In this article series, we're looking at the world of NFTs. In thefirst article, we explained what an NFT actually is, in thesecond articlewe explored NFTs as they relate to art - are they snake oil or a new selling paradigm?
In this week's article we'll attempt to help you decide if you should consider offering NFTs of your own artwork.
I do think the crypto world and NFTs point to something real that is happening. And something that might coalesce into a real, useful idea in the future.
NFTs - Still Super Early
But right now, that whole space is kind of like the world wide web in 1994: there is a lot of hype and a lot of wild ideas being tried, the technology is complicated and immature, a lot of people are getting scammed, and a lot of what is being tried now will eventually go away and be replaced by better, easier, more sensible alternatives.
In the long run, I think something will come of NFTsin some form or fashion. However, NFTs are currently very hyped and the technology, from a user perspective (and from the artists' perspective) sucks. It sucks that I have to learn all the crypto stuff simply to buy an NFT. The whole minting and purchasing process is cumbersome. If you mint your NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain (which is the biggest and most popular) you will have to pay "Gas fees" simply for the right to mint the NFTs. And those fees you pay up front, you will never recoup unless you actually sell your NFTs. Despite all the hype about democratizing things for the artists, NFTs are very much "pay to play."
In addition, many of the touted advantages of NFTs are over-hyped. For example, NFTs are supposed to be decentralized, since they live on the blockchain. But in reality, NFTs you mint in one marketplace don't transfer easily to other marketplaces. OpenSea just upset many artists by restricting the number of NFTs an artist could create in a given collection. So much for decentralization.
A huge key to successful art marketing is to make thingseasy for the purchaser. However, NFTs currently actuallymake things more difficult.
The user experience of buying an NFT is currently confusing, technical and cumbersome. I don't think whatever version of NFTs/crypto that exists down the road will go mainstream until the crypto community creates more technology and tools for "regular people" that will make purchasing NFTs as easy as purchasing on Amazon.
Another issue to consider is marketing. I've seen a lot of artists waste a lot of money on gas fees minting NFTs because there is currently a "Gold Rush" atmosphere and there is a lot of Fear of Missing Out. Artists don't want to miss "the next big thing." Don't let fear of missing out push you into something that doesn't make sense for you. You should objectively evaluate your options.
Attack of the Cartoon Clubs
One big problem with this "Gold Rush" attitude is that "real art" in the NFT world is increasingly being pushed out by the cartoon art clubs. For example, one of the biggest NFT projects on Opensea is the "Bored Ape Yacht Club" (BYAC). There are 10,000 cartoon apes and if you purchase one, you are allowed to be in the private club and you get access to their online discord group. Many of these "Bored Apes" have sold for the equivalent of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Below is the Opensea page where you can buy your very own Bored Ape. Do you want your art on the same site as cartoon apes?
Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs on OpenSea:
