Welcome, my CryptoComics Compatriots! Today we must break down the true brilliance of the NFT. NFT (Non-Fungible Token) art is blowing up at an incredible rate. What is all the fuss about? Well, today I am about to explain it to you.

How did Logan Paul make $5 million in a weekend with a crappy Pokemon card of himself? NFTs.

Financial heroes like Mike Cuban and Elon Musk are all investing in the magic of the NFT. The truth is, it’s really not magic, and you can get in on the action.

WHAT IS AN NFT?

NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token. Fungible is a fun word but WTH does that mean. A fungible asset can be interchanged; it isn’t unique.

Think of this like dollars. You can swap it out for gold, or diamonds, or coins. You can trade it for anything that can be used as a currency. 

This means that Non-Fungible is the exact opposite; anything that is original and unique; one-of-a-kind. This means stuff like real estate or art falls into this category. Art being the key term here.

Now that we know what Non-Fungible is, what about the “token” part. Well, that’s where the blockchain comes in. A token is just a unit of currency on the blockchain. Every digital item, such as art, digital action figures, or a comic book, can be registered on the blockchain and assigned a unique token.

Once registered on this open source, decentralized network, the digital item is now non fungible, or a unique asset.

Think of the blockchain as a digital certificate of Authenticity. Most of us “Comic Folks” know that term well. Guess what, it fits.

With most computer programs and websites, you access a single computer via the internet. Any changes to that program affect everyone. If someone was to hack Facebook and change the blue accents to green, everyone would see the changes as soon as it goes live.

Basically, any site or information on said sites is vulnerable. So, what would happen if everyone had a copy of Facebook. If someone wanted to make a change, they would have to convince ALL the other computers that access Facebook that the accents are supposed to be green.

The blockchain now offers a permanent record that you own something, and that it is unique and original. It also stores the entire history of that asset. 

This means that you can trace the origin of a comic on the blockchain all the way back to the person who “minted” it (created it). That is why it is now possible using the technology for the original creator to make money any time digital art or comics are resold.

NFTS AND DIGITAL ART

I absolutely love how art and technology are colliding and taking the world by storm.

One-of-a-kind digital pieces encrypted with the artist’s digital signature can be anything from an icon, a video clip, digital painting, anything!!! Now digital art actually holds a monetary value. People can collect it, trade it, sell it, and invest in it.

Now, to be clear, if you buy a digital painting, you cannot hang it in your art gallery (not without help from a monitor and a power cord, but that could start to look janky). It still exists in a digital format.

In the unholy year of 2020, digital art sales topped over $120 Million dollars!! That’s not bad for the year from hell. Let’s all thank sites like SuperRare for making it all happen. The largest digital artist selling his work as an NFT is Beeple. 1.8 million followers can’t be wrong.

To think, this all started with strange sites like CryptoKitty and CryptoPunks. With CryptoKitty, you could buy, sell, and breed digital cats that are completely unique and have a variety of different attributes.

CryptoPunks did the same thing with pixel art of faces. They were initially given away for free but then people decided to start selling them with proof of ownership. I’m not sure, but I think I saw Mr. T’s face mixed in there somewhere.

I found a great video from WhiteBoard Finance that explains it a little better.

I love the fact that they are giving away some Garbage Pale Kid cards. How cool is that.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR COMICS?

Art is always a great investment, but now comics are too. The reason for the high value of old comics is traditionally the scarcity of them due to WW2 and the need to recycle everything. Now there are only a handful of first appearances of Superman, Batman, and so on.

As someone who is new to the table of creators, one could sell them for a low price or give them away digitally. If you sell 1, the rest become suddenly devalued. They are typically in a pdf format.

Let’s say John buys a copy of Sypdoor-Man issue 1 from Jane. He then reads it. Looking around, he notices that his best friend Sam wants to read it as well but doesn’t have the money. John then simply emails a copy to Sam.

Now in that scenario, both Sam and John have a copy, but Jane has only been paid for John’s copy. What happens if Sam’s sister wants to read it as well. Now 3 people have a copy and Jane has only been paid for one.

With CryptoComics, we use this nice NFT technology to bring comics to you. Your comic, art, even digital action figures and more, can be minted on the CryptoComics blockchain, and each issue can be sold, collected, or resold just like a print copy.

Let’s look at the same scenario as before with Jane, John, Sam, and his sister.

Jane uploads the comic she created on CryptoComics. She decides that she wants to have a grand total of 100 copies made of Sypdoor-Man issue 1. John buys one and Sam wants a copy. John can no longer hand it over as a free copy. Because that first issue copy of Sypdoor-Man has been minted, it is now the original and only digital Issue #1 of Sypdoor-Man. It will be assigned a unique identifier, and can be collected (held), or resold to other readers / collectors.

John sells it to Sam for a price that they both agree on. Jane gets a cut, as the original creator. Now John no longer has a copy, he sold his. If he wants to read or collect Sypdoor-Man, he will have to buy Issue #2 of the remaining 99 Jane has for sale. She got paid by John for initially buying it and also has gotten paid again as Sam purchased it.

Sam’s sister wants a copy so Sam could either sell her his copy or direct her to Jane’s profile where she can get her own damn comic.
“I ain’t selling my copy, there are only 100 ever made!!!” exclaimed Sam.

If Sam was to sell his copy to his sister, Jane would again get a cut of the sale. So now, there is 1 unique version in circulation with 99 others available and she has gotten a percentage from each sale.

We know it is a little complicated. That is why we're working hard to simplify the process so all you have to do is: Join CryptoComics. Upload your Art, Comics, Graphic Novels, or whatever digital item you want to sell. We mint your digital item, and viola: You now have a collectible NFT to sell in the Marketplace. 

Watch for another article soon that describes how CryptoComics uses blockchain technology to turn your comics and art into NFTs, and specifics of the different ways to sell your NFTs.

Want to know more now about NFTs and comic books or art? Shoot us a question in your dashboard, or watch our Couch show LIVE every Monday on Twitch, Facebook, YouTube, or Twitter to ask your questions during the show.