Thursday Thoughts: NFTs – WT#?

I don’t understand crypto currency, so it is no surprise that NFTs baffle me as well.

Did somebody really pay $900 000 for a flying, pixelated cat—or is it a pig? 2.9 million for the first tweet? Really? NFTs have exploded onto the marketplace over the last year—well maybe longer, but I only started hearing about them recently. Now artists (mostly digital ones) are flooding the market trying to cash in.

Don’t get me wrong, there are some amazing works of digital art being created, and art can be an investment, but is the aforementioned cat/pig going to be worth more? Just like indie authors, I’m sure there are more NFTs that don’t make any money than the ones that do.

So, I decided to read up on NFTs. I’m not that tech savvy, and I don’t think that would be able to navigate my way though the steps, but I like to learn stuff. While most NFTs are digital art, you can do the same with a physical work of art.

Here is how I understand it.

1. I make a drawing
2. I make a digital copy and create an online identifier of proof of its originality (as a blockchain, which I don’t get)
3. Before I sell it, I need crypto currency and a digital wallet
4. OK. I do that—somehow (remember that I don’t get that either…)
5. I pay a marketplace to host my art
6. Pay someone to market my art
7. I pay the marketplace when the art sells
8. I realize that I did not purchase enough CC, so I buy some more—and pay a transaction fee
9. My carbon footprint increases because apparently making any type of CC transaction takes huge amounts of energy (like powering a small town for a few days kind of power)
10. I have to figure out how to cash out my Doge coin before it tanks
11.  Count my profit/loss—probably a loss

In conclusion,

1. Someone is making money, and it’s probably the platforms the artists are using
2. Some art is priceless, other art can fetch a ridiculous amount of money
3. Some art should be labeled “art”
4. Some people have way too much money
5. Now, how do I get my hands on “Hamster Dance” now that “Charlie Bit My Finger” is no longer available?

There you go, the definitive (diminutive?) guide to all things non-fungible. Now what the heck am I going to do with this? :

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.