For those just hearing about NFT’s or Non-fungible tokens, you might be wondering what exactly these are and how artists and celebrities are receiving millions for them.
To start with the basics, The Verge explains NFT’s as unique, digital and tradable items such as drawings, music and other forms of artwork. Think of it as fine art collecting in the digital format.
For example, a 50-second video by Grimes, the Canadian musician, producer, director and visual artist (and partner to Tesla billionaire Elon Musk) sold for $390,000. Another big name in the digital art industry is Beeple (Mike Winkelmann), selling a $69 million piece, auctioned by Christie’s; the first 5,000 days he created a daily digital art piece.
For the artist, NFT’s may give you a platform you didn’t have before and you get a percentage every time the NFT is sold or traded. For the buyer, you can post the unique image online and have a blockchain entry, making you the owner.
NFT marketplaces include OpenSea, Rarible, and Nifty Gateway among others.
What are some of the more unique or bizarre NFT’s out there?
Nyan Cat
According to Mic, Nyan Cat became a viral meme in 2011; a short video of a cat with a Pop-Tart body flying through space leaving a trail of rainbow. Creator, Chris Torres sold the NFT version for $580,000 just last month.
In addition to Nyan Cat, animal lovers will find a variety NFT CryptoKitties among other animals. Coin desk features Panda Earth. Like CryptoKitties, the digital panda breed at a faster rate the longer you have them and the whole system resets every four years.
CryptoJingles
For the music fans, short snips of your favorite songs can be mashed and mixed to make a jingle. Once your combination of more than 100 tunes is put together and recorded on the blockchain, no one else can make the same combination and the owner can sell it to others as an NFT.
As live performances came to a halt at the beginning of the pandemic, musicians are finding ways to connect with audiences and make up for lost revenue by selling portions of new music in the NFT version as well.
Fast Food
Businesses are joining in on the fun to feature their product and create a buzz around their corporation. Taco Bell was the first to join the world of NFT’s, making taco themed crypto GIF’s and selling out in 30 minutes. The franchise said proceeds from their GIF fun will go toward Live Mas Scholarship through the Taco Bell Foundation.
Pringles announced a limited-edition CryptoCrisp, a new flavor only available as NFT artwork. Pizza Hut and Charmin have also jumped on the NFT bandwagon.
Celebrity NFT’s
Lindsay Lohan is a fan of NFT artwork. She’s released several crypto-backed portraits of herself, including one of Lohan holding a helmet in front of Herbie the Love Bug.
Singer, Shawn Mendes has launched a line of NFT’s featuring his most iconic accessories such as a copy of his Fender guitar, his gold ring and the vest he wore on a recent tour.
Twitter founder, Jack Dorsey simply sold his famous first tweet, “just setting up my twttr” and sold the NFT at auction on March 21 for $2.9 million. Dorsey said he would donate the proceeds to charity.
Video Clips
Perhaps most popular in the NFT bidding and trading market, are the artistic, digital video clips featuring a variety of thought-provoking and sometimes creepy images.
Nerds Chalk named "Food Baby 01: Pizza Dad" by @reedandradar among the most bizarre NFT’s around. The 28-second video shows a man dressed in a pizza themed shirt and pants, pushing three “children” in swings at the park; a pepperoni pizza, a cheese pizza and a mushroom.
Wholeness by Smeccea features six heads wearing makeup, covered in flowers. Whether it’s a beautiful work of art or just a bit unsettling – you be the judge.
Grimes’ flying WarNymph babies is another popular artist visited in the NFT world. One of the first celebrities to sell a digital suite of artwork, Grimes has made nearly $6 million from her submissions. WarNymph babies features naked infants, preparing for war.
Artwork
While NFT’s can feature music, video, breeding cats and pandas, it can also produce rare digital artwork for display. Coindesk featured ‘Bird in the Shell’ by a nameless artist from SuperRare, an app that allows artists to create digital work and sell them on blockchain. ‘Bird in the Shell’ is a frog-like creature with a bird flying in front of the frog’s mouth with a blue backdrop.
Beeple is famous for creating this type of art. He sold an NFT titled Crossroads that would change based on the outcome of the 2020 election. According to Mic, if Trump won office, he would be muscle-bound, stomping through hell. If Biden won, the 10-second video featured a shell of Trump lying on the ground at a park. Crossroads sold for more than $66,000 and then re-sold on a secondary market for $6.6 million.
Sources: The Verge, Mic, Coin Desk, Nerds Chalk