All you need to know about NFTs

Everyone knows that Non-Fungible Tokens are the most popular trend in the crypto community right now. From celebrities to respected firms, everyone is interested in launching their own NFTs.

What is NFT? An NFT is a digital asset representing real-world objects such as art, music, in-game items, and videos. They are purchased and sold online, frequently with cryptocurrency. Besides, they are generally encoded with the same underlying software as many cryptos.

Significantly, they’ve been around since 2014. However, NFTs are gaining notoriety now as they are becoming an increasingly common way to buy and sell digital artwork. Since November 2017, a $174 million has been spent on NFTs.

Non-Fungible Token is a digital token that’s a type of cryptocurrency, much like Bitcoin or Ethereum. However, unlike a standard coin in the Bitcoin blockchain, an NFT can’t be exchanged like-for-like.

The types of NFTs are extremely varied, but they could take the form of a piece of digital art or a music file, anything unique that could be stored digitally. Essentially, they are like any other physical collector’s item, but instead of getting an oil painting on canvas to hang on your wall, for instance, you receive a JPG file.

Is there only one digital version of an NFT art available?

Non-Fungible Tokens are part of the Ethereum blockchain. They are individual tokens with extra information saved in them. That additional information is the crucial part, which allows them to take the form of art, music, video, etc. They are in the form of JPGs, MP3s, videos, GIFs, and more. As they hold value, they can be purchased and sold just like other types of art. Additionally, like with physical art, the value is largely set by the market and by demand.

However, it does not mean there’s only one digital version of an NFT art available on the marketplace. As art prints of an original are made, used, bought, and sold, copies of an NFT are still valid parts of the blockchain. However, they will not have the same value as the original.

Remarkably, the downloaded file won’t hold the information that makes it part of the Ethereum blockchain.

Digital Works of Art

Remarkably, individual NFT artworks are by far the most valuable NFTs ever created.

On March 11, the history of blockchain technology as well as the history of art changed forever. Christie’s, one of the most popular auction houses in the world, sold an NFT work of art for $69 million. Notably, it was the first time when Christie’s auctioned a fully digital artwork.

The piece called “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” was created by a digital artist Mike Winkelmann, known as Beeple. The NFT is a collage of 5000 tokenized images that Beeple was creating every day over the years.

The record-breaking price set by Beeple’s NFT may soon be exceeded.

How to Buy NFTs

If you are interested in starting your NFT collection, you will need to get some key items.

First, you’ll need to acquire a digital wallet that enables you to store NFTs and cryptocurrencies. You’ll likely need to get some cryptocurrency, like Ether, depending on what currencies your NFT provider accepts. You can purchase crypto using a credit card on platforms, such as Coinbase, Kraken, eToro, and even PayPal and Robinhood now. Then, you will be able to move it from the exchange to your wallet of choice.

Moreover, you’ll want to keep fees in mind as you research options. Most exchanges charge at least a percentage of your transaction when you purchase crypto.