The Craze Behind Buying and Selling NFTs

Opinion Piece: The total breakdown of the NFT world - Is it worth the hype?

Credit: Getty Images

What is it?

Non-fungible tokens, also known as NFTs, have exploded onto the digital art scene this past year rolling in millions for the people who have been buying and selling these art pieces. If you haven't kept up with the new buzz surrounding these NFT's here's a short breakdown of what they are. These are essentially digital assets in the form of digital artwork that can be sold or traded with cryptocurrency online through blockchain technology. Through the blockchain ledger, the transactions of the digital artwork are essentially recorded and across the entire network of computer systems on the blockchain.

Are there any risks?

The Blockchain alongside the NFT marks a digital certificate of authenticity for the buyers of the original piece. Therefore, any duplicates of this piece are less valuable than the original. An easy way the understand this is if someone made a duplicate painting of a Van Gough piece. This is less valuable than the original because it didn't come from the original artist and is just a copy. Many big-name companies such as Macy's, Tik Tok, Coca-Cola, and Taco Bell are a few of the most notable consumer brands that have jumped on the bandwagon of the NFT marketplace. However, are the buying and selling of these NFT's just purely profitable because of the hype surrounding them as of now? Will we see the dwindling decline of them in a couple of years once the FOMO dies down?

What made it so popular?

In the past year alone we have seen digital artists such as Mike Winkelmann, also known as Beeple, sell his artwork photo collage “Everyday: The First 5,000 Days,” for more than $69 million at a Christie's Auction House back in March 2021. Once this news hit the mainstream media of course people were going to get excited about NFT artwork because who doesn't want to be a millionaire!? The craze grew through Twitter, Youtube, Tik Tok, and Instagram of people sharing their "How To Guides" of the NFT world. Once Big Businesses started to notice this interest they started to come out with their own NFT's. By making these "rare" artworks people started buying them up in hopes that this "investment" would make them rich in the future.

Is it worth the purchase?

If you take a minute to look at the validity of NFT's you'll notice it's just hype. There are deep-rooted problems with digital artwork. Unlike physical artworks, digital art pieces can be easily copied. You can't replicate a Van Gough because there are specific brushstrokes, texture, design, look, and size to his pieces. It's impossible to get it down to an exact match because it's a one-of-a-kind piece that has intricate details to it. When art is digitized all you have to do is screenshot the damn file and there you go. It practically looks identical to the original. The essence of it is the same. There is no way of stopping someone from altering the artwork or copying it either. Also, there isn't a verification process if you're buying the token from the original creator and seller of the artwork itself. Someone can easily copy one of your pieces and sell it to a different marketplace.

What does the future of NFT's look like?

Let's face it in a couple of years we could see a dwindling amount of digital artwork. There's a chance that these pieces being bought will no longer be profitable in the long run. Since it's surrounded by media coverage and societal hysteria as of now of course there will be an increase in sales. But if changes aren't made to the verification process of buying and selling of NFT's then they may plummet leaving people high and dry.