What on earth are NFTs? And what do they have to do with Bitcoin?
Why is everyone making such a big fuss, paying millions of dollars for images and GIFs!
Why would I pay thousands of dollars for that?!
Credits: Vice
Honestly… super confusing stuff.
But do not worry. Good news is, you are not alone!
After so many hours of reading and watching videos of “NFTs for dummies”, We’re glad to say, We kinda get it?
Let us start off by, what on earth are NFTs?
But before we do that, let’s explore some technical terminologies to help make things easier.
Okay, now NFTs…
NFTs are non-fungible tokens, but that’s what you read everywhere and probably still think, “okaay…still. What are they?!”
So basically, an NFT is a unique and impossible-to-replicate digital file that is stored in the Ethereum blockchain and can be traced. It could be an image, GIF, drawing, music, visual property (house, car, etc.), signature, or literally anything digital.
NFTs have a traceable history, showing you their purchase record since their creation.
Traced? Why?
Simply put, each NFT has only one owner at a time, and ownership is regulated by a unique ID and other non-replicable metadata. This is one of the features that make it very special.
Credits: Niftygateway
So, what happens is: the creator of the NFT launches it on the blockchain and offers it for sale. Someone buys it (now the owner) and resells it.
Okaay. But what’s so special about that?
For the buyer or for the artist?
For the… buyer?
Well, first things first, some treat NFTs as a new digital fine art collection. So, (1) buyers feel privileged “owning” a one-of-its-kind piece of digital art. Apparently, it is appealing, prestigious, and cool to some people that they are the collectors and ALSO owners of that one piece of art.
(2) It also allows buyers to financially support the artists they love.
AND if they’re collectors, then it’s considered (3) an investment since they can later sell it and make a profit.
Unisocks
These $72k socks over here. Basically, when you buy a $SOCKS token, you are qualified for 1 real pair of limited edition socks, shipped anywhere in the world.
Crazy, right?
(4) Buyers can purchase and sell virtual land in decentraland, the first fully decentralized world.
(5) Finally, they can be granted access to well-known communities with celebrities and get additional perks, such as access to exclusive concerts and apparel drops. (Bored Ape Yacht Club)
Boasts members like Jimmy Fallon, JJ Lin, and Post Malone.
Wow! Okay… And for the artist?
As for the artists, they get to retain all intellectual and creative rights to their works. Through NFTs, artists get compensated for and profit from their work that has otherwise spread freely across the web.
For instance, an American digital artist known as Beeple is now known as the third most expensive living artist to sell at auction. His NFT “Everydays: the first 5000 days” is being sold for $69 million dollars.
5000 images that Beeple released on the web since May 1, 2007
Can’t I just download it and claim ownership?
Well, technically, we just downloaded and inserted it here. But, Beeple is still the original artist and all credit goes to him. Owning the real thing carries much value in the art world!
So yes, you can download it. But … you can’t resell it, profit from it, or claim ownership. There’s only one owner to it at a time, as we agreed earlier.
Now you probably still have a lot of questions… We did too.
But to wrap it up and not get you so overwhelmed. We’ll answer your questions very briefly.
Can I too create an NFT?
Yes, you definitely can. Anyone can. And no, if it doesn’t sell right away, it is still considered an NFT.
The most famous platforms for creating, buying, and selling NFTs are:
Are all NFTs expensive?
Nope. Some artists simply like making works of art and believe they should be available to the public.
Crypto.com offers NFTs that start as low as $10
