NFT Non-fungible token yeeah Vincenzo Greco is the artist in step with the times! discover about its crypto art Blockchain Bitcoin Ethereum Smart contracts
I try to explain my digital works and the world of tokens
Vincenzo Greco
October 20, 2021
Non-fungible tokens are used to prove ownership of a digital work in a millionaire market
I try to explain my digital works and the world of tokens to you
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What do a meme and a digital work of art have in common? Which are both of the non-fungible tokens, NFT, sold by the weight of gold through the blockchain. Well yes, thanks to my fame as an artist in the real world I manage to establish myself and sell in the world of crypto.
The crypto-world has been overwhelmed by a new frenzy called VINCENZO GRECO and concerns his art and more generally all collectible digital objects.
What does it mean that a meme was sold? On the blockchain? If you are confused, you are in good company: the blockchain sector always gives headaches to those who try to decrypt it and NFTs are no exception. What the hell is a NFT? In short, a non-fungible token is a "digital token" saved on the blockchain which certainly demonstrates how the owner of this token is also the person who owns my digital artwork. Before going into the technical details, however, let's see what are the events that have made NFT the artistic topic of the future.
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The strong wind of the Nft
In February 2021, the famous gif of the Nyan Cat was sold at auction, on the specialized website Foundation, at a price of 545 thousand dollars paid in ether (the cryptocurrency that powers the Ethereum blockchain). The news causes a sensation, the topic is also dealt with by the major newspapers.
Now you ask me: how do you buy - and therefore own - a meme of my work that everyone can see on YouTube for ten years now? Through specialized nft resale sites.
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The growth in NFT turnover reflects the exaltation of recent months. According to the Crypto.art portal (which combines the most well-known nft resale sites, but not all), in 2020 the sales of nft-based art had reached the value of about 1.5 million dollars. In January 2021 they had exceeded 10 million and in March they have already reached 120 million dollars. The frenzy, the irrational expenses and the exponential growth of the turnover all confirm unequivocally how we are faced with something revolutionary in the world of art.
The growth of the turnover of NFT digital art
What is an NFT
As mentioned, Nft stands for non-fungible token ("non-replaceable token", if we really want to translate it). More or less, it means that this token is unique and cannot be changed with its equivalent. A 100 euro banknote is fungible, because if you exchange it for another 100 euro banknote you have the same value in your hand. On the other hand, an autographed and numbered serigraphy is not fungible, because if you exchange it for the same serigraphy, but not autographed or numbered, you are holding a completely different object.
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Perhaps this is the metaphor that best explains what a NFT really is: the digital equivalent of an autographed and numbered artistic screenprint, which therefore takes on a different value from all the others. A nft is therefore not the digital artwork you purchased, but the token uniquely connected to it that proves that my work is yours. An NFT is the certificate of ownership stored on the blockchain (which thanks to its characteristics does not make it possible to counterfeit, duplicate or steal it).
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In case an example more linked to the world of art is useful: "There are hundreds of thousands of prints and reproductions of my works of art, but since they are not the originals created by me, they are definitely worth much less. The same principle applies to NFTs: you can copy and paste an image or a video but the original, digitally signed by the artist, is what has value ".
It is like owning an original Van Gogh of which an exceptional forger has created hundreds of absolutely indistinguishable copies. The fact that to the human eye there is no difference between the original and the copy does not make the original less valuable.
What matters for the investor is to have an NFT that contains the high resolution file of my work and the artist's digital signature.
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The blockchain also unchangeably preserves the history of all the transactions that each of my works has faced, a relevant element for collecting purposes (buying one of my works that has already been purchased by Elon Musk can obviously have value in itself). By exploiting the traceability of blockchain smart contracts, NFTs therefore aim to solve the crucial problem of digital art.
That is, the impossibility of reproducibility is to be able to copy and paste my works.
Non-fungible token Vincenzo Greco CryptoArt
A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique and non-interchangeable unit of data stored on a digital ledger (blockchain).[1] NFTs can be used to represent easily-reproducible items such as photos, videos, audio, and other types of digital files as unique items (analogous to a certificate of authenticity), and use blockchain technology to establish a verified and public proof of ownership. Copies of the original file are not restricted to the owner of the NFT, and can be copied and shared like any file. The lack of interchangeability (fungibility) distinguishes NFTs from blockchain cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin.
The first NFT project was launched in 2015 on the Ethereum blockchain, and interest grew with the rise of interest in crypto currencies. According to NonFungible.com, sales exceeded $2 billion in the first quarter of 2021, more than 20 times the volume of the previous quarter.[2] NFTs have drawn criticism with respect to the energy cost and carbon footprint associated with validating blockchain transactions.
Contents
Description
An NFT is a unit of data stored on a digital ledger, called a blockchain, which can be sold and traded. The NFT can be associated with a particular digital or physical asset (such as a file or a physical object) and a license to use the asset for a specified purpose.[3] NFTs (and the associated license to use, copy or display the underlying asset) can be traded and sold on digital markets.[4]
NFTs function like cryptographic tokens, but, unlike cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, NFTs are not mutually interchangeable, hence not fungible. While all bitcoins are equal, each NFT may represent a different underlying asset and thus have a different value.[5] NFTs are created when blockchains string records of cryptographic hash, a set of characters identifying a set of data, onto previous records therefore creating a chain of identifiable data blocks.[6] This cryptographic transaction process ensures the authentication of each digital file by providing a digital signature that is used to track NFT ownership.[6] However, data links that point to details like where the art is stored can die.[7]
Uses
The unique identity and ownership of an NFT is verifiable via the blockchain ledger.[8] Ownership of the NFT is often associated with a license to use the underlying digital asset, but generally does not confer copyright to the buyer, some agreements only grant a license for personal, non-commercial use, while other licenses also allow commercial use of the underlying digital asset.[9]
Digital art
Digital art was an early use case for NFTs, because of the ability of blockchain technology to assure the unique signature and ownership of NFTs.[10] The digital artwork entitled "Everydays – The First 5000 Days", by artist Mike Winkelmann, also known as Beeple, sold for US$69.3 million in 2021.[4][11] The purchase resulted in the third-highest auction price achieved for a living artist, after Jeff Koons and David Hockney, respectively.
Another Beeple piece entitled "Crossroad", consisting of a 10-second video showing animated pedestrians walking past a figure of Donald J. Trump, sold for US$6.6 million at Nifty Gateway, an online cryptocurrency marketplace for digital art.[12][13]
A 3D-rendered model of a home named "Mars House", created by artist Krista Kim, was sold as a piece of digital real estate on the NFT market for over US$500,000.[14]
Erwin Wurm released a NFT as one of the first already internationally renowned artist in August 2021.[15] The work "Breathe In, Breathe Out" was released by Berlin-based König gallery's website MISA 20 years after Wurm's first Fat Car. The sequence shows a loop of a seemingly breathing Porsche 911.[16][17][18]
Curio Cards, a digital set of 30 unique cards considered the first NFT art collectibles on the Ethereum blockchain,[19] sold for $1.2 million at Christie's Post-War to Present auction.[20] The lot included the card "17b," a rare digital "misprint" (a series of which were made by mistake).[21]
Collectibles
NFTs can represent digital collectibles like physical card collections, however in a completely digital format. In February 2021, a LeBron James slam dunk NFT card on the NBA Top Shot platform sold for $208,000.[22]
Ticketing
Tickets, for any type of event, have been suggested as a use case for NFTs.[23][24][25] One such use case is the possibility for artists to receive royalties on resales. Another one would be a more intimate relationship between fans and artists.[26]
Games
NFTs can also be used to represent in-game assets, such as digital plots of land, which are controlled by the user instead of the game developer. NFTs allow assets to be traded on third-party marketplaces without permission from the game developer.
In October 2021, one of the two largest gaming platforms Steam banned applications that make use of blockchain technology or use NFTs to exchange value or game artifacts[27] while Epic Games said they would allow the use of NFT technology, but only as curated by Epic, for age-appropriate and legal compliance with laws.[28]
Virtual Worlds
Community NFTs such as "Bored Ape Yacht Club" and "Pudgy Penguins" entitles token holders to benefits, including membership entry to a private Discord server by validating the NFT exists in the wallet against entry.[29][30]
Described as the Metaverse, virtual worlds such as Decentraland, Sandbox, Star Atlas, CryptoVoxels, and Somnium Space allow users to create galleries to show off NFT art, clothes, real estate and attend live events with friends online. They use NFTs to auction off limited objects such as virtual land. The open standards means users can seamlessly transact and bring external NFT objects onto their purchased land. In June 2021, a plot of virtual land sized 16 acres on Decentraland was sold for $913,228.20.[31]
Music
Blockchain and the technology enabling the network have given the opportunity for musicians to tokenize and publish their work as non-fungible tokens. This has extended the list of options for musicians and artists alike to monetize and profit from their music as well as other content surrounding the themes of the music and the artists' public image. Additionally, NFTs have provided the opportunity for artists and touring musicians to recuperate lost income due to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic which resulted in music industry revenues falling nearly 85%.[32]
NFTs were utilized by artists to increase revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic. In February 2021, NFTs reportedly generated around $25 million within the music industry (in an industry with annual revenue of over $20 billion or .125%).[33] On February 28, 2021, electronic dance musician 3LAU sold a collection of 33 NFTs for a total of $11.7 million to commemorate the three-year anniversary of his Ultraviolet album.[34][35] On March 3, 2021, rock band Kings of Leon became the first to announce the release of a new album, When You See Yourself, in the form of an NFT which generated a reported $2 million in sales.[36] Other musicians that have used NFTs include American rapper Lil Pump,[37][38][39] visual artist Shepard Fairey in collaboration with record producer Mike Dean,[40] and rapper Eminem.[41]
Film
In May 2018, 20th Century Fox partnered with Atom Tickets and released limited-edition Deadpool 2 digital posters to promote the film. They were available from Opensea.io and the GFT exchange.[42][43] In March 2021 Adam Benzine's 2015 documentary Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah became the first motion picture and documentary film to be auctioned as an NFT[44][45] via the Rarible platform.[46]
In 2021, an NFT associated with the score of the movie Triumph, composed by Gregg Leonard, was minted as the first NFT for a feature film score.[47]
Other projects in the film industry using NFTs include the announcement that an exclusive NFT artwork collection will be released for Godzilla vs. Kong[48] and director Kevin Smith announcing in April 2021 that his forthcoming horror movie Killroy Was Here would be released as an NFT.[49] The upcoming 2021 film Zero Contact, directed by Rick Dugdale and starring Anthony Hopkins, will also be released as an NFT.[50][51]
Memes
A number of internet memes have been associated with NFTs, which were minted and sold by their creators or by their subjects.[52] Examples include Doge, an image of a Shiba Inu dog whose NFT was sold for $4 million in June 2021,[53] as well as Charlie Bit My Finger,[54] Nyan Cat[55] and Disaster Girl.[56]
Sports
NFTs have also been used in sports, in September 2019, NBA player Spencer Dinwiddie tokenized his contract so that others can invest into it.[57][58] In addition, Dapper Labs, a blockchain technology-based company, has collaborated with the NBA to create "NBA Top Shot", a marketplace for digital highlight clips.[12]
Fashion
In 2019, Nike acquired a patent that allows for blockchain technology to attach cryptographically secured digital assets in the form of NFTs to physical products, such as a pair of sneakers, under the name "CryptoKicks".[59][60]
Pornography
Some porn stars have also tokenized their pornographic work, allowing for the sale of unique content for their customers, though hostility from NFT marketplaces towards pornographic material has presented significant drawbacks for creators.[61][62]
Academia
In May 2021, UC Berkeley announced that it would be auctioning NFTs for the patent disclosures for two Nobel Prize-winning inventions: CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing and cancer immunotherapy.[63] The university will continue to own the patents for these inventions, as the NFTs relate only to the university patent disclosure form, an internal form used by the university for researchers to disclose inventions.[63] The NFTs were sold on June 8, 2021, for 22 ETH (ca. $55,000).[64]
Political Protest
The first credited political protest NFT ("Destruction of Nazi Monument Symbolizing Contemporary Lithuania") was a video filmed by Professor Stanislovas Tomas on April 8, 2019, and minted on March 29th, 2021. In the video, Tomas destroys a state-sponsored Lithuanian plaque locate on the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences honoring Nazi war criminal Jonas Noreika with a sledgehammer.[65][66]
Performance Art
In March, 2021, Injective Protocol (through the name BurntBanksy) destroyed a $95,000 original screen print entitled "Morons" from the famous English graffiti artist Banksy as an act of performance art which they minted and sold as a video NFT.[67] According to the performance artist, the act was a way to transfer a physical work of art to the NFT space.[68]
Copyright
Ownership of an NFT does not inherently grant copyright to whatever digital asset the token represents.[69][70] While someone may sell an NFT representing their work, the buyer will not necessarily receive copyright privileges when ownership of the NFT is changed and so the original owner is allowed to create more NFTs of the same work.[71][72] In that sense, an NFT is merely a proof of ownership that is separate from a copyright.[70][73] According to legal scholar Rebecca Tushnet, "In one sense, the purchaser acquires whatever the art world thinks they have acquired. They definitely do not own the copyright to the underlying work unless it is explicitly transferred."[74] In practice, NFT purchasers do not generally acquire the copyright of the underlying artwork.[75]
Standards in blockchains
Specific token standards have been created to support various blockchain use-cases. These include the Ethereum ERC-721 standard of CryptoKitties, and the more recent ERC-1155 standard.[76] The FLOW and Bitcoin Cash blockchains support NFTs.[77][78]
Ethereum
ERC-721[76] was the first standard for representing non-fungible digital assets on the Ethereum blockchain. ERC-721 is an inheritable Solidity smart contract standard, meaning that developers can create new ERC-721-compliant contracts by importing them from the OpenZeppelin library. ERC-721 provides core methods that allow tracking the owner of a unique identifier, as well as a permissioned way for the owner to transfer the asset to others.[79]
The ERC-1155 standard[76] offers "semi-fungibility", as well as providing a superset of ERC-721 functionality (meaning that an ERC-721 asset could be built using ERC-1155). Unlike ERC-721 where a unique ID represents a single asset, the unique ID of an ERC-1155 token represent a class of assets, and there is an additional quantity field to represent the amount of the class that a particular wallet has.[80] The assets under the same class are interchangeable, and the user can transfer any amount of assets to others.[80]
FLOW
The FLOW blockchain which uses proof of stake consensus model supports NFTs, for example NBA Top Shot is run on the FLOW blockchain. Cryptokitties plans to switch from Ethereum to FLOW in the future.[77]
Tezos
Tezos is a blockchain network that operates on proof of stake and supports the sale of NFT art.[81]
Solana
The Solana blockchain also supports non-fungible tokens.[82]