Nft space: There’s nothing like an explosion of blockchain news to leave you thinking, what’s going on here? That’s the feeling I’ve experienced while reading about Grimes getting millions of dollars for NFTs or about Nyan Cat being sold as one.
And by the time we all thought we sort of knew what the deal was, the founder of Twitter put an autographed tweetup for sale as an NFT. Now, months after we first published this explainer, we’re still seeing headlines about people paying house money for clip art of rocks and my mom still doesn’t really understand what an NFT is.
You Might Be Wondering: What Is An Nft, Anyhow?
After literal hours of reading, I think I know. I also think I’m going to cry.
Okay, Let’s Start With The Basics
Okay, Let’s Start With The BasicsWhat Is An Nft? What Does Nft Space Stand For?
Non-fungible token. That doesn’t make it any clearer. Right, sorry. “Non-fungible” more or less means that it’s unique and can’t be replaced with something else. For example, a bitcoin is fungible trade one for another bitcoin, and you’ll have exactly the same thing.
A one-of-a-kind trading card, however, is non-fungible. If you traded it for a different card, you’d have something completely different. You gave up a Squirtle, and got a 1909 T206 Honus Wagner, which StadiumTalk calls “the Mona Lisa of baseball cards.” (I’ll take their word for it.)
How Do Nfts Work?
At a very high level, most NFTs are part of the Ethereum blockchain. Ethereum is a cryptocurrency, like bitcoin or dogecoin, but its blockchain also supports these NFTs, which store extra information that makes them work differently from, say, an ETH coin. It is worth noting that other blockchains can implement their own versions of NFTs. (Some already have.)
What’s Worth Picking Up At The Nft Supermarket?
NFTs can really be anything digital (such as drawings, music, your brain downloaded and turned into an AI), but a lot of the current excitement is around using the tech to sell digital art.
Indian mythology enters NFT space with MetaMasters launch. World’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance on Monday launched its first-ever Indian NFT collection inspired by Indian mythology and Southeast Asian, Japanese, and Chinese folklore.
Indian Mythology Makes It To Nft Space With Metamasters Launch
World’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance on Monday launched its first-ever Indian NFT collection inspired by Indian mythology and Southeast Asian, Japanese, and Chinese folklore.
The Indian NFT Collection, MetaMasters, whose unique selling proposition is bringing good fortune ‘888 times more money, wealth & profits for its collectors’ will be available for the 30 million global users of Binance.
MetaMasters are powerful celestial beings that travel through the fabric of space and time to bring good fortune to their collectors. The first in the series would be MetaMaster Maha Dev, according to the description on Binance.
The floor price of the NFT has been set at USD 387.92 and 3,564 items have been listed for sale on Binance.
Nft space: MetaMasters have been created by Europe-based storyteller and NFT asset creator Sourav Roy and Singapore-based Tech entrepreneur and NFT artist Sandeep Bhatia.
The series is being launched to mark the auspicious period between Chinese New Year, which starts from the first week of February to Maha Shivratri, which falls in the first week of March.
Talking about the concept behind MetaMasters, Roy said the era of functionless, boring NFTs is gone and collectors want value for their money and functionality along with a unique utility for their NFTS.
‘Everybody is tired of the same type of pixelated, zero-utility NFTs. How many more crazy cats, roaring lions, punching penguins, and pesky parakeets do you want to see in the name of art?
That’s why we focussed on a unique blend of storytelling from India, China, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Turkey to create MetaMasters and launch MetaMasters. MetaMaster Maha Dev as the first in the series,” Roy said.
NFT buyers and collectors across the world collect NFTs for their uniqueness and rarity. The more unique and rare it is, the more its holding value is and subsequently, its demand in the secondary sales market as well.
NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are unique digital assets with verified ownership rights, and the details are stored on a blockchain.
NFT space is revolutionizing the arts, music, and sports industries by enabling the commercialization of digital assets.
Many celebrities of late have started creating and selling NFT artwork to their admirers.
The global sales value of Non Fungible Tokens soared past USD 4 billion in December.
While the crypto markets have displayed volatility with the rise and fall of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, NFTs have been booming on the other hand.
‘The hallmark of a good NFT is that it should have a unique functionality, utility, purpose, and collection value. That also means the return on investment in the secondary market is a sure-shot winner, said Singapore-based co-creator of MetaMasters Sandeep Singh.
“I think ‘Fine Art’ is going to become an outdated term,” curator Iris Nevins tells us. “In many ways, it’s used to denote the difference between art that has been ‘approved’ by elitist institutions and art that is not. In the world of NFTs, institutional opinions don’t have the same level of power anymore. It’s a different world with different rules.”
Iris is the Co-Founder and CEO of Umba Daima Gallery, an NFT space studio, and Black NFT Art, a media brand amplifying the voices of Black leaders and artists. In her eyes, the emergence of NFTs in the mainstream art world could usher in a new era for the market.
This new chapter would be shaped not only by a select few museums, galleries, and other “gatekeeping” institutions but by a larger global community of artists, collectors, enthusiasts, and patrons.
When talking to artists and collectors who are passionate about non-fungible tokens, the word “community” comes up again and again, whether they’re talking about joining the conversation on Clubhouse and Twitter or investing in talented voices who have historically been overlooked by the traditional art establishment.
On social media, discussions between emerging and established artists (and collectors) happen organically, and the connections you make in the metaverse have the potential to grow into lasting relationships.
It’s important to note that the world of cryptocurrency and crypto art isn’t inherently more inclusive. In fact, according to research from ArtTactic, using market sales on the prominent platform Nifty Gateway, women represent just 16% of the NFT art market, with male artists representing 77% of primary and secondary sales.
Beyond that, 73% of NFT sales totals consisted of US, British, and Canadian artists, with only 3.6% representing artists from countries in Africa and Latin America. So, this space currently carries many of the same biases and inequalities as the traditional art world.
But the key here is that artists and collectors, usually BIPOC and LGBTQAI+ leaders, are actively working to address and correct those problems, creating new spaces for belonging and innovation in the process. “I’m excited about the opportunities for people from economically disadvantaged communities to create generational wealth,” Iris Nevens of Umba Daima Gallery explains.
Nft space: “That’s the most important thing to me. Power in this world is relative to wealth and ownership of resources. Since the U.S. and other western governments have no interest in reparations for slavery, Jim Crow, or European colonization, it’s up to the people who have been oppressed by those systems to create their own wealth. So NFTs, crypto, and blockchain technology are really exciting tools for closing the wealth gap.”
