Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs): Anyone Can Do It and Earn From It

As you may know, Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are, among other things, a form of one-of-a-kind digital art. To be more specific, they’re unique, non-interchangeable tokens (unlike money) registered on a distributed ledger. The unique hash of these tokens represents the identity of the artwork (image, video, GIF, etc.) or virtual real estate behind it. Also, this kind of system allows authors and artists worldwide to sell their art and receive royalties for every secondary sale afterward.

They’ve been widely adopted (and traded) since their inception around 2017. These days, headlines like “People are buying $200,000 NFT rocks,” or “Schoolboy, 12, makes £750,000 selling NFTs” aren’t uncommon anymore. And yes, anyone can create them and sell them, for whatever price the market (supply and demand) is willing to pay.

If a twelve-year-old schoolboy was able to sell small pixelated whales as NFTs and earn thousands of dollars with them, there’s no reason to believe you can’t do it too.

Why do NFTs have value?

This is a tricky question, similar to why an artwork has some value at all. The super-famous Mona Lisa by Da Vinci is valued at $860 million alone. If it wasn’t considered a unique masterpiece, we’d barely have an aging 520-year-old painting of an unknown woman over a poplar panel of 77 x 53 cm.

As it is, anyone can take a photo of it or find an absolutely-free and identical copy on the Internet. They can hang it in their living room, and they can even use it freely for commercial purposes since it's in the public domain (so, no copyright). Why, then, does this old painted canvas has a similar price as a whole ceramics company or the much-needed massive repairs of public roads and bridges?

Well, the art world is quite subjective (let’s not forget that someone actually sold a banana taped to a wall for $100,000, for example). Beyond this, NFTs are an advanced tool that offers real proof of uniqueness and ownership in the digital realm —something not possible before them.

Moreover, NFTs offer a new way for artists, musicians, creators, and even companies and organizations to monetize their work. By tokenizing their creations as NFTs, they can sell and earn royalties from each subsequent sale, ensuring they are fairly compensated for their talent and effort.

In addition, NFTs can also provide real utility besides being collectibles, depending on their creators and their intentions. They could act as digital avatars in games or social profiles, tickets access certain privileges, authenticity stamps in the supply chain of any product, safe keepers of medical records, IDs for digital voting, and verification for patents and credentials. Of course, in these cases, the value would be totally different from the NFT-based artworks, which depend on the authors and collectors.

Environmental concerns

The world is on the brink of fire, and yes, we mean global warming. Some countries are actually on fire right now. Therefore, we must do everything we can to improve our current situation and take better care of our planet. That includes issuing NFTs responsibly because they could indirectly harm the environment. How’s that? You may think. They’re not exactly smoke-spitting factories, right?

It’s to do with the necessary energy to create them. As we’ve mentioned before, tokens (including NFTs) are assets usually minted on top of an already existing distributed ledger, which means they work just like the native ledger works. If the native ledger uses Proof-of-Work (PoW) as an algorithm to build the ledger and mint new coins, the energy cost could be very high. And the more energy (electricity) spent, the more potential contamination is sent to the atmosphere —depending on the energy source, e.g., fossil fuels.

Cryptocurrencies using PoW as a native system include Bitcoin (BTC), Litecoin (LTC), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Monero (XMR). Other ledgers, like Obyte (GBYTE), don’t need significant amounts of energy to build the ledger. Indeed, Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAGs) like Obyte don’t have any miners at all, while the transaction fees are way cheaper than in most PoW coins. These features make the DAG ideal to create any type of green tokens, including NFTs.

Creating your environmentally friendly NFT

First of all, we need to issue a legal warning: like any other artwork or idea, NFTs have a copyright and could (or couldn’t) use copyrighted material. NFT creators should obtain the necessary licenses and permissions for the copyrighted content they tokenize. Copyright laws apply to NFTs just as it does to other forms of digital content, and understanding these legal aspects is crucial for artists and collectors alike.

So, for example, you just can’t release an NFT collection of Marvel heroes and characters without the explicit permission of Marvel. They’re copyright material, which means no one outside the owners can freely use them. If the artwork linked to the NFT is completely original, then the owner would be the artist and no one else —not even the buyer, who just keeps a unique digital work, but not the legal rights over it.

That being said, you can start unleashing your imagination and creativity to produce your own artworks as you would usually create them. They could be images, GIFs, videos, audio, documents, or any other digital file you may think of. NFTs aren’t the artworks themselves, but a digital “envelope” to demonstrate their uniqueness. You can transform any digital file into an NFT in a few simple steps.

Making an NFT in Obyte

You don’t need to be a developer to make your own tokens in Obyte, including NFTs. Through the Obyte Asset Registry or programmatically, it’s possible to create a customized token with a supply of 1 and make it an NFT. To connect it to an image or another digital file, you can post a hash of it on the DAG by sending that specific data (URL) from the wallet, as any other transaction. In the tab “Send”, instead of sending any token, you just select “Raw data.”

You can also use a user-friendly NFT Creator in Cryptothings marketplace on Obyte. As we’ve mentioned above, you’ll just need the digital file you want to transform into an NFT, an Obyte wallet with fractions of a cent worth of GBYTE, and that’s it. The first step is filling in the NFT basic information, including title, description, number of copies to mint, the royalties you’re aiming to keep for every secondary sale, and keywords to make it searchable.

Next, you can share some basic data about the author. They don’t have to be famous or even recognized. On the contrary, this would help them to be better known among collectors. After this, it’s time to upload your file to the platform and select its type (image, audio, video, etc.).

A final preview will be available after the three steps. If everything is ok, you can click the “Mint” button and share the Obyte wallet which will pay for the mint and first receive the new NFT(s). The fee is barely 10,000 bytes (around $0.0001) per mint, and Cryptothings only charges 9% per sale. For authors, the platform will honor up to 40% royalties on every NFT sale. The pieces can be either sold normally or auctioned (in a maximum of 30 days).

Now, if you’re a developer, you can customize your tokens (or your own marketplaces) as you wish with the numerous tools we offer.

How to add value to your own NFT

Initially, it’s quite likely that your customized NFTs start at zero. But there are several strategies you can employ to add value to them. One way is to enhance the utility of your NFT by providing additional perks or benefits to the owner. This can include granting exclusive access to future events, digital experiences (like a game), or even physical merchandise related to the NFT.

Another strategy is to engage with your community and build a strong fan base. By interacting with your audience through social media, hosting live events, or collaborating with other artists, you create a sense of connection and loyalty. This can increase the perceived value of your NFTs as collectors become more invested in your work and the stories behind it.

Offering limited editions or rare variations of your NFTs can boost their value as well. You could prepare different tiers or editions with unique features or characteristics. This scarcity drives demand among collectors who desire the exclusivity and uniqueness that comes with owning a limited edition NFT.

Furthermore, continuously evolving and expanding your artistic portfolio can contribute to the value of your NFTs. Experimenting with different styles, themes, or mediums keeps your work fresh and appealing to a wider audience. This creative exploration demonstrates growth and innovation, which can attract both new and existing collectors to your NFTs. You need to be very persistent and have a roadmap in mind for your artworks and/or projects.

In summary, adding value to your NFTs involves increasing their utility, building a strong community, offering limited editions, and consistently evolving as an artist. By implementing these strategies, you can enhance the desirability and demand for your NFTs, ultimately driving their value in the market. Remember, the NFT space is constantly evolving, so staying informed and adapting to new trends and opportunities is key to maximizing the potential of your creations.

Featured Vector Image by Freepik