TL;DR Breakdown

• Aversano deployed the first NFT portrait photography.
• The total sales volume of NFTs in the art segment rose from $64 million to $774 million.
• NFTs ensure an artist is paid royalty whenever their art is used.

As of July 2021, the NFT industry had garnered an estimated $2.5 billion worth of sales compared to only $13.7 million during Q1 and Q2 of 2020. 

Aversano, an artist known for deploying the first-ever NFT portrait photography, says he sold more than 100 NFT portraits between February and June. He said the sales earned approximately $130,000 within five months. The Twin collection in which he sold the 100 portraits are photographs of twins, which he says are in memory of his fraternal twin.

What are NFTs?

NFTs are non-fungible tokens which are real-life assets that are sold on digital platforms. The viability of NFTs depends on the uniqueness and the utility of possession. This means that tokens can only be relevant to an owner if he can prove ownership of the token. The tokens can range from unique pieces of art from artists to current assets like cars. The digital platform gives an easy and availed proof of ownership.

Non-fugitive assets are made more desirable by the fact that they are unique and one of a kind. This makes them very valuable.

According to Statista, the total sales volume of NFTs in the art segment rose from $64 million to $774 million within a record period of 30-days (August 15 – September 15, 2021). The chart below shows the fluctuation of NFT sales per 30-days period between April and August. 

How can NFTs make artists’ lives better?

As the digital world takes significant steps ahead, more investors try to get a niche to explore the same fruits. When Jack Dorsey sold his first tweet at $2.9m, it started a buzz on and around NFTs. Not only for the amount of money fetched but the ‘absurdity’ of buying a tweet when there are millions of them already. However, there is much more to it. It brought about the concept of owning a one-of-a-kind piece of art which for sure is an advantage to artists.

First, NFTs guarantee immutability to the artist. There is uniqueness where the artist has complete copyrights on his art. This is enabled by the ID or metadata issued to an artist to prove possession of the art. It is offered to give essential data about the piece of art. 

Second, there are no intermediaries during the trading of art on cryptocurrency platforms. Once there is an interested party, they are connected to the individual artist who lays out the asset’s guidelines to change possession. This is advantageous to the artist since transactions are done on his terms. It also keeps in place his profile and reputation as an artist. The artist also cuts the marketing cost and the issue of art brokers.

Next, there is exposure for the artist. When trading NFTs, artists are at ease to do collaborations with other artists. This is a guarantee as the platform is a haven where artists can interact and flourish while teaming up with even more significant expertise in different fields. Apart from collaborations, there is a world market availed. Geographical borders or any particular divisions do not limit the crypto platforms. Once an artist avails art on a digital platform, the piece is available for everybody.

One other factor pulling artists to NFTs is smart contracts. This is a feature that keeps a contract in code form. It works best for decentralized platforms. Smart contracts are programmed to suit an investor’s interest in trade.

For example, smart contracts can be used by artists dealing with NFTs to store data or be used to get royalties each time the piece of art changes possession. This means that the artist keeps reaping from the art long after the sale. A smart contract can be programmed to work without involving a party to set it up time and again.

On the other hand, since the buzz around NFTs began, more people are trying to get into the trade in an attempt of minting. This is leading to flooding in the market and the uniqueness of NFTs diluting. However, this is not a guarantee for the near future failure of NFTs. Artists can reap much from the NFTs.