Digital Art Collectors and NFTs

The whole digital universe is undergoing yet another transformation, or rather evolution, spurred on by NFTs (Non-fungible tokens) and crypto currencies. I’ve been keeping a casual eye on the development of crypto currency for the past 5 years, even dabbling in Bitcoin and Ethereum with varying degrees of success, but these rather abstract investments have paved the way for something new.

Firstly, what are NFTs?

Non-fungible tokens essentially mean that something has an original digital fingerprint. Now, this is interesting because it means something can be one-of-a-kind, even if you create digital copies of it. For example, you could own copies of a work of art as a print, frame it and put it up on your wall, but it’s not the original piece. It’s exactly the same concept, but rather than having physical ownership of it, its’ just a series of 1s and 0s.

The Ethereum blockchain was the first digital thing with value to use NFTs and now its utility has expanded and opened up new opportunities for investment, particularly with artwork, videos and other creative outputs.

Are NFTs the future for art?

If we see this trend continue, then we could see a this really take off and not just for art, but for music, movies, photography and anything else you can create digitally. We’ve already seen pieces sold with a very big price tag, like the Gucci Ghost which went for $3,600 and that’s a fairly tame example. So for creators, the opportunities can be very lucrative, but what a about the buyers?

Well, the buyers would probably consider themselves as investors, purchasing something that they would hope to increase in value over time. Again, this opens up a very interesting playing field, where people with capital can make further profit and if history has taught us anything, making a profit will determine success.

So what’s next for NFTs?

If there is money to made from this, we will see expanded use and application, but it will most likely be reserved for individuals with the capital to invest. Alternatively, we could see syndicates or communities that acquire NFT assets, sort of like owning shares.

As crypto currencies become more accessible and widely used, combined with it’s growing value, we can expect the same trend with this. Well-known artists will adopt this method and we’re already seeing Damien Hirst setting up NFT collections and even fake Banksy artwork using NFTs. We might even see feature length films get in on the action or perhaps even more abstract things, like AI or virtual spaces!