Original title ：《 Everything you need to know about NFTs 》

Original author ： Veronica Coutts

Original translation ： Min Min &  jianqi

In this paper , We will discuss NFT What is it? , What kinds of digital works of art , Where to store digital art and buy it NFT What should we pay attention to .

Too long to see ：NFT The principle of art

In short ,NFT Art is to create a unique token to bind art , Or link the artwork to a token , Or put the art together with its NFT Stored on the blockchain .

NFT Art is mainly divided into two categories ： Reproducible art and non reproducible art . Non reproducible works of art created by humans . Reproducible works of art take advantage of the unique ID As 「 kernel 」 decision NFT The appearance and characteristics of .

NFT There are three different ways to store the art behind it ：

1. And NFT Stored together on the same blockchain

2. Store on another chain or adopt decentralized storage

3. Stored on a private or centralized server

The above three storage mechanisms will give you NFT Bring different risks . If your NFT And the artwork behind it are not stored in the same chain , The link between the two may be broken , What caused you NFT Become worthless . Last , Although some blockchains currently consume a lot of energy , But people are taking action to save energy and reduce emissions in a planned way .

NFT What is it? ？ What does it mean ？

NFT Is with a unique identifier （ID） Token of . If it's an ordinary cryptographic token , The same token cannot be distinguished from each other , So it is 「 Homogeneous 」（ Each token is equal , Like cash ）.NFT（ Heterogeneous token ） Is recognizable and unique , That is to say, each NFT It's different in essence .

- Every NFT All have their own ID, Therefore, it is non homogenous （ They are different from each other ）-

You can take NFT Understood as a token with a special nature , Allows you to create unique digital assets .NFT This concept gives digital scarcity to unique and traceable products . In the context of this paper , Scarcity refers to limited supply （ And controllable ）. Whatever you create 1 One is still 100 individual NFT, Every NFT All have their own ID.

because NFT It is a unique and scarce digital product , You can tie anything to NFT On .NFT There are many important application scenarios . Let's look at a few potential use cases ：

Supply chain management （ for example , Track the process of vaccine from production to access to clinics or hospitals through distribution networks ）

A unique convertible ticket （ for example , Concert tickets 、 lottery 、 Access token, etc ）

Medals and non tradable assets （ for example , Proof of attendance 、 Military training certificate 、 Identification of a platform, etc ） 

NFT Art type

NFT Art is mainly divided into two categories ： Reproducible art and non reproducible art .

Non reproducible art is what we usually understand as art , namely , Created by human artists and uploaded to blockchain and NFT Bound paintings . Most of what we see NFT Art is non reproducible . The main examples are ：

• Beeple | Recently with up to 6900 Sell one for $10000 NFT Painting , Refreshed NFT Auction records .

• OpenSea And so on NFT Are non reproducible works of art , You can go up and have a look ！

Reproducible works of art are created by some algorithm , utilize NFT Unique to ID As 「 kernel 」 Generate artwork . Every reproducible work of art is unique , And only with one NFT binding . Yes, of course , Reproducible works of art also require artists to create all kinds of works in advance 「 debris 」 Feed the algorithm , And tell the algorithm how to piece these fragments together into a complete work . There have been many successful cases in the field of reproducible art ：

• Crypto Kitties | NFT Breeding cats | DNA Store on Chain , The images are stored on the centralized private server under the chain  

• Axie | NFT Can breed pet elf games | DNA Store on Chain , Images are stored off the chain but support third-party access  

• AutoGlyphs | NFT Reproducible art | Store and generate on the chain  

• ChainFaces | NFT Reproducible art | Store and generate on the chain  

• HashMasks | NFT Reproducible art | seeds （DNA） Store on Chain , Images are generated on the chain and stored in a decentralized manner

some NFT You can also let artists charge royalties . in other words , these NFT Each sale can bring income to its Creator , Not just the first sale .

NFT Where is the art behind it stored ？

Created a unique NFT after , How can we combine art with NFT binding ？

- NFT Tokens have their own ID, It can be linked to digital art and even real-world assets -

There are many ways to do this . It's a bit of a hassle , But we still need to know how to prevent fraud 、NFT Tokens cannot be held for a long time and the project design is poor / Carelessness, etc .

Although the code （ Intelligent contract ） It may be hacked , But this is an unavoidable problem for any decentralized application built on the blockchain . No matter how we store art , There is such a risk .

Store artwork on the same chain

About how to bind art to NFT On , The first way we want to discuss is to combine art with NFT Stored on the same chain . This is the safest way , It can effectively guarantee NFT Long standing . It means , Even if the project party goes bankrupt 、 Website shutdown , Your artwork is still safely stored on the blockchain .

- Safest NFT The storage mechanism is to combine art with NFT Stored together on the same blockchain -

Example ：

• AutoGlyphs | NFT Reproducible art | Store and generate on the chain  

• ChainFaces | NFT Reproducible art | Store and generate on the chain

Store artwork on another chain or adopt decentralized storage

You can also store works of art in and NFT Different chains or decentralized storage mechanisms （ for example ,IPFS and Arweave etc. ）.

- Put your NFT Tokens and works of art are stored in different chains or decentralized storage -

When your artwork is stored on another chain or in a decentralized way , Some things will affect your NFT The risk of ：

• How to handle Links ？

There are many projects that offer art and NFT Managed services linked between . however , It also means that , Once the project party stops operation , Yours NFT The link with the art will be broken , What caused you NFT Become worthless .

• Where art is stored ？

Not all storage methods have the same effect . If all you have NFT Art is stored in IPFS On , Someone must 「pin（ Long term preservation ）」 This work of art . If NFT The creator no longer 「pin」 This work of art , This work of art will disappear , Even if the link is still valid, it doesn't help .

Example ：

• HashMasks | NFT Reproducible art | The kernel is stored on the chain , Images are generated on the chain and stored in a decentralized manner

For all that , The above storage method is still far better in security than the following ……

Use the centralized storage method to store works of art

Centralized storage is the most commonly used storage method , for example , Stored in AWS（ Amazon Web Services ） Or on a private server . This storage means , once NFT The creator stopped hosting NFT Artwork , In the hands of buyers NFT Will become worthless .

- Yours NFT Store on Chain , But the corresponding artwork is not stored on the chain , Nor does it use decentralized storage , But by issuing the NFT Your company or team stores -

under these circumstances , Yours NFT At high risk ：

• If the publisher no longer stores your NFT Artwork , Yours NFT Will become worthless .

• If there is a problem with the storage mechanism , Yours NFT Will become worthless .

Example ：

• Crypto Kitties | NFT Breeding cats | seeds （DNA） Store on Chain , Images are generated off the chain and stored on a centralized private server  

• Axie | NFT Can breed pet elf games | seeds （DNA） Store on Chain , Images are stored off the chain but support third-party access

What should we pay attention to ？

Buy NFT when , You need to pay attention to the following ：

Whether the trading platform is formal ？

There are a lot of NFT trading platform .OpenSea There are many on large platforms NFT sell , There are also many users . If you're not sure if a trading platform is trustworthy , You can search for relevant information with keywords , Such as 「 Name of trading platform + fraud 」、「 Name of trading platform + Stole my money 」.

Whether it is an original work of art ？

Sometimes , Crafty swindlers may plagiarize other people's works of art and create NFT, Then claim that NFT The works of art are their original . This situation is difficult to identify , But it's not impossible . You need to do the following ：

• Right click NFT And copy .

• Paste the picture into the Google search bar .

• The first link associated with the picture （ Ignore advertising ） It's probably an original link .

• If this link is what you see NFT Link to , That would be great. ！ This shows what you see NFT It's original . If not , That's probably pirated .

It may also lead to NFT The copied case is that the whole project is published on another chain . under these circumstances , original edition NFT Generally stored on Ethereum .

NFT Is art a high-quality investment ？ Or a big bet ？

Never put money beyond the loss you are willing to bear on any cryptographic currency . In the long run , majority NFT It doesn't protect the value , Buying NFT Before , You must know that .

Last thought ： How to view the energy consumption of blockchain ？

Too long to see ： Many blockchains are deploying energy-saving and emission reduction solutions .

The etheric fang （ most NFT All created on Ethereum ） A major update is coming , Greatly reduce the energy consumption of Ethereum .

Although the energy consumption problem of Ethereum is very serious , But it is often exaggerated , It is also used as a 「FUD（Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt, Fear 、 Uncertainty and doubt ）」 Words to scare away newcomers who want to enter the blockchain industry . Hereby declare , Blockchain projects have their own advantages , Not all blockchains can achieve energy consumption comparable to that of a small country like bitcoin .

Personal view ：

Despite the energy consumption problem , But blockchain will not die . Besides , Blockchain technology has great potential , Be able to make... In an unprecedented way （ Data ownership 、 transparency 、 Sovereignty, etc ） The right is handed over to the majority of consumers .

Many big companies are discrediting the decentralized blockchain , Trying to dissuade ordinary users , Buy yourself time to find an alternative to blockchain , Continue to control the user's data , Enjoy all rights .Facebook The attempt in cryptography and currency is a good example （ There is   very   many   ask   topic ）.

If you still care about energy consumption and don't want to use blockchain , You might as well wait another year or two . The blockchain industry is deploying energy conservation and emission reduction schemes .