Introduction to NFT Art

You might not know how they work, but there's a good chance you've heard about non-fungible tokens or NFTs.

You might not know how they work, but there’s a good chance you’ve heard about non-fungible tokens or NFTs. They became extremely popular in 2021 when a digital artist named Beeple sold one online for $69.3 million.

NFTs are a type of digital asset that’s tied to the crypto blockchain, allowing digital artists to authenticate their work through encrypted tokens which are uniquely tied to a piece of digital art.

This guide will explain what crypto art is and where to buy and sell NFTs.

What Is an NFT?

An NFT is a token that represents a digital asset such as artwork. You buy and sell NFTs like you would other collectibles, except in this case, you own the tokens that represent ownership of the collectibles but you don’t own the collectibles themselves.

Understanding Non-Fungible Tokens

These tokens are considered non-fungible because you cannot exchange one NFT for another identical one. For instance, if you have one bitcoin, you can exchange it for another bitcoin and still have one bitcoin that is functionally identical to the first. Thus, bitcoin is a fungible token.

NFTs, on the other hand, aren’t interchangeable. Each has a unique digital signature, so no two are exactly alike.

Key Features of NFTs

NFTs are not like crypto, which can be smaller denominations, such as fractions of a coin. NFTs are indivisible and each has a unique identity on the blockchain.

NFTs are also fully verified on the blockchain, with the unique token attached to a digital item that may live off the blockchain, such as a piece of digital art. This helps make authentication permanent and helps avoid ownership issues of digital creations.

What Is NFT Art?

When you buy an NFT, you receive a unique token that represents ownership of an underlying asset. The token exists on the blockchain, and the sale is tracked on the blockchain so that nobody else can claim ownership of the NFT.

Metadata describes what the NFT includes, such as a digital signature by the artist, and contains the transaction history. Each minted token comes with a unique identifier linked to an address hosted on a blockchain, such as Ethereum.

You can either hold the NFT in your wallet forever or sell it down the road. In some cases, the original creator of the NFT will get royalties from the resale.

NFT art is present on a blockchain, such as Ethereum, and is “minted,” or created, from digital objects that can represent intangible or tangible assets, such as:

Did You Know?

Even legendary tweets can be sold as NFTs. For instance, Jack Dorsey, the founder of Twitter, sold his first-ever tweet as an NFT for $2.9 million.

NFT Art Meaning

For artists, this means they can expand their source of income by tokenizing their work, whether it be digital art, memes, videos or music.

Artists can leverage smart contracts to ensure consistent income. A smart contract refers to a digital contract set in code, which can be programmed to execute automatically if certain predefined conditions are met.

Ultimately, NFT art allows digital artists to be recognized and authenticated. In the age of artificial intelligence and the “copy and paste” ability for digital art, NFTs help democratize art ownership and allow a new medium of creative expression to flourish.

How Does NFT Art Work?

NFT Art is digital art that is located on the crypto blockchain. The way it gets there is through a process called minting.

Creation of NFT Art

Crypto art is minted via smart contracts that then assign ownership to the creator and manage transferability. When you mint an NFT, you execute the code in a smart contract. Smart contracts must comply with specific standards, like the ERC-721.

As a result, the information gets added to the blockchain managing the NFT. The creator’s public key becomes a permanent part of that token’s history. That makes it possible for the original artist to receive royalties every time the NFT is sold.

For instance, platforms such as Zora and Foundation give royalties to the artists, 10% on resales, in the case of Foundation. Euler Beats Originals’ original owners get an 8% royalty whenever the NFT is sold.

Buying and Selling NFT Art

To purchase NFT art, you’ll need to have a digital wallet that can connect to an NFT platform or exchange, as well as cryptocurrency to make a purchase, usually Ethereum or Solana. Once you purchase an NFT, ownership is recorded on the blockchain and transferred to your digital wallet upon the sale of the piece.

If you want to sell an NFT, the process is similar. You’ll need to connect your digital wallet to an NFT platform, list your item, and pay fees. Once the sale is completed, your NFT will transfer to another person, and you’ll receive crypto in return, minus fees.

How To Get Started with NFT Art

If you want to create and sell your art as an NFT, or simply want