NFT platforms: where the action is

Thursday 3rd June, 2021 - Bruce Sterling

*Who wants to know about ten years of dry history of crypto art? “Show me the Lamborghinis!!”

*Because blockchains and cryptocoins are involved, everybody in the NFT space talks like that. There’s quite a lot going on. There are various NFT platforms with radically different payment methods and various business models. Some are big and rich, some are small and modest. Some grow fast, some are exclusive. They already tend to quarrel and feud a lot in social media.

*Bitcoin people hate Ethereum people; Tezos people despise both of them; the crypto coin racket is savage. Also, the relationships between NFT gallerists, artists and collectors is highly socially-mediated, cultish and truly peculiar.

*Most NFT auction sites will immediately urge you to set up a crypto coin “wallet” on their site, or to import your own “wallet,” so that you can bid on NFT artworks and do some business with them. I would not do this unless you know what a wallet is and you understand the considerable fiscal risks of having one.

*Along with the many NFT auction houses are the smaller number of “metaverses,” which are 3D game-like virtual-reality spaces where NFT art is exhibited or offered for sale, but the basic business model is selling 3D real estate to speculators. If you like to play “Roblox” you might really like these spaces. Bring your virtual reality headset.

*There’s also the issue of art galleries designed for displaying one’s own collection of crypto art. Nobody seems to have figured that out. These are early times in the NFT space; it’s something like the birth of weblogs combined with a gold rush.

“But are the artists rich, though?” Yeah, some of them really are.