The world of NFTs can be daunting. There’s technical terms, not so clear explanations online and Twitter pages full of jargon and acronyms.
So WTF is an NFT?
It really doesn't have to be too complicated. Just like how every piece of physical art is one of a kind, NFTs are the technology that can make your digital art one of a kind. NFTs do this by containing information about your artwork such as who created it, who currently owns it, the list of previous owners, where each sale happened and monetary value of each sale. It can also keep track of any subsequent sales that happened which guarantees that artists continue receiving commissions beyond just the initial sale.
That's what 'NFT' stands for: 'non-fungible token', a unique asset that is stored on a blockchain.
One of the defining characteristics of NFTs is that they are extremely trustworthy and secure. NFTs guarantee artists full control over who gets to access their art. This is because NFTs treat your art like a metaphorical vault which can only be accessed by people to whom the artist has granted keys.
This is because of the blockchain.
Oh great, another word. So what is the blockchain?!
The blockchain is simply a transactional ledger - essentially a network of digital information that includes records of transactions within the network. Both NFTs and cryptocurrency are built on the blockchain.
Just like the internet, no single company owns this technology. Through this, NFTs enable a world that doesn't require a middle man (who often takes a significant share of the pie) between an artist and the buyer - this is called decentralisation.
Beyond this, there isn't much more artists need to know about NFTs to get started. Of course, there is more to NFTs and the actual inner workings of the technology can get complex. But do any of us know the inner workings of our phone? Laptop? Car?
That's where ARTXV steps in to take care of the more technical nuances and make it easy for artists to create their first NFT and find genuine buyers.
This means that artists can focus on what's important: creating art.