Mint Condition 🪙 – by William M. Peaster

Metaversal is bankless newsletter Weekly level-ups for NFTs, virtual worlds and collectibles

Dear country without banks

If you want to judge quality Physical Collectibles show signs of wear and tear over time.

But where do you start to judge the quality of a particular NFT (Intangible and Tangible Digital Thing)?

In today’s post, let’s explore the main criteria we use when evaluating NFT quality. It doesn’t matter if you are a seasoned his NFT user or a beginner!

-WMP

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If you are interested in analyzing, collecting or trading NFTs, it is important to familiarize yourself with the factors that contribute to NFT quality and value. Assessing the quality of NFTs requires a nuanced approach that considers many factors. From artistic merit to rarity to historical significance.

This primer outlines six key criteria that can be used to assess the quality of NFTs and hone their cultural and market value. First…

Consider the following points when evaluating the quality of NFT metadata: How metadata is stored and the Uniqueness of the underlying smart contract.

When it comes to NFT metadata storage, the best features are: on-chain This means that metadata is stored indefinitely on the blockchain and can be retrieved forever. There are various on-chain aspects to consider here, but fully on-chain NFTs have essentially zero risk of metadata loss, other than the underlying blockchain itself going down forever. bring.

Of course most NFTs store metadata off-chain, for example an external private server or a public storage network like IPFS. So, in contrast, the availability guarantees that come with NFTs stored on-chain give these NFTs a certain prestige and premium compared to their more off-chain counterparts. In the case of , if off-chain storage is done incorrectly (closed private server, unpaid IPFS pinning cost, etc.), the NFT’s media can be lost completely.

For example, during the 2017-2018 era, NFT platforms such as Ascribe, Digital Objects, and Editional gained momentum, along with many notable early crypto arts, including XCOPY’s Genesis Glitch Mint, shown above. The work has been traded. However, since those platforms have been shut down, only screenshots survive from the mint, not the actual tokenized media.

Moreover, zooming back into modern times, NFTs are Bespoke smart contracts with custom metadata It is often perceived as a higher quality compared to using a shared contract, a single contract on the platform where many artists create in parallel with each other.

However, the distinction is not necessarily black and white. Consider the NFT created in the first SuperRare sharing contract. They are on non-bespoke infrastructure and store their data off-chain at IPFS, but these factors are the reason why many of these works will be seen as high-quality crypto art classics over time. It doesn’t. Overall, it’s important to consider the nuances of metadata for each project.

provenance is History of item origin, ownership, and other significant events directly related to it.

In the context of NFTs, provenance serves as a means to establish the authenticity and legitimacy of digital assets. Collection history as they are V1 Cryptopunk #1234 Although real V2 Cryptopunk #1234 it’s real and It’s more legal, so to speak.

That said, two main aspects need to be examined to determine the provenance of NFTs in the world.

👛 creator wallet — An NFT’s provenance is closely tied to its creator’s wallet. If the NFT is created directly in the creator’s wallet and then auctioned or transferred to other wallets, the provenance is considered more desirable.
🔗 Ownership history — Chain of ownership is an important aspect of NFT provenance. NFTs held by prominent collectors or celebrities may perceive higher value.

Again, there are some edge cases to consider. dynamic NFTs Its visuals evolve every time you transfer a wallet (one with an intact base visual looks more pristine than one that has been transferred 20 times). NFT annotated For example, using an on-chain message from the creator of the token. These kinds of things reinforce provenance.

Additionally, some NFT platforms offer verification and authentication services.For example, Zien is a contemporary art platform and recently sentiment tight release Featuring an “extended NFT” with artist Agnieszka Kurant, its physical counterpart comes with a certificate of authenticity. Such certification confirms the legitimacy and value derived from the provenance of the work.

If someone casts a piece of art they’ve drawn on their tablet, it might look nice and iconic on a web page, but if it’s not set up properly, it won’t visually scale properly on larger displays. There is a possibility. In contrast, artists creating Art Blocks must submit the following works: dimension agnosticThis means that even large sizes for IRL display can be easily scaled in any dimension.

This particular aspect may not be a big deal to some collectors, especially those who do most of their NFT activity on mobile devices. quality should be considered.

There are many questions that can be explored to determine the broader historical significance of NFTs. for example:

As for the creators, when did it occur in their personal body of work? Within which art movement and/or from which era in the NFT space?
What is the artistic value of the work? Is it visually appealing, thought-provoking, or innovative in some way? Will it push the boundaries of what is possible in the medium of digital art and NFTs?
What is the cultural relevance of NFT? Does the work of art comment on current events and social issues in a meaningful way? Does it tap into the zeitgeist of the moment? How?
Are there fundamentally significant technological breakthroughs on the horizon? Nouns DAO smart contract architecture Not only is it expansive and elegant, but has it advanced new and unprecedented ways for decentralized collectives to work?

Answering these types of questions can help us better understand NFTs’ historical significance, if any. Naturally, no new NFT project can score high here yet, but that’s perfectly fine.

There are also different angles to consider when evaluating NFT quality based on rarity. For example, if an NFT isn’t 1/1, for example if it has a rare trait that is only seen a few dozen times within a 10,000 PFP project, we can start by looking at its rarity within a wider collection.

You can also check the virtual rarity of NFTs. For example, if you own any of the following: 9 Alien CryptoPunks, but over time everything else will be unobtainable because you lost your wallet. The actual rarity of Alien’ Punk is considerably higher than it appears via simple rarity analysis tools. Conversely, if you have the rarest NFT in your collection that no one cares about, is it really rare?

There is also an important historical element here. for example, moon cat The one minted in 2017 is perceived to be considerably rarer and considerably more desirable than the one minted in 2021, as in the world of NFTs it appears to be a sort of prehistoric artifact.

Finally, rarity can also be factored in by pure old-fashioned demand.This is seen quite a bit in collections like Finilia, the perception of its rarity is not based on traits, but is primarily aesthetic. Clans that are numerically less rare than others often trade at a significant premium simply because many collectors like their aesthetics.

*Finilia’s bird’s eye view of aesthetics isn’t trait-based, so typical rarity tools aren’t enough to examine collections – via Finilia*

If NFTs offered certain utilities or features when they first launched, do they still offer those utilities today? Does the game still exist? Will the token gated VR space still be accessible? Can I wager NFTs for ERC20 rewards?

Of course, to be of high quality and value, it doesn’t mean that an NFT has to provide utility in perpetuity, or at all. NFTs as they exist today will eventually become very popular as digital keepsakes, even though they no longer serve their original purpose.

In any case, check the current state of the NFT’s utility and both and I will continue to do so!

Perform NFT quality assessment: Pick your favorite NFT, rate its quality using the criteria above, and do a fun and easy exercise 🕵
catch up last week: Join me for last week’s NFT updates Previous metaversal summary 🤳

William M. Peester is a professional writer and creator of metaversal— Bankless newsletter focused on the emergence of NFTs in the crypto economy. Recently, we also provide content to Bankless, JPG, etc.

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It is not financial or tax advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice and is not a solicitation to buy or sell assets or make financial decisions. This newsletter is not tax advice. Please consult your accountant. Please do your own research.

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