The NFT Revolution: What We Touch

A few months ago, few had heard of NFT, but this technology has caused a stir in the art market, and is witnessing a great demand for it from companies, galleries, museums, and recently individuals, whose goal is not only to attract traditional collectors, but also to attract the new rich, Or the so-called “Geeks” who have made millions of fortunes thanks to the explosive growth of the value of cryptocurrencies.

It is remarkable that anything can be sold with this technology, whether it is a painting by Monet, or a completely digital work, or even a video clip, photo, message or article.

What is "NFT"?

NFT is an acronym for Non-Fungible Token, meaning "non-fungible tokens". It symbolizes the inability to replace any piece with another parallel to it. It can be said that "NFT" is digital holdings whose source can be traced, and purchased under a contract whose terms are determined by the informational code of a virtual or real commodity. It is a new type of digital asset, similar to cryptocurrencies that use blockchain technology (Blockchain), that is, it is a documentation reference shared by a large number of individuals without a central authority.

Who buys NFT?

Buyers are especially collectors, or speculators who hope to make a profit by reselling them later at a higher price. According to estimates by the specialized Non-Vangible website, during the first five months of last year, NFT-documented digital pieces generated about $2.5 billion in financial operations. The company "Chain Analysis" indicated that the exchange of digital business with this technology in the world amounted to 44.2 billion US dollars last year.

How to use "NFT"?

As with cryptocurrencies, it is possible to buy and sell NFT on specialized platforms. During the process, the buyer does not necessarily obtain the specified piece, but is only given a Blockchain-registered Certificate of Authenticity to change ownership. To maintain the rights in this certificate, a digital wallet is necessary, whether it is a program in the form of an extension to an Internet browser or a secure connection on a USB bus. Before buying, payment must be made in cryptocurrency, but it is also possible to “create” an NFT piece by yourself, relying on some skills in the field of informatics.

Any dangers involved?

Buying, selling and using NFT is still technical, and sometimes poorly understood, which can put investors at risk. A recent report published by the specialized platform "Chain Analysis" indicated that buying a modern "NFT" from a highly-anticipated group is a very competitive process, as thousands of users hope to buy at the same time. In this case, many transactions fail, but fees are still due, sometimes high, depending on the price of the cryptocurrencies that are often used to pay them.

But some buyers are determined to succeed, and may use bots (powerful software to place orders), which makes the transaction more ambiguous for the novice investor, according to Agence France-Presse. The study concluded that in 2021, “a very small group of experienced investors captured the bulk of the profits” of NFT groups.

Auctions caused a stir

NFT has been the focus of many auctions that caused a global stir, including the sale of Twitter founder Jack Dorsey's first tweet for $2.9 million, and the American artist Pebble's purchase of a digital collage for $69.3 million.

The first text message in history, sent via the British telecommunications company "Vodafone" on December 3, 1992, was sold for more than $120,000. The founding program for the Internet in its current form, in the "NFT" format, was sold for $5.4 million. A popular YouTube video of two siblings, entitled "Charlie Bites My Finger", joined the list of digital goods sold for huge amounts of money using NFT technology, as its price reached $761,000.

In the world of arts

After auction houses Christie's and Sotheby's joined the NFT universe, Russia's major Hermitage Museum last year announced its involvement, based on works included in its vast collection in St. Petersburg. The certificates bear the signature of the director of "Hermitage" Mikhail Petrovsky. The museum offered, for example, the purchase of Leonardo da Vinci's "The Nursing Maiden", "Judith" by Gorgonne, "Lilac" by Vincent van Gogh, "A Corner of the Monterrey Garden" by Claude Monet, "The Fifth Pillar" by Wassily Kandinsky (1913), as "non-replaceable tokens".

And last Wednesday, an exhibition that will continue until the middle of next month, in which digital copies of six of the masterpieces of Italian painting are presented, were launched in London, as part of the first non-virtual exhibition in Britain dedicated to this technology. The event is entitled "Perpetuating the History of Art" and was held in cooperation with Italian Museums.

In this context, the British Tax Agency seized three works of art using "NFT" technology as part of an investigation that led to the arrest of three people, during the current February. In a statement, Assistant Director in charge of Economic Crime Nick Sharp confirmed that this first-of-its-kind seizure of NFT digital businesses in the country "is a warning to anyone seeking to use encrypted digital assets to hide money" from the British Tax Authority. The IRS did not disclose the estimated value of these digital works, which were seized with other assets, as part of an investigation into a network specializing in fraud to evade value-added tax, incurring a total loss of 1.4 million pounds ($ 1.9 million) to the British government.

A museum dedicated entirely to NFT technology opened its doors in Seattle, the US, this month.

Donald and Melania Trump

Former US President Donald Trump did not miss the opportunity to enter this world, as he and his wife Melania auctioned ten works showing footage of his term - undisclosed - on February 21. A statement said the digital product suite consists of "ten original digital artworks featuring iconic moments from the Trump presidency, such as the July 4 visit to Mount Rushmore and the White House Christmas events." Melania Trump launched her "irreplaceable symbols" platform last year, in which she presented several digital works, including a watercolor showing her blue eyes.

The news site Vice reported that the first auction in January was a disappointment, as the organizers themselves bought the lot. The former First Lady confirmed that the buyer was a third party. The Republican billionaire's NFT products will be sold at a fixed price of $50 per product, via usamemorabilia.com, an extension of Melania's platform.

New opportunity for pirates

Hackers are taking advantage of the ever-rising popularity of NFT to trick their victims into downloading malicious programs capable of infiltrating their computers, after hijacking usernames and passwords.

This week, cybersecurity researchers at Fortnite discovered a spreadsheet that appeared to contain information about the "non-fungible tokens" technology, but its real purpose was to help download the BitRAT malware.

Bitrat is a malicious program used to remotely access smart devices, and it first appeared for sale in secret forums in August 2020, and its danger lies in its ability to bypass popular security tools. These malware have the ability to steal login credentials from browsers and apps, the ability to log keystrokes, and the ability to upload and download files. It can also monitor the victim's screen moment by moment, use the device's camera, and listen to the audio through the microphone.

Fortnite researchers warn that hackers often use attractive topics to victimize and have taken advantage of NFT's growing popularity to lure their targets to open malicious files or click on malicious links. They added that "normal security practices, such as not opening files uploaded from untrusted or suspicious sources, can prevent threatened actors from accessing users' money and valuable data."