Why are artists using NFT technology to sell their digital artwork?
NFTs provide digital art with unforgeable, trustless, provable provenance. NFTs replace the flimsy technology of paper certificates of authenticity & the requirement of trust in centralized galleries to provide accurate provenance. NFTs solve the problem of collecting digital art, the medium of the future.
Why did you get involved with NFTs?
Personally, I got very excited about art provenance on blockchain because it was a better technology to secure ownership for collectors. The traditional art world has always had trouble with digital art because they operate under the paradigm of physical ownership. Until discovering NFTs, I believed I would have to make gold gilded USB drive to do business with a traditional gallery. Or be forced into manifesting physical prints.
What are NFTs and how do they relate to blockchain?
NFTs, also called Nifties, stand for Non-Fungible Token. Each token can represent a different unique thing. For artists, this thing is often an artwork. NFTs exist as entries onto public blockchains, like Ethereum. Blockchain can be thought of as decentralized global databases or ledgers. In laymen terms, blockchains are like giant Excel spreadsheets. An NFT takes up a row on the spreadsheet, declaring a history of ownership and attributes relative to the artwork. When you buy an artwork NFT, your exclusive ownership is recorded onto the blockchain and gives you the right to sell that work in the future.
How are NFTs unforgeable?
Because the nature of blockchain relying on consensus makes hacking near impossible, records cannot be forged.
What is a smart contract?
Smart contracts are programmable contracts that NFTs are born from. They can also provide automated functions. For example, artists get exposure to participate in their own success through secondary sale royalties with some NFT smart contracts. Each time a work of art is resold, 10% of the sale goes to the original artist. This is something rare to unheard of in the traditional art world. Smart contracts also allow for experimental economies, allowing collectors to share in the success of artwork they initially invest in. Because smart contracts are programmable, they are subject to creativity.