Read This Before Investing Your Money in NFTs Art
“You like drawing, don’t you? You should invest your art as NFT. I saw many drawings that are similar to your style,” said my brother. “You can earn money there because I heard that some artists could sell their art for millions of dollars”. Money, eh? It does sound enticing.
- Disclaimer: This article is for a beginner in the crypto world and NFTs
A month ago, I had a group video call with my brothers via WhatsApp. One of my brothers mentioned that he created an account in one of the NFT marketplaces. He then continued that he bought a piece of art for the starter since he knows that the price will increase in the future, and there is nothing sketchy about having one in the NFT’s market. However, he doesn’t really care about the art he bought; he didn’t even bother to describe it. It was just a simple drawing with a low price for sure.
Honestly, I already heard about NFT in June this year while searching for a popular trend in the art category. Yet, it didn’t attract me because I was not fond of the concept of digital currency; also, I didn’t know that it would give you some benefits or something. Yes, I thought that NFT was kinda like a currency and similar to bitcoin back then. Perhaps, you have the same thought as me.
So, what is NFT? And what is its connection with art? Is it true that my drawings can be worth much more in there? Is it some kind of phony hype? How could you know that this is not some kind of scam? Why could some artists sell their pieces for millions of dollars? What — Whops! Slow down with the questions, man! Sure, I will answer all of those inquiries and incredulities here. Be patient! As a philosopher, Jean-Jacques Rousseau once said, “patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet” at the end of the road, you will get the sweetness of knowledge after following step by step of my dancing words here.
First things first — understand the cryptocurrency.
NFT simply stands for Non-Fungible Token, but before we delve deeper into it, let’s talk about cryptocurrency first. As I mentioned earlier, I once thought that NFT is similar to bitcoin — we can say that it was not entirely true — it is related but different in a term. Understand basic cryptocurrency work means you are one step closer to the enlightenment of the NFT world.
You see, bitcoin is nothing more than just a currency, or more known as a cryptocurrency, meaning that this is a digital form of money, using cryptography for security. This digital currency is monitored by a peer-to-peer network called a blockchain, and it’s decentralized or isn’t controlled by only one person or even the government. Blockchain technology also enables two parties to make a transaction without the involvement of a third party.
Is it safe? It is, because of the transparent system record that could be accessed by the public. The cryptography principles also make sure that people can not change or falsify the records.
After the emergence of bitcoin, there are many cryptocurrency types, such as Ethereum, Solana, Litecoin, Stellar, Cardano (ADA), tether, etc. They have their own function and risk; you can learn about each of them individually here.
Bitcoin might be the first cryptocurrency in the world and also the one that is already echoed everywhere, but some people believe that Ethereum will surpass that popularity. As I mentioned earlier, bitcoin’s utility is limited only as a decentralized digital currency, whereas Ethereum was built to solve the limited use of the predecessor cryptocurrency. So, Ethereum should not be seen as competition but rather as an enhancement.
You need to understand that Ethereum is a decentralized computing platform with unique features such as smart contract, dApps, and its native coins called ether (ETH). Ether is Like bitcoin; it can be sold and bought. Does that mean ether is the currency of Ethereum? — arguably, yes.
Then, can I own NFT now?
Sure!
In order to own an NFTs digital asset, you must have ether (ETH) coins in your wallet since most of the NFTs market are using this currency as the payment.
In this case, the first step you should take is to go to this website https://metamask.io and install it in your browser as a plugin. You can also install it in the form of an app on your smartphone. Although there are many crypto wallets out there that you can choose from, Metamask is hospitable for the novice since it is best for storing small amounts of cryptocurrency also easy to use.
You can easily understand the instruction after landing on their homepage, or if you need guidance on how to install and buy cryptocurrency from Metamask, you can click here.
Opensea still holds the largest and popular NFT marketplaces. After you have ether coins, you can create or explore this NFT market platform. Visit them on https://opensea.io, and then, you can easily explore and discover digital items like art, music, tweet, memes, collectibles, etc., that are still in the auction, on sale, check their owner, and more. Feel free to buy, make an offer, or place a bid on every NFT item you think you want to own.
Read here before your choose which NFT marketplaces are better for you.
Suppose you have an excellent unique drawing that you think has a valuable price, and you want to invest this as NFTs art — because why not? I mean, you are already this far.
At the same marketplace, Opensea. You can choose a “create” button for minting your digital drawing as a part of the blockchain. Minting refers to turning your digital artwork into a token or, in simple words, putting your digital items on the system. After you have some Ethereum wallet, you can start minting your drawing by creating a collection, loading your artwork, and filling in all the details.
Now you have a token in the form of a digital drawing, good job! However, to list your artwork on the marketplace and sell it, you must pay what is called “gas fees”. In fact, when you buy an NFT, it also requires some gas fees. The more complex the transactions, the more fees that you have to bear. There are some ways to reduce the number of gas fees. You need to research it since it does not always work for everyone.
The last step is to promote your NFT art to a specific target. Nobody would notice your artworks or let alone spend money on them if they can’t find or see them. Use your social media to promote them, join the crypto communities, make a thread on Reddit, just make a noise! Let the world know that your artworks have value, so be creative. You will earn profits eventually.
There are always gains and losses
What do you think so far? Are you still interested in NFTs art?
Indeed, it is easy to join, but gaining popularity and “money” is a long process. So, what is the secret from people that manage to sell their digital artworks for millions of dollars? You probably wonder because your art is more profound and rich than some “crypto punks” collections. Or are you even wondering why NFT has value?
Understanding the concept of NFTs is a bit hard — not rigorous, but just a little intricate. As I mentioned earlier, NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token, which means the digital asset is unique, original, and interchangeable. For example, you buy this extraordinary digital artwork, let’s say an image of a banana on the wall, created by one of the noticeable artists. Then it means you are the legal owner of this image because you have digital proof of ownership, so you can use it for whatever you pleased.
Indubitably, people can still copy that artwork — it’s a digital image, after all. However, you are the legal owner, and the one you have is still the original, and the others are just copies.
It uses the same logic as painting collectors, there are many copies of Monalisa painting, but the original is still the one hanging on the Louvre museum. And the painting is still worth $867 million, even if you can easily find the replica on the roadside market.
People love the concept of ownership of something valuable. It’s ingrained in the human blood, and it gives some satisfaction by possessing the original one. In some cases, it could dignify the owner’s status.
We completely understand the concept of scarcity and momentum. That is also the reason why some NFTs are worth millions and others are not. Yes, NFT is still worth more based on speculation and hype effect. It is difficult to determine the price of one NFT for now, and there are no specific requirements to follow in order to sell your digital asset at exorbitant prices.
Then is it worth investing in my artwork as NFT?
It is hard to tell and predict.
However, noticing that a gif meme Nyan Cat sold for 300 ether or equivalent to $561.000 and some big companies like ByteDance or ViacomCBS started minting their digital asset into NFT, signifies that this is not just some kind of bubble. These people realized that there is a bright future in this technology.
Now, the choice is yours.