WHAT IS ETHEREUM?
What is Ethereum and what application does it have in the art world? Let’s find out together!
Ethereum – a programmable and decentralized Blockchain – has begun to play an increasingly important role and lately its use is increasingly associated with that of Crypto Art and NFT, the new art phenomenon that is making the art world talk
But what is Ethereum?
Ethereum is a Blockchain, a decentralized virtual computer, whose purpose is to develop and manage Smart Contracts, literally smart contracts, which are paid with the cryptocurrency ETH Ether, whose value as of March 2021 stands at about 1,400 euros.
Ethereum was born in 2015, founded by Russian Vitalik Buterin along with Joseph Lubin (entrepreneur, former Goldman Sachs) and Jeffrey Wilke (computer scientist).
Ethereum physically does not exist, it is not connected to any server: it is virtual because it is a computer that resides in the network, made up of all the other computers in the Ethereum network. Decentralized because no one can attack, censor or control it.
But how do Ethereum and the Ether cryptocurrency tie into the art world?
Ever since the Crypto Art and NFT phenomenon exploded, it’s impossible not to have heard of Ethereum and its application to art.
In fact, platforms for the sale of digital works, such as SuperRare and Rarible, rely precisely on the Ethereum Blockchain where the currency for buying and selling is precisely the ETH.
When an artist decides to sell their artwork, they create a transaction on the Ethereum Blockchain through a token uniquely associated with the artwork in the artist’s cryptographic wallet. The transaction is digitally signed by the artist, using asymmetric cryptography, in order to prove the authenticity of the artwork.
Ether has thus become the leading exchange currency for purchasing artwork in NFT, second only to Bitcoin, among the most widely used virtual currencies in exchanges.
Collecting in itself has no limits, that’s why there are extraordinary adjudications in ETH of digital works such as those of the artist duo HACKATAO, whose 546 works sold on different marketplaces have generated transactions for over 6 million dollars while the Crypto Art market has produced in the last months exchanges for over 185 million ETH for a value, although fluctuating, of about 340 million dollars.
Will the future of art be traded in Ethereum?
Photo Credits: School of Motion
