Here’s the Lowdown on Crypto Art
January 2021
In the last few years with the rise of crypto art, collecting has turned digital, and here's why.
What is crypto art?
Crypto art is digital art that is treated like physical art which means you can verify its ownership using an NTF or non-refundable token. The NFT is a special token which has a unique ID that links to a piece of crypto art to prove ownership and is stored on a blockchain. A blockchain is a system that records information or transactions; it has been built with the sole purpose to make it impossible to change, hack, or cheat the system. What else is good about blockchains? Nobody owns them, instead they are owned and managed by their users which is why so many people are investing into digital currencies such as Bitcoin: it feels safer to put money in here than keeping it in a bank, but there are of course risks in doing so.
Why is crypto art so popular?
Just like physical art, a value is placed on crypto art. Some collectors buy crypto art purely for admiring and others buy it to support the artist. Right now the type of digital art getting the most attention is motion design. And like physical art, the value of the art can increase overtime, which means some collectors buy to sell in the future, thus receiving more than the original value.
For an artist or creator, it means the artist gets royalties from each sale; they can earn a percentage of the sale each time the work “changes hands” — which is pretty great. They also retain copyright, unlike on social media or the internet where people can use an artist’s work without their permission.
Where is it all headed?
We live in technological times, where new apps are being released daily and AR and VR are on the rise. It’s hard for anyone to know where crypto is headed. But all we would say is that if you’re thinking about investing into crypto currencies or digital art, it’s worth digging deeper into the environmental footprint of that particular blockchain or NFT — as some are major contributors to greenhouse gases due to their high use of electricity.
At Lighthouse we love the concept of crypto art and how it bridges the gap between live / physical and digital, and are excited to see how it all develops. Although as we wait patiently for our B Corp certification, we are certainly keeping an eye on the environmental impact of crypto. We highly recommend checking the following digital artists so you can judge the hype for yourselves!
Gavin Shapiro @shapiro500
Machado Leao @machadoxleao
Panda Gunda @pandagunda
Morten Lasskogen @iammoteh
Markus Kanzler @marterium