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Are NFTs the Next Big Thing in the Digital World?

By Ikenna Igwe

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The whole cryptocurrency and its blockchain matrix do seem to most people as a hollywood scam series that will come crashing down one day in an epic manner. On the contrary, though there is nothing that makes headline news like another blockchain news that leaves you thinking “Wait what’s going on here?”, that’s exactly the kind of feeling I’ve experienced while reading about GRIMES getting millions of dollars for NFTs or MIKE WINKLMANN aka BEEPLE, whose NFT artwork was sold close to $69millon in 2021.

One has to ask, why are these people paying this ridiculous amount of money for a piece that is not even tangible and every other person can access?

What is an NFT? What Does It Actually Mean?

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NFTs stand for Non-Fungible Tokens. Non-Fungible, more or less, means that it’s unique and can’t be replaced with something else. For example, a bitcoin is fungible because if you trade one bitcoin for another, you will get exactly the same thing. A one-of-a-kind trading card is however Non-fungible; once you trade it, you get a different stuff in return.

NFTs and Safety/Management 

To understand how NFTs work, a basic understanding of blockchain has to be in place. Blockchain technology operates as a ledger that makes digital transactions visible and accessible to the public. Through secure encryption, this information is grouped into blocks and each block comprises a timestamp and transaction data. Popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum are designed and operated with blockchain functionality. NFTs on the other hand make use of this innovation but issue a digital certificate of ownership to buyers to show authentication of what has been bought. Digitally, one can buy videos, gifts, images, illustrations, all as NFTs.

What’s the Point of NFTs?

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That really depends on whether you’re an Artist, a Buyer or a Collector. Let me explain; If you are an artist, you might be interested in NFTs because it gives you a way to sell works that there otherwise might not be much of a market for. It provides artists with more options (bigger market) and decentralized model that bypasses gallery middlemen.

NFTs have a feature that you can enable that you will be paid a percentage every time the NFT is sold or changes hands, making sure that if your work gets super popular and balloons in value, you will see some of those benefits.

If you are a BUYER in another case, one of the obvious benefits of buying arts is to support the artist you like financially. Buying an NFT also usually gets you some basic usage rights, like being able post the image online or set it as your profile picture. Plus of course, there are bragging rights that you own the art with a blockchain entry to back it up.

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If you are a COLLECTOR, good for you because NFTs can work like any other speculative asset, where you buy it and hope that the value of it goes up one day, so you can sell it for a profit.

NFTs and Nigerian Youth/Economy 

NFTs as a cutting-edge innovation have shaken up the art world and redefined the creative economy. Global conversations about Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are unavoidable these days and Nigeria is at the forefront. So many online exhibitions and showcase of NFTs have been going on around the country. After hosting a digital only exhibition in 2020, ART X Lagos hosted another showcase in 2021 at the Federal Palace in Victoria Island that brought together 30 leading international galleries from around the world to present work both online and in person, where we saw close to 120 artists from over 30 countries ranging from Spain, USA, Egypt, Ghana to mention a few. This trend is opening Nigeria to the world and that is what our struggling economy really needs now; foreign remittance is coming into the country through this means.

Local artists who were previously shut out from the art world on a global scale have started to own their voice and their space. Exportation of Nigerian art and artists is a thing now, where people pay good money to see and possess Nigerian art works. Nigerian youths are leading the way in Africa in terms of NFTs. Let’s look at PRINCE JACON OSINACHI IGWE, who according to the BBC, is the first digital artist from Africa to have his work sold by CHRISTIE’S auction house in Europe, one of the world biggest art sellers in the world. Osinachi, born in Aba, Abia state, garnered attention for selling $75,000 worth of NFTs in 10days. Osinachi partnered with MOHAMMED AMIN FOUNDATION to release NFTs for a catalog featuring 2.5millon photographs and more than 5,000 hours of video content. The wonderful thing about this is that Osinachi is only one among many Nigerians who are using this medium to earn a very decent living for themselves.

How do you start your NFTs journey? How and where to buy and sell your NFTS with ease

NFTs are by far still the biggest story that hit the crypto screen in recent times and quite understandable, most people want to get into the space and make their own millions. NFTs markets aren’t exactly Amazon where it comes with ease of use, although buying your first digital collectible isn’t hard as much, it just requires a little guidance.

Firstly, you have to purchase Ethereum (one of the biggest cryptocurrencies) given the fact that most NFTs are Ethereum-based tokens. Most marketplace for those collectibles accepts only Eth token as payment. So, you need to go buy some Ethereum from a reliable crypto space (Coinbase and eToro are good options for beginners).

Secondly, send the Ethereum tokens to an NFT hub like MetaMask, where you create a wallet address and then start making and buying NFTs from there.

Thirdly, in other not to limit yourself to viewing few NFTs, you will have to connect your MetaMask account to Opensea or other NFTs marketplace, where there give you the leverage to view, buy and sell varieties of NFTs to much wider audience.

Like every other new innovation, NFTs have its critics and doubters, some stating that this is the end of “Real art” and the environmental dangers of minting NFTs. One thing which is clear for both digital and traditional artists is that NFTs are here to stay, providing artists with more options and a decentralized model that bypasses gallery middlemen and their protocols.