You've keep hearing a lot about NFT crypto art and you're curious... right?
Well, even if you aren't here's the lowdown. I'm launching my own NFT Crypto art #RealFakeCollection today, but more on that later...
There has been an intense buzz around NFTs in recent days as multiple artists like Grimes, partner of Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk (who has invested over a billion real world dollars) and Lindsay Lohan releasing artworks using the technology.
On Monday, a now-destroyed artwork by Banksy — “Morons” — sold as an NFT token for over $394,000. Injective Protocol was the firm behind the Banksy buy.
Yum! Brands, Inc subsidiary Taco Bell too has jumped on the NFT bandwagon by releasing Taco-themed art, which sold out soon after it was made available on Rarible.
Collector, artist and Artnet columnist Kenny Schachter (who minted and sold his own grandmother) says,
"I can’t think of anything more divisive than NFTs today, in my three-decade-long career I’ve never seen anything stir up shit and take hold so utterly swiftly.
You ignore this movement (and it’s nothing less) at your own expense. Trust me."
According to Bloomberg,
Over the past few months, interest in NFTs has exploded as cryptocurrencies gained mainstream acceptance and pop-cultural cachet. Prices have hit eye-watering heights, with total sales topping $60 million last month versus less than $250,000 a year earlier.
A one-of-a-kind digital rendition of the Nyan Cat meme from 2011 sold Friday for $600,000 in an online auction
Before we go on let's define some of the terminology...
Core NFT Terms:
NFT - "Non-Fungible Tokens” are one-of-a-kind tokens that represent a unique good or asset, like digital art. They can be sold in auctions for collectors to bid on or purchase.
Minting - Minting an NFT is how digital art becomes a part of the Ethereum blockchain –a public ledger that is unchangeable and tamper-proof. Similar to the way that metal coins are minted and added into circulation, NFTs are also tokens that get “minted” once they are created. Digital artwork is represented as an NFT so it can then be purchased and traded in the market, and digitally tracked as it changes collectors in the future.
Tokenization - The process of converting a sensitive piece of data, such as a primary account number, into a unique, nonsensitive equivalent — a “token” — that retains the original data’s essential information without compromising security. This process is being used in an increasing number of credit card transactions to enhance their security.
Crypto Wallets - The digital wallet where assets and crypto currency are stored securely
Blockchain - In the easiest terms, a datastructure that holds transactional records and while ensuring security, transparency, and decentralization. You can also think of it as a chain or records stored in the forms of blocks which are controlled by no single authority.
Got it? There will be quiz, so pay attention... maybe take notes.
Beeple, EVERYDAYS: THE FIRST 5000 DAYS, 2021 • Christie's first NFT auction
Beeple, EVERYDAYS: THE FIRST 5000 DAYS, 2021 (detail)
Update: Christie’s auction of Beeple’s digital work ended with a high bid of $69,346,250.
According to Christie’s, this marks
“Two industry firsts, Christie’s is the first major auction house to offer a purely digital work with a unique NFT (Non-fungible token) — effectively a guarantee of its authenticity — and to accept cryptocurrency, in this case Ether, in addition to standard forms of payment for the singular lot.
Noah Davis, specialist in Post-War & Contemporary Art at Christie’s says,
Christie’s had never offered a new media artwork of this scale or importance before. Acquiring Beeple’s work is a unique opportunity to own an entry in the blockchain itself created by one of the world’s leading digital artists.”
Right now Christie's is offering a 1/1 NFT crypto artwork by Beeple. The artist created a work of art per day since 2007 and every work digitized is being offered as a single digital collage. As described on the auction site,
EVERYDAYS: THE FIRST 5000 DAYS (token ID: 40913)
wallet address: 0xc6b0562605D35eE710138402B878ffe6F2E23807
smart contract address: 0x2a46f2ffd99e19a89476e2f62270e0a35bbf0756
non-fungible token (jpg)
21,069 x 21,069 pixels (319,168,313 bytes)
Minted on 16 February 2021. This work is unique.
The high bid as of this writing is $9,750,000. Yes, you are reading that correctly. In REAL WORLD dollars. The auction ends 3/11, north of $10 million, no doubt. (Update: 3/10/21… the high bid is now $13.25 million)
So, what exactly do you own?
Well, if you ask me NFT Crypto art is the latest in pop conceptual art. You own the rights to this image, but there is no physical piece of art. It's is encrypted and yours alone. You can sell it, trade it, leave it to someone in your will. Although, I don't think that's happened yet as this is all so new.
Can I buy NFTs with real world dollars?
That would be a no. Only if you convert you $$ to crypto currency. You need a "crypto wallet' and you'd need to purchase Ethereum (or other crypto currencies) to make a purchase. (A friend told me years ago, an early fan told him to buy Bitcoin. Buy a little, he said. My friend did not. It was .19 at the time? A $1 investment then is worth $50,000+ today. And only 21 million bitcoins can ever be made.
I'm launching my own NFT Crypto art collection today...
Yes, I was approached by an online gallery YoNo Mints that wanted to partner to offer my artwork as NFTs. (My work is based on vintage paint by number. You can see more here.) I knew a little bit about them a week ago, but I've since had a crash course. I already had a few ideas and mock-ups in my back pocket that translated fairly directly to NFTs, so 7 of the 8 pieces are gifs. Some exist in the real world as 2D art, like my signature piece YOU ARE HERE, in Microsoft Art Collection. But now you can own your own digital copy, the same as someone would buy a print.
Trey Speegle, You Are Here, 2021, NFT, from #RealFakeCollection. Edition of 1000 • YoNo Mints
So, that's about it, kids. You can go here at 11AM PST, 2PM EST, Wed. March 10 to see my #RealFakeCollection on Rarible and others work offered by YoNo Mints. I'm a guest on the podcast ART FOR YOUR EAR which is available this Saturday on iTunes, if you want to hear more about my work, process, NFTs, future art– and my dog, Lamonte, listen in.
