Digital art has long been underestimated largely due to its affordability. There is nothing easier than finding a picture, downloading it, and using it for personal purposes. However, many can doubt this statement and provide lots of counterarguments.

Since the JPG file was created by digital artist Mike Winkelmann, art watchers threw up their hands and were bewildered by the astronomical price spike. However, things have changed so fast, and the whole “art industry” doesn’t look the same as a couple of years ago. With the development of this industry, you will definitely be surprised how to win online slots and how modern games look like. They have become real art objects and masterpieces.



What Is NFT?
NFT (non-fungible token) refers to digital works that are sold as unique assets in the form of intangible tokens and that use blockchain technology to verify identity and ownership. For artists who “minty” (= create) non-fungible tokens, a new term has appeared. Thus, they are now called creators. By purchasing an NFT, collectors get access to the original file in the best possible resolution.

Although digital art has been actively developing since the 70s of the last century, with NFT, digital artists finally have their own “space.” Until recently, galleries and auction houses disregarded digital works and preferred physical works to them. However, in 2021, the rivalry between Christie's and Sotheby's reached a whole new, digital level. The former promoted and sold Beeple's work for record amounts, making him the third richest living artist after Jeff Koons and David Hockney.



The names of some other wealthy artists are as follows:

● Damien Hirst;
● Jeff Koons;
● Jasper Johns;
● Andre Vicari;
● Anish Kapoor.

What Impact Is NFT Having on the Art World Today?
To help artists create financial value for their work, NFTs are leveraging a crucial component - scarcity. Knowing that an original version of something exists, some collectors are more likely to seek an “authentic” piece. It is the concept of scarcity that explains why collectors of baseball cards are willing to pay millions of dollars for a piece of cardboard with a picture of a player.

So the famous “pharma bro” Martin Shkreli bought the world's only copy of the album “Once Upon a Time in Shaolin” by the Wu-Tang Clan for two million dollars in 2015. But if baseball cards exist physically, then it is much more difficult to understand why digital art or any digital file has value and is called an asset.

Conclusion
Digital art collectors say they pay not only for pixels but also for the work of artists. This is in part an attempt to legitimize this nascent art form economically. In addition, such an NFT hype was actively formed due to last year's self-isolation and excessive freezing on the Internet. After all, if almost your entire world is virtual, then it makes sense to spend money on virtual things, agree?