Digital designs linked to one-of-a-kind files or non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on a blockchain are the next popular trend in art collection. In 2020, the artist known as Beeple made $3.5 million in one weekend selling crypto art on the Internet. He later made news when he sold his NFT at a Christie’s auction for $69 million. While the price it sold for was eye-opening as to the legitimacy and value of an NFT, it followed a digital trend of NFTs being sold at auction for millions.
If this trend continues, it could signal how including a physical component could help crypto art generate a more mainstream audience. It could show how art isn’t static, but more interactive and vibrant than ever before. Beeple even told Noah Davis, head of digital art and online sales at Christie’s, that he would continue to update the images on the screen of his NFT fairly regularly. It is like a lifetime project, allowing Beeple to create images that people can find new meaning in as the world continues to evolve around them. Beeple explains that artists won’t know what they are getting into because the art will keep changing.
The images themselves are stored on an Ethereum blockchain, while the terms of the smart contract indicate that Beeple can remotely alter or evolve the art whenever he wishes. He can change the artwork forever and even decide to shut the project down or destroy it. The art collector needs to be fine with the artists changing the artwork because Beeple is expected to surprise the collector with changes.
Early in 2021, NFTs spurred an interest in art collection. The digital tokens stored on the blockchain created a new, if not speculative, marketplace for digital content to be bought and sold. NFTs serve as a way of mining original content and collectibles. They serve as the artists’ digital signature that verifies the artwork’s authenticity.
It creates rarity in the market, and allows digital art to be sold similar to how traditional art is sold, even at auctions. Throughout the first three quarters of 2021, nearly $1.8 billion of NFT art was sold.
It makes sense, given that today’s digital collectors are becoming more sophisticated. They want to stretch their individual tastes to purchase items that are more unique rather than purchasing a piece of art that is one in ten thousand.
Beeple wasn’t the first artist to sell his work with NFTs, but his massive financial success popularized through tokens is motivation for many artists and collectors.
This new platform, which combines digital and traditional art, may prove to increase access and bring more visibility for traditional turned digital collectibles and create more interest from those who were not typically interested in collecting art. Including an online platform with more access to unique collectibles may prove to democratize art collection and introduce to more modern and traditional artists who are moving their artwork online. As cryptocurrency becomes more popular, NFT artwork will also become a staple of the future and could reshape some of the ways we consume art and culture.