With corresponding eyewear and clothing print, three young kids embrace their chosen screen colours; red, green and blue
RGB Kids (2023)

NFT Digest: The Mainstream Finally Caught Up With Crypto Art

The perceived value of NFTs is they can prove ownership and provenance of a digital asset. This carries implications not only for collectables, but also limited, and unique works. Importantly, this does not restrict public access to the asset. Rather it certifies it for sale on primary and secondary markets. This has meant recognition and reward for digital artefacts, spurred curation on NFT platforms, and trading in NFT marketplaces.

To mint an NFT means the underlying digital asset is recorded onto a blockchain; an immutable, add-only, distributed ledger. Minting does not prevent asset copying, which many argue increases exposure, and consequently, the market value of the minted asset. However, unauthorised minting is a pressing concern for many. Fraudulent asset sales diminish the legitimate income of artists, and undermines trust in the broader NFT market. In the event that disputes do arise, recourse is certainly not helped by the absence of legislation dealing with the specifics of NFT creation and trading.

The implications of putting assets ‘on-chain’ are ostensibly far reaching, and the interest among those making native-digital products is entirely understandable. The artwork ‘original’ bares little significance when the output is a software file rather than a painted canvas. Moreover, barriers to physical reproduction are irrelevant on a computer, where file copying is central to how operating systems work.

Eye on the NFT Horizon

Crypto art caught mainstream media attention in early 2021 when Christie’s auctioned Beeple’s ‘Everydays’ for $69 million. While this has increased public awareness of crypto art, it remains an area that is opaque to most. As with other areas of Web3, time will likely be required before achieving mass adoption. With the maturation of the NFT space, the hope among visual artists is the fuller value of authorial works can be tapped, so that creators see the financial gains that have been absent in today’s mediasphere. Sadly however, at the time of writing, some NFT marketplaces appear to be reneging on artist royalties. This development has dismayed many who look to NFTs as a viable alternative to the traditional art market. In light of this, the importance of embedding the royalties within the NFT smart contract has become evermore evident.

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