Have you ever heard about NFT’s, and you do not know what they were talking about? Well, It isn’t effortless, but I will try to help you. In a world where cryptocurrencies and digital money is growing, some other digital forms of value are gaining value also.
This is the case for NFT’s. Have you ever seen a GIF and think, “Who owns that?”… yep, me neither. Now, those GIFs might have owners, and they paid pretty good money for them. You will be amazed by the amount of money people are spending on NFT’s.
What Is An NFT?
Hard to explain, but here it goes. NFT stands for “Non-fungible Token,” this means that this “thing” is unique and that another object or currency cannot replace it. The opposite of a non-fungible object would be gold; if you trade one kilogram of gold for another kilogram of the same gold, you will get the same thing; with NFT’s, that does not happen. It is something like a work of art but digital.
When it comes to a painting, it can be proved which the original is, but you cannot when it comes to a digital picture or GIF. NFT’s do create a certificate of ownership over a piece of art to prove that the one you have is the original. These NFT’s can be sold or bought. The simplest definition for an NFT would be a “digital asset that represents real-world objects like art, music, in-game items, and videos.”
Additionally, there is another thing called NFT, but it has nothing to do with digital art and much less with cryptocurrencies. Farms use the Nutrient Film Technique to grow plants. The NFT hydroponic system is of the most used strategies to grow crops due to its efficacy. However, you cannot learn about the NFT system to grow crops; I am going off-topic. Let’s go back to our NFT’s!
Is This Just A Bubble?
Some will say yes, this is just a bubble, but honestly, it is hard to be sure. This is pretty new, and there are many uncertainties about it. Even the “experts” are not sure about it; they said that this could be the future and that this is all crazy and makes no sense. Some argued that NFT’s are the future collections, and collectors will be paying crazy money for those.
I mean, they are already paying fortunes. Also known as Beeple, Mike Winkelmann had a record-breaking auction that sold an image for 69 million dollars! So, do you want to know if this is just a bubble? Time will tell, but I know for sure that anyone investing that kind of money will suffer if he does not get his inversion back.
How Much Are NFT’s Worth?
They do not have an actual price; anyone could “tokenize” any form of digital art. Since it is like a collector item, these NFT’s could be worth up to the millions. The most expensive and record-breaking was the Beeple picture ($69 million). Anyway, depending on the asset, the price will vary from the thousands to the millions. Some musicians have sold some of their digital assets for millions of dollars.
How Does It Work?
These NFT’s are, in most cases, part of the Ethereum Blockchain. Ethereum being a cryptocurrency makes it very interesting and makes you look for more answers. For example, the environmental impact these cryptocurrencies are causing is alarming, and some would argue that NFT’s will not be working shortly due to this issue. Blockchains are the process that makes cryptocurrencies available to the public.
As stated above, most NFT’s are in the Ethereum blockchain, but other cryptocurrencies have been implementing their versions. That might be a sign that this has some future. NFT’s are usually bought using cryptocurrencies, and many people might think that NFT’s are those kinds of currencies, but they are not.
Many people might see an NFT crypto sign and get confused, they are related because they use the same system, but they are not the same thing. You can buy an NFT with a cryptocurrency if that makes it clearer to understand.
Imagine these works of art as an autograph from a celebrity, you can own it, and the Ethereum blockchain ledger can verify that unique value. These NFT’s have been used for many forms of art, including the following:
- Collectibles
- Games
- Music
- Films
- Sports
- Fashion
- Pornography
What Are NFT’s Used for?
NFT’s can be used for many things; as stated in the list above, many kinds of NFT’s people can buy. Essentially, NFT’s are used to claim ownership over a piece of digital art. In many online assets, they can be easily duplicated; so, to know which one is the original and which one is fake, the owner would have a certificate of ownership.
NFT’s are usually used by artists who are trying to sell some form of digital art. For example, as I explained before, some musicians sold some of their music (in the state of digital art) to make some money.
Some of the buyers of these products are people trying to help their favorites artists. The sellers might use this method because other places might not have the market they can find with this digital art. Also, they usually get a commission every time the NFT is sold to receive even more money after selling it.
Buying an NFT will give you the right of usage and the collector side of the business. They usually wait for the price to go up and then make some money.
How to Buy NFTs?
If you are looking to get into the NFT’s business, you will need to follow some steps to buy some of these. To buy NFT’s, you will first need to have a digital wallet that allows you to have both cryptocurrencies and NFT’s in it. Also, you will need to buy some cryptocurrency such as Ethereum or anyone accepted by your NFT provider. There are many ways of buying cryptocurrency;
Here are some of the platforms most used:
- Coinbase
- Kraken
- eToro
- PayPal
- Robinhood
You can choose which one to use, but make an informed decision because most, if not all of them, charges you a fee for every transaction you make.
Popular NFT Marketplaces
After having everything that is needed, you are good to go. There are countless NFT places where you can buy them, but here is a list of the biggest ones where you can start buying:
- OpenSea.io: You only need to create an account on this site and start browsing for the collectible you want. This platform is based on a peer-to-peer relationship where you can find exciting new artists and more.
- Raible: Similar to the last one, it allows the users to find and create NFT’s.
- Foundation: Here on this platform, we might see a higher caliber piece of art. This is because the creators must buy some “gas” to enter. This platform is more exclusive, and better art is found here.
Conclusion
I am not sure if you fully understood what an NFT is, but if you are taking one thing from here, it should be this: NFT’s are unique and are digital assets that could be bought and sold. It might sound crazy, but the GIFs going around messenger apps can be owned, and their price might be higher than you might think they are.
You might think this is kind of weird, but there is a significant number of collectors out there buying and selling digital art on the Internet, and they are not holding back; millions are being spent on the Internet right now as you are reading!
