NFTs are currently taking the digital art and collectables world by storm. Just as everyone worldwide believed Bitcoin was the digital answer to currency, NFTs are now pitched as the digital answer to collectibles. As a result, digital artists are seeing their lives changing thanks to the massive sales to a new crypto audience.
But despite the fact that NFTs are hugely popular, the topic goes much deeper than just newspaper headlines. Understanding what they are should be the priority, before looking into how much are NFTs among other things. With that said, let’s dive in and see what all the fuss is about!
What Are NFTs?
NFTs are an acronym for non-fungible tokens, which are generally created using the same type of programming used for cryptocurrencies. They cannot be exchanged or traded equivalently like their cryptocurrencies counterpart. Physical currency and cryptocurrency however, are fungible, which means that they can be traded or exchanged for one another. The similarity is that these cryptographic assets are all based on blockchain technology.
You may have already heard of NBA Top Shot, a digital collectible basketball card game. The cards work just like physical trading cards do, but their authenticity is guaranteed through blockchain technology. Some cards are rarer than others, and each has a different value.
How Is The Value Of An NFT Determined?
Determining how much an NFT is worth depends on its underlying representation. When it comes to crypto art, it’s quite similar to any other forms of art. We think about who created it, the artistic value of the piece, and how in-demand it might be from other collectors.
If an NFT is part of a limited collection, specific numbers are often more valuable than others. We usually see a token ID of #1 being more desirable than other numbers like #49 or #137. Value and rarity depend on a combination of factors, like the ones mentioned above. A good reference is to take a look at NBA Top Shot NFTs and how their ranking affects the price.
For game-based NFTs, there may be financial benefits from specific NFT items or creatures. If they provide you with an extra $100 in staking rewards, then it’s going to be worth at least $100 without taking into account its artistic value.
How Much Are NFTs?
The cost of NFTs will vary depending on how sought after they are and also how rare they are. In fact, many of the most expensive NFTs that have sold so far are things that wouldn't be the things that people are most interested in buying.
Below is a list of 5 of the most expensive NFTs sold so far:
Beeple’s ‘Everydays: the First 5000 Days’ – $69.3 million
CryptoPunk #3100 – $7.58 Million
CryptoPunk #7804 – $7.57 Million
Beeple’s ‘Crossroads’ – $6.6 Million
Twitter CEO & Founder ‘The first Tweet’ – $2.9 Million
The sensational internet meme NyanCat that was created back in 2011 was recently sold as an NFT for $690,000 despite being one of the most iconic memes of the decade and viewed by millions across the globe.
The value of an NFT will probably never stay the same, most people collect NFTs and hope that the value of it goes up during the period of them owning it so they can then sell it on for a profit in the future.
As there are no set values on NFTs, the seller can sell it for whatever price they feel fit or would suit the current market. Take YouTube mogul Logan Paul, who started selling NFT videos for up to $20,000, despite the fact that these clips can be easily found on his YouTubes free of charge.
According to rankings, the average price of an NFT sold on CryptoPunks is 14.36 ETHer, which is just under $29,000 whereas the average price of an NFT sold on Rarible is 0.00004 ether which converts to less than $1. So prices are very far and in between depending on what you’re buying and what NFT marketplace you’re buying from.
Where to Buy NFTs?
There are so many NFT marketplaces around nowadays, some of which focus on certain categories whereas others sell and promote a variety of NFT sales. Below we’ve listed some of the most popular NFT marketplaces at the moment.
OpenSea: OpenSea has a large user base of gamers and cryptocurrency enthusiasts and markets itself as the eBay of the NFT world. It is the longest-standing NFT marketplace and has been around since 2017.
Rarible: Rarible’s NFT marketplace tends to focus more primarily on art but does have other categories such as video gaming items, collectibles, and also the sale of domain names.
Nifty Gateway: Nifty is a popular marketplace that is owned by cryptocurrency exchange Gemini and is used by artists like Grimes and Steve Aoki to release artwork.
Closing Thoughts
When it comes to NFTs, new use cases and developments are constantly coming out. It’s easy to forget that the technology is as recent as 2017 and still in its infancy. Before you start investing money into these tokens, make sure you understand precisely what you’re getting into. You should very minimally understand what are NFTs before looking into how much are NFTs as mentioned.
It’s easy to just think of NFTs as art, but there are many places to find them, use cases to look at, and even misconceptions to clear up. Having finished this article is without a doubt a good way to get started!
