TTC Beard
Bitcoin & cryptocurrency are all the rage at the minute, as the value of Bitcoin (BTC) and the likes of Ether (ETH) & Litecoin (LTC) have risen staggeringly so over the last year. It has been a joy to watch, but have you noticed that crypto-art is starting to creep into the mainstream, where they look to take a foothold in normality, and is it any surprise that Superplastic are looking to lead with a new release of NFT (non-fungible token) virtual art in collaboration with Sket One and Nifty Gateway.
Now don’t get me wrong, I have no real clue whatsoever with the world of NFT and virtual art, but I’ve been spending some time trying to get my head around it all in preparation for this Superplastic release with Nifty. Honestly, I’m probably none the wise. It is an interesting concept, and one that will likely have an equal measure of backers & detractors, but I’m sure that was the case when Bitcoin emerged back in 2008 and now look at its value ($49,000 at time of writing).
Superplastic are releasing SIX new colourways of Sket One’s SuperKranky but each one will be an NFT, in other words a digital, virtual SuperKranky rather than the physical vinyl versions that we have been accustomed to in recent times.
But Gary, are you just buying a digital picture of a toy? Well, yeah. Pretty much. However, in theory, the digital NFT could increase in value (as well as decrease, of course as with any kind of crypto currency or stock trading).
There are six editions of the SuperKranky NFT available, seen below. Metallic Silver, Metallic Red, Metallic Purple, Metallic Orange, Metallic Gold and Metallic Black. Each edition is limited to 50 and they are essentially a virtual blind box. So when you make your virtual purchase, you have 16.66% of obtaining one of the designs. Each SuperKranky is priced at $350 and once you purchase, you’ll be able to store your NFT in your crypto wallet as you would if you purchased Bitcoin, ETH, LTC etc. Your NFT is unique to you. You can see the history of the unique piece. Who owns it. Who has previously owned it. Prices that it has sold for etc.
Each SuperKranky is priced at $350 and once you purchase, you’ll be able to store your NFT in your crypto wallet as you would if you purchased Bitcoin, ETH, LTC etc. Your NFT is unique to you. You can see the history of the unique piece. Who owns it. Who has previously owned it. Prices that it has sold for etc. Is this something that we dream of when we look to our own collections and looking to buy/sell? Trying to weed out fakes or looking at getting a fair price.
But how the fuck does this work, Gary? Ha, well, as I mentioned above, I’m not 100% sure but let’s take an example of the artwork, The Last Stand of the Nation State by Slimesunday, pictured below. It was created in November 2020 as an open edition and sold for $40 per edition. A total of 415 were sold as part of the open window. Now those that own that digital image can keep it in their crypto-wallet, or they can offer it for sale. Looking at the Nifty Marketplace for this piece of art, the value has increased significantly and is swapping hands now for thousands of dollars.
Couldn’t someone just screenshot the image and say they own it? They could defo screen shot it, save it to their desktop/mobile etc, but they’d never be able to fully claim that they owned the image as the image contains unique code that indicates it is the only asset with its specific digital structure.
Not sure if that really helps make matters clear, but collectors love limited edition releases that much we know from years of collecting. None more so, than one-off pieces, and Superplastic are dropping TWO one-off NFT releases tonight as well as the aforementioned SuperKranky above. Working with their virtual Janky & Guggimon there will be these two designs picture below. Electric Scream Dream and Well, That Was Fucking Weird! These are being sold as an 24hr auction (from what I can understand) and the highest bidder at the auction end will own the one-off NFT.
All of the above will be happening at 12am GMT tonight (7pm EST) on the Nifty Gateway website HERE. Will be looking to get involved? Honestly, probably. Just for saying I tried to get involved and see where it goes. Did the same with Bitcoin, and more cryptocurrency over the last year. Still no idea what I’m doing, but I generally don’t in life, so might as well have no clue in virtual life too, right?
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