The 3 Best Sites for Buying NFT Art Online
If you’re reading the cryptocurrency news headlines, you’ve probably heard something about NFT art. Artists and collectors are making millions in some cases as NFT art trading gains a foothold in the virtual economy. If you’re just getting into NFTs and Crypto, you may be wondering about where to purchase an NFT artwork.
Here are the top 3 NFT marketplaces, where users can purchase one-of-a-kind NFT artwork, characters, and even music albums:
- OpenSea
- Axie Infinity Marketplace
- Larva Labs’ CryptoPunks
NFT artworks are unique digital collectibles as well as investments. While some artworks seem to be more directly traded in a financial matter, others allow users to virtually collect and breed pets or develop and farm digital plots of land. Keep reading to learn more about what NFTs are, how they work, and where the best places are to go shopping for them.
What Is An NFT?
NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are digital files that are original and unique and therefore irreplaceable. This differs from a unit of cryptocurrency, which is a fungible token. In other words, one bitcoin can be exchanged for another bitcoin at equal value.
“Fungible” is defined by Oxford Languages as “able to replace or be replaced by another identical item.” Essentially, NFTs are unique and not mutually interchangeable, unlike Bitcoins or Ethereum coins, according to The Verge.
Most NFTs are part of Ethereum’s blockchain; however, some other blockchains are already implementing their own version of NFTs. Ethereum, or any other cryptocurrency whose blockchain supports NFTs, supports the file and information verifying its non-fungibility.
How Can I Buy NFT Art?
NFTs can be confusing, both in how they work and even how to acquire them. How NFTs work is a little more complicated, but how to invest can be broken down into 4 simple steps, according to The Motley Fool.
- Pick out your NFT – NFTs can be a variety of things, such as an image, song, poem, or anything else that is a single digital file. Selecting your target NFT is the first step towards making an investment in digital art.
- Figure out which cryptocurrency you need – Most NFTs are part of the Ethereum blockchain, but not all. Each NFT and/or marketplace will have its own specifications and guidelines on what type of cryptocurrency can be exchanged for the NFT.
- Set up a crypto wallet – There are many options when it comes to crypto wallets. Choose your wallet carefully, as it’s difficult to track or punish fraudulent activity on decentralized currency platforms. Set up and add funds to your crypto wallet or wallets, as there’s no limit to how many one person can have.
- Purchase NFTs at a fixed price or virtual auction – Once you’ve figured you what type of crypto you need and set up the right crypto wallet, you can purchase or place a bid on an NFT. The method of sale depends on the platform through which you purchase your NFT, as some are set-price retailers and others work like auction houses.
Why Would I Want to Buy NFT Art?
Essentially, purchasing NFT art is like buying an original copy, hand signed by the artist. Except, with NFTs, everything is digital, including the artist’s signature. The value of an NFT depends on the artwork and artist. Like traditional art, purchasing NFT art can be a profitable investment.
Some collectibles, such as works of fine art, have a long history of appreciating in value over time. As more art enthusiasts are beginning to include digital art in their scope of appreciation, it’s possible that an NFT can gain value rapidly. Bidding wars have already pushed the values of some NFTs into the millions, according to c|net.
The 3 Best Sites for Buying NFT Art Online
Navigating the marketplaces of cryptocurrency and NFTs can be confusing and potentially risky to your crypto investment capital. To ensure that you’re that your transactions are as safe as possible on a decentralized platform, it’s important to choose your marketplace carefully.
There are many marketplaces where NFTs can be purchased. The right marketplace for you to buy NFTs depends on what kind of NFTs you’re interested in acquiring, as different marketplaces offer various selections. Some are general NFT marketplaces, while others provide a specific series or set of NFTs.
1. OpenSea
If you’re just getting into NFTs and Crypto, where originality is everything, you may want to start off browsing the OpenSea marketplace. OpenSea was the first “peer-to-peer” marketplace for NFTs, according to Decrypt. OpenSea has nearly 200,000 traders and a volume of $1.35 billion, according to data from Business Insider.
OpenSea is pretty user-friendly, which makes it a great place for newcomers to dip their toes into crypto trading and NFT collecting. Another advantage of using OpenSea as your NFT marketplace is the ease of access to the Creator features. This allows users to upload and sell their own NFT artwork as well as buy and trade others.
OpenSea, like the name suggests, provides a broad platform for NFTs of a wide variety to be sold. This makes it a great place to browse and familiarize yourself with what kind of NFT artworks are out there before you make a purchase. You can build a themed collection or broaden your artistic horizons as your purchasing mood suits you.
2. Axie Marketplace
Axie is home to the second-largest NFT marketplace after OpenSea. Players of the videogame Axie Infinity use this platform to buy and sell Axies, which are digital cartoon characters that can be kept as virtual pets.
The Axie Infinity videogame has been likened to Nintendo’s Pokemon in that there is a simple economy within the game, where players can tray tokens such Smooth Love Potion or SLP and Axie Infinity Shard (AXS). These tokens can be exchanged in the game to breed new Axies, or to purchase and develop virtual land.
These digital pets can appreciate in value over time, with rarer categories of Axies selling for as much as $130,000 for a single NFT character, according to Business Insider. Axie Infinity has just over $1 billion invested in it, spread over about 2.5 million traders.
3. Larva Labs
Larva Labs are the developers of CryptoPunks, which Business Insiders places at $666 million investment volume spread over only 16,415 traders. CryptoPunks was one of the first NFTs on Ethereum’s blockchain.
CyperPunks are among the most expensive NFT series, with the lower price range “Punks” selling for roughly $285,000. The most valuable Punk on the market, according to Decrypt, is Punk number 3100, which was last traded at $7.58 million.
CyberPunks is the largest but not the only contributing factor to Larva Labs’ massive trading volume. CyberPunk trading makes roughly half of the entire marketplace’s trading volume.
Where does my NFT art go after I purchase it?
After you’ve purchased an NFT, you may be wondering where it went or how you can look at it. Viewing your NFT is a simple matter of going to the correct platform.
If you purchased your NFT through OpenSea, you could view your collection via the wallet of your OpenSea profile, according to Artland. NFTs are stored on OpenSea after purchase. Users can also visit the My NFTs page of their marketplace or platform and view the NFTs in their virtual wallet.
NFT Owner Rights
When you buy an NFT, the file becomes your property, according to The Conversation. Beyond a digital certificate proving ownership, the owner of the NFT has no further rights to the work.
NFT ownership is generally the same as owning a painting, except in the virtual universe. If you own a work of art, that doesn’t guarantee you the right to display it anywhere you wish. If you own a work of fine art that is committed to a tour of museums, you may have almost no practical right to the piece at all. All the while, it remains your property, and its value is included in your assets.
Some NFTs can be the property of the owner for personal use or consumption only. The rock group Kings of Leon’s recent NFT album When You See Yourself, for example, are sold as a digital collector’s item.
NFTs Reduce the Risk of Piracy
The presence of non-fungible tokens on a decentralized platform can help to reduce the risk of fraud, according to Go Concepts. By creating a system of identifying ownership of unique tokens, NFTs allow for an increased level of investor security in the chaotic ether of the crypto market.
Artists can also use the NFT market platforms to monetize their talents for either a set price or open the bidding floor to the product of their creativity. Using the NFT platforms to market collectible art can be used to reduce piracy and copyright issues faced by many graphic artists, musicians, writers, and creatives around the world.
Environmental Criticisms of NFTs
The major criticism resounding from many sources, including the Atlantic, is that they’re highly dangerous to the environment. According to information from Verge, some corporation utilize profits made from trading NFTs on these marketplaces to cover carbon emission offset costs.
This means that some companies have been effectively generating millions of dollars from these platforms and using them to purchase the right to continue producing pollution beyond the environmental regulations imposed on them.
Other critics warn that users who are not familiar with cryptocurrencies are more vulnerable to theft and fraud while trading on NFT marketplaces. The relative recency of NFTs as a market platform means there’s limited legal precedent or government regulation on the crypto and NFT transactions.
Cryptocurrencies Are Banned by Some Governments
Some governments around the world – such as China, Indonesia, Bolivia, and Iraq, among others – have placed either a restriction or ban on the use of cryptocurrencies as legal tender, according to EuroNews. This does not stop many individuals from those countries from trading in cryptos illegally or finding loopholes, however.
NFTs specifically have been banned in several counties, most recently in Thailand, according to Engadget. The direct relationship between a crypto ban and an NFT ban remains vague, as NFTs are still possible in some countries where cryptocurrencies are banned, such as China.
The relatively open question around the legitimacy of cryptocurrency in some counties can create instability for investors. As the identifiable uniqueness of
Conclusion
NFT artworks are virtually unique, which means they are not interchangeable. This allows for artists to create single works or series of digital masterpieces without fear of their being replicated and pirated on the internet. Buyers can browse digital art galleries or shop for NFT cartoon pets and Punks at OpenSea, Axie Infinity, Larva Labs, or any of the various other marketplaces springing up as more cryptocurrency blockchains support NFTs. Investors should acquaint themselves with cryptocurrency carefully before making purchases.
