The Brave Pixel Artist Who Could | Decentralized Arts
BanklessDAO Weekly NFT and Cryptoart Newsletter
Dear Bankless Nation,🏴
Permissionless was a fantastic event, with incredible participation by many core contributing members of BanklessDAO, many of whom finally got to meet in-person and spend time together in real life. This was augmented with great talks by Ryan, David, and Frogmonkee.
BanklessDAO is not just about NFTs, and it's not just about POAPs either. However, these components are very important for the community and represent one of the more important and frequent topics of discussion. For this reason, Decentralized Arts (DA) has always been committed to providing complete and objective information, and rejecting paid content. And it is also for this reason DA is committed to improving itself week over week, working to attract new creators and new ideas.
Welcome to Decentralized Arts.
Contributors: BanklessDAO Writers Guild (Grendel, Kouros, Kaf, nonsensetwice, Frank America)
This is the official newsletter of BanklessDAO. To unsubscribe, edit your settings.
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🌐 Curated NFT News
Spotify Testing NFT Galleries
The popular music streaming company is experimenting with a new feature where it allows artists to display their NFT collections. This is currently only available to certain top artists, like Steve Aoki or The Wombat. Spotify is working on this as a way for artists to promote their digital collectibles. When you visit one of these pages and click on an NFT, it will take you to its Opensea page.
“Spotify is running a test in which it will help a small group of artists promote their existing third-party NFT offerings via their artist profiles,” a spokesperson of the company said. “We routinely conduct a number of tests in an effort to improve artist and fan experiences. Some of those tests end up paving the way for a broader experience and others serve only as an important learning.”
For now only a small group of Android users have access to the feature.
OpenSea Launches New Marketplace Protocol Seaport
Seaport is a shared and open resource for developers and will operate independently from OpenSea. The protocol allows users to buy NFTs in new ways. Bidders that use Seaport will have the option to buy an NFT by bundling different assets. For example, if you have a Moonbird that is valued at 26 ETH and you want to buy a Bored Ape that costs 100 ETH, you will be able to offer your Moonbird and pay the difference of 74 ETH. Another new feature is the ability to bid on certain traits. This is useful for people that don’t mind which NFT they will get as long as it has the trait they are looking for.
Seaport also allows users to barter for NFTs with a tool called SudoSwap. SudoSwap is becoming native to OpenSea.
The platform will also support tipping, as long as the amount does not exceed that of the original offer.
For more information on Seaport, read the announcement post.
A HAPPY STORY
NFTs CHANGE LIVES
By Kaf
When the NFT market takes a dive, NFT critics are quick to share graphs that show decreasing Opensea volume, or they remind you of projects that have “failed.” Many projects have been affected by promises from the creators, who through incredible roadmaps promised a thousand utilities for holders that unfortunately never arrived. While these are all true, they are not true for every project, nor are they true all the time. Bankless individuals understand this.
Most individuals excited about crypto and NFTs pause to think and reflect on the growth of each since their creation, and this allows them to relax. A bear market in 2022 is still a thriving market when compared to prior bear markets. This builds confidence that NFTs are here to stay. The paradigm shift that Web3 represents is the same in a bull market as in a bear market.
Artists value NFTs
To understand the revolution that NFTs represent in art, the best you can do is to talk to crypto-artists. They are the ones that find the most advantages in the use of NFTs:
exclusivity, where editions can be minted in limited run and each NFT can only have one owner at a time;
resale, where the original creator will receive part of the profit each time it is resold, once the royalties for the secondary market are set;
diversity, where NFTs are a promising commitment to everything digital and allows the market to expand;
peer-to-peer, which allows direct interaction between the buyer and seller, eliminating middlemen and extra expenses; and, finally;
security, where the cryptographic nature of NFTs as blockchain assets guarantees that each asset is tracked and verified.
In spite of this, there are many artists who despise NFTs, drawing on claims that NFTs contribute to pollution, that NFTs are not necessary, or that NFTs are a scam. This is why it is advisable to understand blockchain fundamentals and how NFTs work. In the near future, practically all aspects of our lives will be governed by this technology. Digital identity will become more and more important, so if you are an artist, getting into NFTs right now will give you a significant advantage in the future.
That all said, today's story happened last week, and it's exciting to see how quickly NFTs can change people's lives.
I will try NFTs…
As I was browsing the underworld of twitter, this tweet caught my attention:
The author of the tweet did not put it as criticism, but I read several comments that took it that way. Art and NFT markets are full of speculators who do not always appreciate the art but pay attention to value: a few days before, the artist was not able to sell the piece for 200 USD. However, by selling it as an NFT, its price reached more than 40k USD.
NFT art, then, is similar to traditional art in that you must know the artist and their story behind the work to give it more value. And in this case, the disparity between offering his art in fiat differed substantially from what he earned selling his art as an NFT. In wanting to know more, I put on my detective hat and trench coat and began my investigation. What I learned was that this is not the story of an artist who is super well-known in crypto, but quite the opposite.
His success began with this tweet:
Here we have a humble and brave person. He begins by admitting he has no idea what an NFT is and why they are so controversial. He then apologizes if he offends anyone by going the route of NFTs, which is laudable. He discusses raising his situation–in which so many artists can identify, not being able to support themselves from their art–and shows courage by not giving up and exploring new opportunities.
From there, he executes on his tweet, launching into the adventure of NFTs, using Foundation:
His account already had many followers, and a vibrant community, which made it easy for the tweet to go viral. People began to debate whether he had made the right decision or not, but the debate isn’t in question here. Just a day later, he posted this tweet saying he was overwhelmed by so much support:
Jmw minted his first NFT and put it up for sale for 10 ETH. Later, he changed his mind and lowered it, first to 2 ETH, and finally to 1 ETH. Then the first bidder appeared, Aeralytx, offering 1 ETH. In just 24 hours, the bid went from 1 ETH to 20.9 ETH, which is what the NFT was sold for. The owner, Fozzie Bear showed his joy with this tweet:
There is a false conception that pixel art is simple. Nothing is further from reality. Pixel art has a long history and requires advanced knowledge and techniques to be able to create it. In the crypto space, there is also a special affection for pixel art thanks to Cryptopunks.
In just one day, Jmw managed to collect the salary he had been earning over the course of four years, thanks to taking a dive into NFTs. Simply awesome! Obviously not all artists will get their first sale to reach such high bids. However, Jmw is a halo of hope for those digital artists who, until the appearance of NFTs, barely sold their work.
CONCLUSION
Every day there are new surprising stories that make you think. Art is relative; the price is not dictated by the artist, but by the collector.
NFT communities are often the most hated and attacked. Some NFT critics allege that NFTs serve as money laundering schemes, though the same behavior in traditional art collectors goes uncriticized. Others allege that NFT collectors are degens who have money to spare and buy any NFT out of FOMO. They preach that this bubble will eventually burst and everyone will lose their money. Once again, nobody criticizes traditional art collectors as much, or in the same way, despite having also bought art with speculative desire.
Every time Bitcoin and NFTs are compared to the tulip bubble, consider that the cut flower market is still one of the most lucrative in the world. Consider that NFTs are not just tulips, but all kinds of flowers.
No one knows what will happen to the NFT "Corner." Jmw’s Pixel collection currently only has that one NFT. However, Corner's owner, Fozzie Bear, not only has a beautiful JPEG, he has the first smart contract of a great viral artist. And thanks to Web3, this story is far from over.
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