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The world of NFTs meets the world of art, creating digital works of inestimable economic value. The recent phenomenon is also referred to as “crypto art,” which basically refers to the art form based on the world of cryptocurrencies as well as cryptographic art.
In other words, digital or digitized works that are published on a blockchain. Technically, an NFT artwork is content in digital format, uploaded to an exchange platform, the sale of which is then recorded on a blockchain.
While not always, it often happens that NFT artworks can also be images as JPEG files, as in the case of Beeple’s digital artwork, the most expensive to date. Hence, nothing groundbreaking.
Well then, what is so special about NFT artworks? These digital works are unique and valuable for two main reasons. First, the fact that crypto art runs on the blockchain system.
This means that each transaction is immutable and therefore unhackable, as is the case with non-art crypto. This is because it does not rely on a single physical device but on the computers of millions of users.
The second reason is that crypto artworks, in order to be sold, are converted to NFTs. Therefore, precisely because of the inherent and characteristic property of NFTs, works become non-divisible virtual objects that can only have a unique relationship to the work they represent.
These factors make each form of NFT art unique, unrepeatable and personal. Consequently, of very high value.
Achille Lauro and NFT art
Last July, it was singer Achille Lauro who was the protagonist of crypto art.
Indeed, during his concert in Milan, the artist created live NFT artworks entirely for charity.
The project was conceived by the artist’s company De Marinis Group, together with students from the BigRock school and in collaboration with PwC Italy. Specifically, “sound-reactive” artworks visible on the stage led walls were generated through neural networks.
BigRock school students, by listening to Lauro’s five songs, came up with creative concepts that generate digital paintings. These will then be auctioned off as NFT art this fall in support of the “Comitato Maria Letizia Verga” Association.
Crypto.com and NFT collectible art
Crypto.com was founded as a cryptocurrency exchange in 2016, but in a short time, it has expanded the range of financial products offered to investors to be present throughout the ecosystem.
Crypto.com has rapidly grown and become increasingly prominent, placing itself in direct competition with Binance, Coinbase, and many others.
Notably, most recently the Crypto.com exchange has also opened up to NFTs by forming a dedicated sales platform. Crypto.com NFT is accessible from the exchange’s main site, and its principle of operation is similar to OpenSea and Nifty Gateway.
Available brands include the Serie A League, Aston Martin F1, the IIHF World Ice Hockey League, as well as artistic non-fungible tokens specially made by creatives for Crypto.com NFT.
Team Azuki and NFT art
Azuki is a brand for the metaverse built together with the Community. A collection of 10,000 avatars that provide subscription access to The Garden, a corner of the Internet where art, community and culture come together to create magic.
Specifically, the 10,000 characters are anime depicted in various states of mind and adorned with accessories such as headgear and weapons. Not long ago, a particularly rare item from the collection sold for 420 ETH, more than one million US dollars at the time of sale. The cheapest azuki today are worth 11.2 ETH (about $14,000).
The NFT art collection of Azuki is very much in vogue. So much so that Arthur Cheong, founder of web3 investment firm DeFiance Capital, uses a rare Azuki as his Twitter profile picture, and Hong Kong real estate tycoon billionaire Adrian Cheng also recently purchased 101 NFT Azuki.
Blur.io: new NFT marketplace
Blur.io is a new NFT marketplace that recently launched on the market.
The marketplace’s target audience is geared toward professional NFT collectors, thus also those who want to collect NFT artwork.
Their goal is to build an NFT trading platform to match the current market, which only last April, exceeded a volume of $3.5B (in the Ethereum market alone) and provide useful tools for traders, such as a real crypto exchange.
Blur aims to be an entirely different marketplace, where tools such as charts and analytics will be integrated into the platform.
The Frida Kahlo case: the work burned to become NFT art
It happened last June, Martin Mobarak, an entrepreneur and art alchemist, burned Frida Kahlo’s Fantasmones Siniestros drawing to make it a digital work.
From the ashes, here are 10 thousand non-fungible tokens each worth 3 Ethereum (about 4,000 euros).
Although the entrepreneur stated that a portion of the sales of these NFTs would go to charity, understandably, Mobarak’s gesture generated quite a bit of controversy. Is it really right to burn a valuable work like Frida Kahlo’s to make it NFT art?
The web and even some of Mobarak’s colleagues questioned this, wondering whether it was fair that the development of the NFT market even in the field of art could justify the mystification of art itself, understood in the traditional sense.
OneFootball: sports and NFT
The agreement took place between OneFootball, the platform dedicated to the world of soccer, and Serie A, the most important professional soccer league in Italy. An agreement that will include not only media coverage, but also an excursus into the world of NFT.
This is not the first time that the world of NFTs has approached the world of sports. In fact, other major collaborations had already taken place with the NBA, NHL and many other sports franchises.
The collection was anticipated on 1 August, while the first collectible tokens should go on sale on the 29.
Another way to link NFTs to the world of collectibles and, consequently, art.
On the one hand something interesting for soccer fans, and on the other, for all those who are looking for truly exclusive NFTs that can have the pull of important and world-renowned franchises.
CryptoPunks: NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain
CryptoPunks is a collection of NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain. The project was launched in June 2017 by Larva Labs, a team composed of Canadian software developers Matt Hall and John Watkinson.
The crypto art blockchain project was the inspiration for the ERC-721 standard for NFT and, more broadly, for the modern crypto art movement. The latter has since become part of cryptocurrency and decentralized finance.
CryptoPunks are commonly credited for starting the NFT craze of 2021, along with other early projects including CryptoKitties, Bored Ape Yacht Club and the aforementioned Beeple sale.
Specifically, there are 10,000 CryptoPunk tokens in the V1 and V2 contracts. Due to their rarity and exclusivity, they sell at higher prices on the open market.
inBeetweeners: bear-shaped NFT art
inBetweeners is an exclusive NFT collection consisting of 10,777 unique objects hand-drawn by Gianpiero, a young artist, stored on the Ethereum blockchain. Each inBetweeners is unique and based on a combination of more than 175 random attributes.
inBetweeners spreads positivity in real life and in the metaverse. The mission is simple: make the world a more loving place. The shape chosen to convey this message is that of the bear, an animal that quintessentially represents gentleness.
Gianpiero’s collection has been no small success, to the point that the inBetweeners project includes the crew of Justin Bieber, who has already been collaborating with Gianpiero for several years. And not only that: the project has been propelled by several national celebrities like Tony Effe and international ones like Tom Holland.