT works in the art world. Each of us can buy or sell NFT for one or another digital asset. NFT tokens are sold and bought mainly for the Ethereum cryptocurrency, which was invented by Vitaliy Buterin. Ethereum is the second largest cryptocurrency in the world, with a market capitalization of $389 billion. Its tokens are called ETH and are now second only to Bitcoin, with a capitalization of $1.1 trillion. Moreover, Ethereum is both a payment system and a platform for developing blockchain-based applications. The code for such applications runs on a distributed network rather than on a centralized server. This makes it impossible to censor the application. 

To buy any NFT token, you only need to have Ethereum cryptocurrency on your cryptocurrency wallet. That said, anyone of us can create such a token. Bu​​t only for unique digital assets. There is no way to plagiarize or try to sell someone else's property. 

Not only artists, but also media personalities, have entered the game of crypto-art. Most sell their photos, pictures of their pets, and digital canvases. But there are more interesting offerings.

The Weeknd sold an unreleased song in an NFT auction for $2 million. The lucky owner of this token received a track that will never be featured on any digital platform. 

DJ 3LAU went even further and sold an entire music album for $11.6 million. 

Big companies and media outlets weren't left out, either. The New York Times marketed a column with the telling title "Buy this column on blockchain!" for $560,000. And the Saturday Night Live show made a clip on the subject. It sold for $360,000. At NFT, you can sell anything and the seller can be anyone. A 12-year-old boy named Benjamin Ahmed, for example, sold a series of unpretentious badge works for $160,000. It is also possible to buy digital plots of land. Their prices can be equal to the value of real land.

Where to buy and sell NFTs

There are several venues where artists can exhibit their work at NFT for sale.

   - Foundation. This site is created by the artists themselves, they can also invite colleagues thanks to invite received after a successful sale on the site.

   - Rarible. It costs an artist about $100 to exhibit their work on this site.

   - OpenSea. This is the most democratic site, as users pay only for registration and can put out unlimited number of works. But because of this, the site has over 13 million registered users.

   - Binance. This is the largest crypto exchange in the world, which launched its platform for selling NFTs. Many experts call Binance the market leader.

What NFT looks like

An NFT is a registry entry in the blockchain. It contains a description of the digital object, information about the creator of the work (this is how NFTs help protect copyrights) and data about the owner, namely his Ethereum wallet number.

In addition, a certain set of owner's rights is embedded in the NFT. Usually, it's permission to freely display images or play music and videos. But sometimes sellers include the entire set of copyrights in the token. NFT is digital property (JPG pictures, audio tracks, videos, photos, and more) plus a set of specific rights to it. Technically, it doesn't matter if its real art or a randomly created file.

Does the NFT have a future?

Absolutely, there is! NFT is a modern form of digital art identification, thanks to which disputes about copyrights and ownership of such assets can be eliminated. First, the tokens will be interesting for the owners of digital art: artists, singers and musicians, writers and engineers. That is, anyone who creates digital products, music, paintings, books, articles, and more. But NFT has many disadvantages, just like cryptocurrency. The mechanism of digital copyright is not yet fully understood. And many works of art are overpriced because of the hype of cryptocurrencies and everything connected with them. 

It may take a few more years for NFT to be fully implemented in the digital art world.