NFT Art: PART 3

We saw in the previous blog (NFT Art: PART 2), that the volume of NFT (Non-Fungible Token) art has been rapidly expanding, and that this combined with other factors, meant that it was difficult for NFT art collectors and investors to know whether the price paid for NFT artwork is realistic or not. Often, NFT art prices may depend on the uniqueness, rarity, or novelty value of the NFT artwork in question, in addition to subjective art preferences. At other times, NFT art may converge with collectors’ trends.

#1 TUNDRA, 11 ETH

You can view this NFT on the ‘CryptoKitties’ website here.

A prime example of this, is the ‘CryptoKitties’, which are a collection of digital collector’s cards/art based on the Ethereum blockchain that was launched back in 2017 (see above). There are now over 2 million CryptoKitties that can be bought and sold on the NFT marketplace ‘OpenSea’ (CryptoKitties), with prices ranging from $50 to $17,000 — some rare CryptoKitties have even sold for thousands of dollars! Perhaps the novelty value behind these types of collections, is that they represent collections worth holding onto, in the same way collectors have held onto Star Wars trading card sets, or collectible trading cards that now sell for huge prices. For example, a complete 1999 Pokemon 1st Edition Shadowless Base Set 1–102 PSA 9 of mint cards is now selling on ebay for £199,999.99!

CryptoPunk #5822, $23.7 million

You can view this NFT on the ‘OpenSea’ website here.

The difference now seems to be that digital art NFT collections now often sell for astronomical prices, which seems to have somewhat converged digital collections with digital art. A perfect example of this type of convergence is the ‘CryptoPunks’, which are an NFT collection consisting of 10,000 uniquely generated characters. In February 2022, CryptoPunk #5822 was sold for the incredible sum of 8000 Ethereum (ETH), worth around $23.7 million (see above). Other NFT collections such as the ‘Bored Ape Yacht Club’ and the ‘Mutant Ape Yacht Club’ seem to have massively accelerated and expanded this type of convergence.

In addition, the democratisation’ of NFT art that was previously discussed has not simply been about public access. It has also been democratisation of the artists themselves. For instance, many children and teens that have sought to more extensively develop their drawing, painting, and artistic skills and abilities have now also been able to tap into new NFT art markets. Previously, these art markets may not have been very widely open to such types of new, young, artistic talent.

FEWOCiOUS: The EverLasting Beautiful, $550,000 (227.42 ETH)

You can view the NFT on the ‘FEWOCiOUS’ website here.

For example, the artist ‘FEWOCiOUS’ (Victor Langlois) first started creating art at the age of 13, and at the age of 19 he sold nearly $20 million of his digital work in 24 hours (see above). This type of young NFT artist and NFT artwork shows that investing in new, young NFT artworks may be highly worthwhile, especially if their artwork is likely to develop and increase in value over a longer timeframe, e.g., between 3–7 years.