Tokenized covers created by crypto-artists, articles published on blockchain and much more. NFTs are entering all sectors, from art to tourism and now publishing as well.
A few months ago, for example, the famous American magazine Time announced the creation of a collection of NFTs in collaboration with Cool Cats, a company that created a collection of cards on blockchain self-generated by an algorithm.
And this was not even the first time that Time had decided to undertake initiatives in the NFT field. In fact, some time ago he had transformed four of his covers into non-fungible tokens and sold them on the SuperRare platform.
These three covers were distributed for a total of over 1.5 million euros, thanks also to the support of the famous crypto influencer with over 1 million followers on Twitter, Anthony Pompliano.
But we’re not just talking about American magazines. In Italy, Vanity Fair and Corriere della Sera have also created covers in the form of NFTs.
An important contribution to a sector that, for example, in Italy has been in crisis for years. In 2020, the average publishing turnover fell for nine out of 10 companies. This is therefore a way to further monetize culture and information thanks to this particular application of blockchain technology.
A magazine entirely in NFT
And so it was no surprise that the first magazine made in NFT would also arrive. This is The NFT Magazine, whose first issue will be published on the Opensea platform on November 2nd.
With the Ethereum blockchain, 500 copies of the magazine will be created, which can be purchased by buying the cover in the form of an NFT. Whoever has it will have the right to obtain the number to be read. The topics will obviously be related to the world of crypto art, blockchain and fintech.
Unsold copies will be burned to increase scarsity. Also, buying the NFT Magazine people will participate in the “Readers Club”, which will later become a DAO where community can decide topics, artists and project to include in the future issues of the magazine.
The covers will be made by famous artists of the sector, becoming collector’s cards, given the extremely limited number of copies.
Among the partners of this project there are also Bitcoin Cash and Zilliqa, as you can see on the official website. Bitcoin Cash and Zilliqa, in fact, will be quoted as one of the most promising blockchains where users and artists can create NFTs.
What are NFTs?
Non-fungible tokens are files whose authenticity and uniqueness is guaranteed by blockchain technology (usually that of Ethereum, but the number of blockchains on which it is possible to create them is increasing more and more).
The operation is simple: a document in digital format is guaranteed by the blockchain and this allows it to have a value. To give an example, the difference is between the Mona Lisa declared in the Louvre with its inestimable value as an original and all its worthless reproductions.
So what the blockchain does is ensure that one is the original work, while the others are mere copies or fakes.
The future of NFTs
As mentioned, NFTs have tons of potential applications and a lot of artists and companies are starting exploiting them for example to avoid the high percentage of fees a lot of platforms and intermediaries get.
Just to give you an idea, a traditional art gallery usually gets the 50% of a sold artwork, while Opensea or SuperRare take only 5%. Same thing is regarding Spotify or YouTube for musicians.
Also, newspapers are a difficult category to monetize with but, thanks to NFT, magazines are finding new ways to earn money.
So NFTs are not only the future for different industries but also a way to improve monetization.