What is NFT Art?

You might be like I was if you are thinking: I thought I was one of the cool kids, but what on earth is an NFT???? 

It did take me a while, but I’m back in the cool kids club. Don’t worry, I can sneak you in the backdoor if you keep reading.

I was getting cosy on the couch with my cup of mango green tea one Sunday night, flicking through the channels on tv, when someone in an interview was talking about NFTs.

This is where I first heard of this thing everyone calls an NFT. They seemed to be some sort of virtual asset that people held in a virtual world. Was that right? And why would people buy something that didn’t physically exist? I had so many questions, so I decided to do some research myself.

Maybe you had a similar experience to me? You heard someone talking about NFTs somewhere and you were like, what am I missing here? Maybe that’s why you are here, learning about what an NFT and NFT art actually is.

Don’t worry, I’ve got you. But let’s start from the beginning. 

What is an NFT?

NFT stands for non fungible token. Essentially, non fungible means that the item is one of a kind, and is not replaceable or interchangeable with any identical item. For example, if you have two identical baseball cards, they will not necessarily have the same value. 

If something IS fungible, it is interchangeable. Say you have a five-dollar note, it is interchangeable with another five-dollar note, right? They are the same value. You with me?

And what does ‘token’ mean?

An item becomes tokenized when it is minted on the blockchain. I know, that is super confusing. But it pretty much means a file is uploaded onto a site that sells NFTs (like Opensea or Rarible). 

What is the blockchain? Well, Gary Vaynerchuk explains it well:

“​​A blockchain is an official ledger shared by thousands of computers, in this case storing a record of NFT ownership and transaction history.”

Thanks Gary. 

Minting a piece of artwork on the blockchain or tokenizing it, gives it unique metadata which makes that piece one of a kind, even if there are two or more that look identical.

It’s kind of like having a certificate of authenticity for your art piece.

But why would you want to buy something that doesn’t physically exist?

Good question. The simple answer is because you love it and you can show it off to all your friends. Your NFTs become a symbol of your identity. All your friends can see how cool you are by just going online and seeing all your awesome NFTs. Not like a piece of art that’s in your home that they have to come into your house to see.

I can go into Opensea and have a look at anyone’s wallet to see what NFTs they have collected. It’s pretty fun going online to check out what NFTs your idols have in their wallet.

I love the work of landscape photographer Rach Stewart and I love looking through her wallet to see what art she likes and who she is supporting.

If you are hung up on wanting a physical piece of art, I get it. Sometimes I feel the artwork really comes to life when it is printed. You could print your NFT and hang it on your wall if you do want a physical piece. Some artists provide a printed copy or other bonuses when you buy an NFT off them.

There are also some pretty cool digital picture frames on the market these days that you can display your NFT on if you wish. 

Why would I want to buy an NFT when I can just copy it or screenshot it?

Because then you aren’t the owner. The legit NFT isn’t owned by you in YOUR wallet. And everyone can see your wallet and know if you are faking it.

It is a bit like famous paintings, and I am going to use a cliche here. There is only one Mona Lisa, but there are a zillion copies of it all over the world. Those copies would never sell for as much as the original, for that reason precisely. They are not the original. Same goes with NFTs. If it is in your wallet, you have proof that you own the original artwork.

How do I find and purchase NFTs?

Well I’m glad you asked. 

You can easily browse NFTs online by going to opensea.io or rarible.com. There are other websites where you can buy NFTs but these are the most common ones.

*Now before I go any further I should probably put a disclaimer in here to say that I am not recommending you buy Ethereum. That is a decision you need to make on your own, or talk to a financial advisor about, which I am not.

To buy one, you need to get yourself a digital wallet and buy some Ethereum. This is the crypto currency NFTs are sold in. (Well mostly).

Before you decide which wallet you are going to get, check which wallets Opensea or Rarible accept. I made the mistake of getting a digital wallet that I couldn’t log into Opensea with and had to then get a different one and transfer over my Etherium. Rookie mistake.

I use Trust Wallet, but I think Coinbase might be a little more straightforward to use.

You use your digital wallet to log into opensea.io or rarible.com. This I like. It confused me the first time because you don’t need to create a login like you do on other websites. Your wallet is your login. 

On Opensea or Rarible click ‘sign in’ (or the person silhouette in the top right), then choose your wallet type. You will have downloaded an app on your phone which acts as your digital wallet. Scan the QR code that appears with using your wallet app. It may ask you on your app to digitally sign as a security measure, so look out for that. And that’s it, you’re logged in.

The whole thing runs a little like Ebay, in the way that some NFTs are up for auction, and some have a fixed price. I’m pretty sure you can figure that out pretty quickly on your own though.

Once you do purchase an NFT, it is stored in your digital wallet.

Nature Domination is my collection of NFTs for sale on Opensea. I am super excited about it. It took me ages to work out the whole NFT thing and I have finally got some work out there on the blockchain that I’m proud of.

 And that’s it!

My brain just vomited pretty much everything it knows about NFTs onto the page. It takes a while to get your head around the whole thing. I did hours of reading and watching videos online to understand it all.

Please make sure you do your own research on wallets, Ethereum and NFTs before you dive in and make any decisions, especially when money is involved. 

If you live in New Zealand and want to buy crypto currency (including Ethereum) Easy Crypto are great to deal with, and they have some great info on their website. You do need a digital wallet to transfer the crypto currency into, but I highly recommend them. They are a New Zealand company.

Use this link https://easycrypto.com/?ref=90652503  and you can get $10 towards your purchase (and they will give me $10 also, thanks!)

Does that help you understand the world of NFT art?

I hope so. If not, just tell me in the comments that you thought it was rubbish.

But seriously, let me know if you have any other questions in the comments and I will be more than happy to give you an answer.