Source: LT Art.
What makes digital art so attractive to art buyers and why is it a good art investment?
It is no secret: NFTs and digital art have been shaking up the art market for the last year, and it probably won’t stop anytime soon. NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) are unique metadata referring to a specific asset. As their name suggests, they are non-fungible and indivisible. When an NFT is acquired, the purchase goes through a blockchain, which is a digital record of any transaction ever made with that NFT.
The NFT mania has come in pair with the great explosion of cryptoart’s popularity, allowing digital art to be commercialised by major art institutions and third-party platforms. NFTs and cryptoart are, beyond a revolutionary movement, a reflection of the time we live in, filled with technologies and technical evolutions. But what makes digital art so attractive to art buyers and why is it a good art investment? Here are 5 reasons to invest in digital art.
1. NFTs, digital art and online sales keep booming in 2021, promising positive growth in the future
Whereas physical sales dropped in 2020, due to the pandemic, online sales reached a record high of $12.4 billion, doubling in value from 2019 according to the Art Basel and UBS 2021 report. Earlier this month, the Art Basel and UBS mid-year review 2021 reported that online sales accounted for 37% of the sales made by art dealers for the first half of 2021. An increasing number of new art buyers chose online channels to purchase art whilst 25% of online buyers were art collectors choosing to purchase art online for the first time. Meanwhile, the NFT Report 2020 stated that the Non-Fungible Tokens market had grown by 299% in 2020.
The growth of online sales and NFTs coherently induced increasing commercialisation of cryptoart, which gained approval and demand from the art community. However, its popularity is not solely due to changing art purchasing behaviours or cryptoart’s trendy status. Social media and lockdowns undoubtedly participated in the growing popularity of digital art as the use of online third-party platforms and Instagram by art buyers increased between 2020 and the first half of 2021. Moreover, digital art’s popularity results from its similarities with physical art. Just like traditional forms of art, cryptoart’s acclaim emerges from a passion for art, an emotional response to an art piece or any other feeling that makes our relationship with art so special. With digital art, the desire of owning an original piece remains untouched. Overall, online sales and NFTs’ booming predicts a promising future for digital art that might gain more and more value in the coming years and months.
A Million Yeard Ahead of Me – Frank Sweet
2. Digital Art and NFTs have invaded the physical realm
The involvement of technologies in the production of digital artworks allows digital art to constantly renew itself in endless possibilities. Whether it is the social humanoïd Sophia the Robot producing cryptoart or VR artworks being commercialised on NFT platforms, digital art will continue to surprise us.
In parallel, NFTs have created a bridge between traditional art institutions, digital and physical art. Christie’s famously sold its first-ever digital art piece by Beeple through a unique NFT for 69 million dollars last March, whilst The British Museum recently entered the world of NFTs with the commercialisation of digital postcards by renowned Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai. Investing in digital art equals setting foot in an always growing community intertwining tradition with revolution.
Self-Surrender and Transition – Frank Sweet
3. Blockchain as a safe technology
Blockchain technology is the technological system supporting the purchase of NFTs and cryptoart. Blockchain is a digital record of any transaction ever made with a given NFT. The technology validates the transaction and records the new acquisition. Because of the way blockchains are designed, the record of a transaction cannot be altered as new data needs to be validated by all computers of the blockchain. Therefore, blockchain technology offers art collectors a trustworthy encrypted way of acquiring art that cannot be faked or physically destroyed.