What made $342M in trading volume in Feb '21? And, no. It wasn't porn.
"What makes art, art? The fact that you're interacting with it."
Just when most are still grappling with the idea of #Blockchain, Crypto and P2P tech, there's an explosion of #NFT news (Playboy is currently working on turning it's classic centrefolds as NFTs, and three weeks ago #ElonMusk said he's gonna sell his tweet as an NFT.)
All this current excitement about non-fungible tokens (or NFTs) can be tear-jerking; but because it carries the power to not only transact your creation to the world, but also inflate the value of your artwork in the short term, NFTs have managed to gain considerable eyeballs and mouse clicks in recent times.
The thing is, you, me, anyone can create and sell an NFT - they are basically unique digital tokens or assets that can be readily interchanged, very much like money.
But, because they are digital, they are non-tangible (they can be bought and sold but they can't be held in your hand) and also non-fungible (because they have unique properties that cannot be interchanged with something else).
Get it?
But, then, one might say, "Any digital material can be easily duplicated!", and that's why NFTs are "tokenised" - which means that a blockchain-generated virtual certificate of ownership is created. So, if you buy an NFT, you own a 'token' that proves that you, and only you, own the original work.
Making an NFT involves just a few steps - but these can be mind boggling for those who've never stepped into the crypto world before. But, essentially what you have to do is:
Create a software wallet i.e #Metamask (you can either download this or get a Chrome extension. This is not for you to store your crypto / NFT, rather, the wallet is where you authorise transactions).
Create your NFT. Opensea.io is a great place to start. So, now, navigate to opensea.io through your Metamask browser. You have to pay a one-time fee to upload your art and create your collections. And, for this, no technical blockchain knowledge is necessary. Phew.
List and sell your art. This requires some #Ethereum. So, purchase some ETH from Coinbase, Binance or whichever crypt exchange platform you're comfy with and transfer it to your Metamask wallet. Give #OpenSea permission to sell your NFT (this costs some ETH, and this is called the Gas Fee). And, once your artworks are listed, anyone can find them and buy them.
Pretty straightforward yeah?
But, here's the thing - if you want to have even the slightest chance of your NFT gaining some attention, then there are a few things I suggest you start doing - even before you start listing on the marketplace.
Build an online portfolio. Whether it's on Instagram or Behance or Vimeo, make sure your artworks are published along with your portfolio.
Start storytelling. Art does speak for itself, but the most powerful art pieces also tell the story of the artists. Invest some time in crafting the idea behind your artwork, or explain the efforts behind creating them.
Get into conversations. Whether it's Twitter or Clubhouse, connect with people, talk about your art, use the power of your authenticity to cut through the noise and connect.
Blockchain is evolving. Crypto has entered the common man's lexicon. And, #tokenization in itself, is a powerful tool that has the potential to drive infinite applications that are yet to be discovered.
But, now that you can eliminate the middleman, veer away from the traditional art market model, and actually create value for your artwork in mere minutes - what's really stopping you?
