In the past few months, almost every newspaper, website, or magazine has published an article titled something like this: "WTF is an NFT?" Short for Non-Fungible Tokens, NFTs have taken the art, music, and social media worlds by storm. NFTs represent unique digital items whose metadata is stored on a blockchain.
These NFTs are used to authenticate a range of digital files, including images, videos, songs, and even Tweets. Instead of physical art, more and more wealthy investors are transferring their funds into cryptocurrency and then putting down large sums of money on NFTs. This raises a vital question Redditors are trying to answer: what's so cool about NFTs?
Explaining NFTs To Outsiders Is An Impossible Task
Is it art? Is it data? Is it both? Why would anyone want to spend money on an NFT? These are the kinds of questions cryptocurrency experts field from outsiders, who find it very difficult to explain the ins and outs of making, authenticating, purchasing, and then storing NFTs.
This is made worse by the fact that blockchains, which store cryptocurrency transactions and NFT metadata, are also mindboggling for novice users. One Ethereum blockchain proponent went as far as developing a more user-friendly app that allows people to collect NFT art and zoom in on the details present in each piece.
Whether Or Not Copycats Go After NFT Assets Is Beside The Point
Another question posed regularly by outsiders about NFTs is, "Why can't people just duplicate someone's digital asset, claim it's their original work, and then resell it?" According to some well-versed NFT Redditors, this kind of question is beside the point.
People can steal or copy a digital file into infinity, but NFTs -- as their name suggests -- are not replaceable or exchangeable. The only copy of an NFT that matters is the one with its own unique hash, or metadata, stored in the blockchain and this one-of-a-kind marker guarantees the original file's authenticity.
Artists Have To Promote Their NFTs
Content creators can't expect to upload a few digital files to an online gallery and get rich quickly. In order for someone's NFTs to become a valuable cryptocurrency asset, they need to properly market themselves.
There are some fantastic crowdsourcing efforts in place to make sure forgeries are weeded out, such as reverse image searches. Legitimate artists trying to get established should focus on the validity of their NFTs, as investors will be more likely to purchase verified files.
This Is Because It All Boils Down To A Name Game
Unfortunately, just like it goes with other investment communities, famous people are much more likely to sell NFTs than non-famous people. Case in point: Grimes, the performer who just so happens to be Elon Musk's partner, made millions in just a few minutes selling crypto-punk NFTs.
A video of Lebron James making a slam dunk sold for $208,000. This proves that investors are after recognizable pieces from recognizable names that will, in theory, accrue value over time.
Which NFTs Are Collected By High Bidders Is Less About Aesthetics And More About Numbers
That Christie's auction house recently sold an NFT collage made by a digital artist named Beeple for $70 million indicates big spenders are willing to put their wealth toward these speculative ventures. Some Redditors hypothesize these initial investors are far less interested in how a piece looks and much more interested in its monetary worth.
Since the future of NFTs is to be determined, these investors are picking NFTs they believe will the most financially beneficial over time. Part of that value, they hope, comes with the fact they are purchasing one of the earliest examples of an NFT.
NFTs Are Smart Investments
Whether you're a maker, buyer, or both, some proponents of NFTs think their future is a hopeful one. Since it's such a new concept, and since cryptocurrency isn't widely used yet, NFTs are getting a bad reputation way too early in their development.
One Redditor details why it's important for NFT artists to spend the money authenticating their digital files properly -- a process called minting. If more and more burgeoning creatives utilize these online NFT markets to revolutionize how art is shared and experienced, NFTs will become an even hotter market for investors.
Conversely, Maybe They're Just A Fad That Will Die Out Like Cryptokitties
On the flip side, not everyone on Reddit is convinced NFTs have lasting power. One user even compares them to the Ethereum blockchain game CryptoKitties, which took off rapidly and then fell into obscurity just as quickly a few years ago.
Why the dim outlook for NFTs? Apparently, this form of digital art "ownership" is far too convoluted and unsustainable.
Most People Won't Get Any Value Out Of NFTs
Continuing this train of thought, the average internet user, even someone who may dabble a bit in cryptocurrency, has nothing to gain from NFTs. Those who expect to quickly upload a file to digital marketplaces like OpenSea and then become millionaires will be very, very disappointed.
Creating and making NFTs requires attention to detail, time, and knowledge of how crypto communities function. Normal people will likely feel overwhelmed, scared, or downright confused by the prospect of getting started.
The Inherent Value Of Digital Art Is Very Different From Physical Art
Another ongoing debate among Redditers looks at the differences between physical art and digital art. Many collectors and investors gain pleasure not just from acquiring expensive pieces, but from being able to physically interact with them by hanging them up or putting them on display.
NFT investors don't interact with the digital files they procure in the same ways. This may prove to be a major deterrent for the NFT community, one that will require a lot of creative app engineering.
The Implications For The Gaming World Could Be Massive
If NFTs do take off, gamers could see how they play, purchase, and create worlds altered irrevocably. Game developers and players alike could one day use NFT marketplaces to exchange game-ready digital assets like weapons.
Not only will these assets add new creative possibilities to gameplay; their status as NFTs will put them on investors' radars. Regardless of what happens, a lot of people are currently thinking big about NFTs.
Feature image source: Coin Companion