The NFT market has seen and continues to see important figures and numbers both in terms of transactions and collections sold and collections created, a symptom of a market that is far from declining and which is already selecting valid projects from simple copymints. Those who buy, sell and make NFTs move with a different goal, those who want to make a profit, those who want a piece of art in their collection, those who want to try a new tool like the NFTs they want to create.
But beyond subjective reasons, there are valid and objective reasons why one should buy NFTs and invest in this sector, both as a simple patron and as an artist of any art. Today we are going to analyze some of them and the main ones that allow you to have a clearer view of why one is willing to pay millions for a square made of pixels that may appear ugly or not very functional.
1 - Financing art
If in the past, churches and powerful of the time were the main financiers of art, commissioning works of various kinds for their courts, palaces, and churches, allowing artists to enhance their work but also produce something that without the necessary funds would be impossible, imagine if a single artist and without money had to paint as big and beautiful as the entire Sistine Chapel, surely he would have used poor colors or even would not have done it because only particular colors would go away a patrimony, therefore without financiers and patrons, we would not have all these beautiful work that we now find around us, after several centuries.
But unfortunately, the patrons and financiers of the time have dwindled a lot, just think of the church that drastically reduced the funding of the various artists, leaving them to produce different works and sell them in any way, given that if they did not sell works, they would end up as artists forcing them to do something else, and who knows how many works would be lost in not being made. And it is here that thanks to the NFTs, the artist can be directly financed with the various works he has created and digitized, think of the recent case of Juan Tardivo, an internationally renowned painter who has seen fit to digitize his existing works and who will send the same works to those who buy their NFTs, a channel that allows both to share their works but also to monetize them directly.
2 - No intermediary
Connected to the previous point, we see that there is a considerable advantage of exploiting NFTs rather than a traditional channel, as to get hold of these works, the artist usually prefers the channel of dedicated galleries and exhibitions, where obviously only in those geographical points can they be bought and therefore an American or Japanese will not have the opportunity to buy that work as he does not know that there is a gallery or exhibition of those works.
Exploiting a traditional channel such as galleries, however, also involves a problem especially on the artist side as the curator and gallerist decide whether to approve an artist in his gallery, with also considerable costs of exposure, costs on the sale of the works, but also limiting access to visitors as some galleries open and are aimed only at an audience of VIPs and people of a certain social class and income as if art were only the prerogative of wealthy people or princes or queens.
3 - Digital conservation of the work
Do we now have all the works of the past that were created over time even several millennia ago? Unfortunately, the answer to this question is sadly negative, precisely because time does not forgive with traditional works and sooner or later the work will inevitably and inexorably be destroyed, destroyed in any way, both for natural events and for anthropic and destructive events such as the war, how many works were destroyed?
But we are not speaking only of destruction but also loss, theft, or simple forgetfulness of the work itself where it is located, which happens above all to museums that live submerged by archives where they keep works that are not yet on display and for this reason, not even a single outsiders know if such an artifact exists and therefore ignoring its existence, it also ignores the eventual loss or misplacement of the same.
And once again the NFTs and the blockchain technology comes to our rescue as the information recorded on it will remain forever in the same conditions, will not age, cannot be destroyed, or even less modified by another subject, as it will only serve to activate the blockchain program to synchronize and download the history of the blockchain as long as it has remained operational, and thanks to the fact that the data of the blockchain is distributed among all participants and nodes of the network, we have an advantage that information will not be lost for always and not all at once, as there will always be one that will have its node up and running in the future.
In the same way, all the works digitized in the blockchain and with these systems can always be viewed in the future and also handed down, given that if we have our NFT, we will be able to pass it on to future generations without problems and particular difficulties.
4 - Ease of selling the NFT
Sometimes and for various reasons, we are forced to separate from our works, we think when we have really impressive works and out of necessity we have to move and the transport of these works and others, would involve a dedicated transport cost and also economically demanding, and therefore we prefer to sell the work, which, however, apparently seems easy but presents various problems.
When we talk about works it is difficult to find a buyer immediately and it often takes a long time to sell them at a fair price but due to the haste or the impossibility of staying in that place, we are forced to sell off the work as well as give it to someone, sometimes even giving it away. Instead, thanks to the simplicity and ease of selling your NFT directly and at the price we want, it allows us to liquidate and monetize the work at any time, at any price and in the form we prefer, such as making an auction and selling it to the highest bidder, and without any cost of maintaining the listing, there will be only the possible marketplace fee once the NFT is sold, therefore no initial cost for the seller.
5 - Transferability of the NFT
Linked to the previous point regarding the ease of sale, we also have another advantage which is that of the transferability of the NFT to anyone and at any time and no cost, except for those of the blockchain to make the transaction. Imagine that you have bought a large work, or that it is very heavy, or delicate, this requires a dedicated shipping process and with various permits, especially if we are talking about works that are located on the other side of the world or that we have to ship from another part of the world, well here the costs increase exponentially and also the various documents to be attached for the various customs.
Now all these problems are magically deleted with the use of the NFTs of the related works, as I can send this NFT to any person, regardless of where they are, and without incurring costs and problems related to the shipment of the work itself a real milestone and success, for example, an American or Japanese tourist visiting Italy will be more inclined to buy an NFT of the work than the physical work itself, as it is also easier to transport as it will be the inside your wallet and not in a package or suitcase, subject to breakage or customs checks.
6 - Instant visibility
Many do not think about it but NFTs, are digital by nature and are on more or less decentralized platforms from which one can access with a link, but we can see NFTs in any way and on any device.
Of course, one could say that even a simple photo to show to friends would fulfill the same function, but a replica does not have that charm of seeing that original work, would you like to see the Mona Lisa live or in a photo or poster in your room? In fact, with a simple link to the NFT itself and therefore to the original of the work, we can admire the work at any time and in its originality, also showing it to friends near and far, project it on televisions, computers, and more, not to mention that we can share the NFT link "no problem" with them.
7 - Alternative exploitation of the work
Finally and perhaps the most intriguing point of the list is certainly that of seeing a broader vision of art itself as this opens up scenarios that before and in a traditional world were even unthinkable as we will see.
One way that could be taken is to create your virtual galleries with our NFTs and works and make access exclusive only to a selected audience as we will set up a digital gallery and eventually charge a ticket entrance. Another more advanced alternative is to use our NFTs to take and make loans with them, as if we were at a pawn shop where in this case, with a special smart contract, it is possible to block your NFT to obtain a loan from another person who in case of non-payment of the debt, then will come into possession of our NFT.
As we see viable roads and alternatives we find different and in different sectors, and this does nothing but make art liquid and spread it faster than ever before as even a small artist would be able to make himself known in any part of the world a world with a simple NFT.
For Italian readers here is my video explaining all these points: