Why would I buy a NFT if anyone can download the art file?
It is a question that comes up frequently, especially from those who are new to the NFT/blockchain space.
It raises some key fundamentals about art itself, and one that all of us here have thought long and hard about. Let us paint a picture for you ;), Van Gogh’s revered Starry Night sits at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Although it has become dated now, how many people have you seen with this as their phone background or have a copy hanging somewhere in their house? (A lot we hope!) Similar to physical copies of art, we see the metrics of digital art such as: views, shares, downloads, etc. as some of the best ways to value digital art. This is what art should be about, sharing peoples creations with the world!
For the first time since the digitisation of art, creators can monetize their creations and prove they are the creators of it. All of this has been made possible with the creation of ERC-721, digital assets can be bought, sold and traded, with the provenance of ownership and previous sales/bids being forever recorded on the blockchain.