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How to Become a Crypto Artist?

Art is universal. It speaks to everyone but recognizes no authorities. It adapts to the times and these days it’s going digital. If you publish your work on the internet, not only will it stay there forever, but you will also get the chance to reach millions of people. Against the background of emerging and flourishing blockchain technology, crypto art has become a trending topic.

Blockchain and Art

Blockchain has revolutionized the way we perceive money, ushering in an era of digital ownership. Bitcoin, as storage of value and digital representation of money, was the first successful use case for blockchain, and some creative developers thought they could expand the concept of bitcoin into something new.

The introduction of smart contracts has brought the blockchain to many new applications, one of which is non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Non-fungible tokens are unique, and NFTs are digital assets with unique and non-interchangeable properties that are standardized, universal, liquid, and programmable. NFTs are applied into collectibles, in-game items, digital art, certificates, domain names, etc.

Digital artworks are transformed into crypto artworks by NFT, and the original model of copying artworks to USB disks and CDs is turned to transactions on the blockchain. The transaction process becomes open and transparent, and technological innovations such as AI are also adopted in digital art creation. It is only a matter of time before the art world is mesmerized by NFT and numerous artists tokenize and monetize their works one after another in a unique way.

What is crypto art?

Crypto art is rare digital art. More concretely, it is limited-edition collectible art that is cryptographically registered on the blockchain via tokens, which means the origin and provenance of digital artwork is transparent and auditable; and blockchain technology enables the tokens to be securely traded from one collector to another.

Once a token is created, the artwork begins its journey on a specific blockchain, where fans or collectors can purchase the artwork with cryptocurrency and it can be exchanged, traded or held by collectors just like any other rare artwork. Typically, crypto artwork can be sold through an auction: the creator lists the artwork they want to sell, after which bidders place their bids and the creator chooses to accept or not accept the bid. If the bid satisfies both two parties, then a transaction is made. Once the digital art asset is sold, the nun-fungible tokens are transferred directly to the buyer’s wallet, and the corresponding cryptocurrency is transferred to the seller’s wallet. Thanks to the blockchain, each transaction takes place on a peer-to-peer network and is protected by cryptography. This means that neither the capital nor the assets are held by the gallery or any other third party.

What does NFT mean for artists?

The decentralized and transparent nature of the blockchain is automatically expressed in the tokens stored on the platform, and these properties are shown in art in the following ways.

First, ownership is digitized into tradable tokens, thus increasing the liquidity of the artwork. Artists mint their works and issue them on the blockchain, and if they want to sell a piece, they can set a price based on its value and leave the rest to the market to work.

Second, NFT can also be used as a reliable method of verification and authentication. Thanks to its traceability, it becomes easier to track down the authentication and previous owners of an item and a certificate of authenticity is no longer needed. Everything is done on the chain and the integrity and value of the work is maintained.

Finally, it lowers the barrier of entry for independent artists who can use this medium to list and sell their artwork without having to pay for expensive gallery services. It also helps artists retain full ownership of their work, avoid paying fees to third-party intermediaries or agents, and enable artists get a better return on their artwork transactions.

How can I tokenize my artwork?

Several projects have emerged in the crypto artwork space, and these platforms spare artists all the technical work, as the artists simply need to provide the crypto artwork. Some of the most popular crypto art collecting and trading platforms are described below.

NFT Showroom is an art tokenization platform built on the HIVE blockchain. NFT Showroom allows artists to log in with their HIVE account and tokenize artwork with the help of its sidechain and smart contracts. The biggest benefit of the HIVE blockchain is that it requires no transaction fees, so there is no cost when an artist submits a piece of artwork to the chain and puts it up for sale. Those who purchase through HIVE will need a HIVE account. Users of HIVE accounts need to stake a small amount of HIVE coins to pay for transactions on the chain, and these HIVE coins remain in the possession of the users and can be sold at any time.

Rarible is built on the Ethereum blockchain and allows anyone with an Ethereum wallet to create accounts to tokenize their art. Since Rarible runs on Ethereum, users need to top up their accounts with Ether to pay for on-chain transactions. What’s interesting about Rarible is that it allows users to buy art with ETH, and hundreds of ERC-20-based tokens. Compared to the NFT Showroom on the HIVE chain, users of Rarible can open up the artwork to more buyers for better liquidity and a larger user base.

Makersplace also uses Ethereum to manage the tokenization of artwork, but also accepts other cryptocurrencies and fiats. Makersplace only charges 15% of the transaction when a crypto artist sells a work, and an additional 2.9% if the purchase is made via credit card. In addition, artists earn a 10% royalty whenever their work is re-sold.

Nifty Gateway, owned by cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, allows users to create tokenized versions of artwork using the NFT token standard Nifties. This platform is created in 2018 based on the Ethereum blockchain. Crypto artist Beeple’s artwork “THE COMPLETE MF COLLECTION” sold at auction on Nifty Gateway for $777,777, making it the most expensive crypto artwork to date.

The difference

As Jason Bailey stated in his introduction to the first Italian crypto art exhibition (Tolmezzo, from December, 2018 to February, 2019), “Unlike the traditional art world, crypto artists do not have to ask permission from gallery owners, agents, auction houses, or other intermediaries to share and sell their work. Instead, they use the blockchain to make their own decisions about displaying their work and making it available. Naturally, traditional artists often talk nonchalantly about crypto art, but that is certainly an important sign that crypto artists are on the right path.”