There is no touching in the metaverse, no floral fragrances in Web3, and DeFi is distinctly flavourless. The promise of the digital world is a stark – because minimalism is encouraged due to development constraints – existence without the comforts of life. But artists like Jan Hendrik Viljoen, better known as Portchie, are bringing beauty to our second lives and making a little bank with Non-Fungible Tokens. Artist Kevin McCoy claims that he was the first person to mint an artwork NFT. The pixelated, colour changing octagon called Quantum was minted on the Namecoin blockchain in May 2014. Anil Dash developed the technical specification and the pair demonstrated the practical application at a Seven on Seven hackathon that connected technologists to artists. The name this pioneering duo chose for their new creation was Monetised Graphics. It obviously didn’t stick, and they didn’t patent their idea. And then, like all things that started with the best intentions, the internet got hold of it. Dash would later right an ode to his bastardised idea in the Atlantic. “If you liked an artwork, would you pay more for it just because someone included its name in a spreadsheet? I probably wouldn’t. But once you leave aside the technical details of NFTs, putting artworks on the blockchain is like listing them in an auction catalog. It adds a measure of certainty about the work being considered.” “By default, copies of a digital image or video are perfect replicas—indistinguishable from the original down to its bits and bytes. Being able to separate an artist’s initial creation from mere copies confers power, and in 2014 it was genuinely new.” Cycling by the Riverside is built on Ethereum, a blockchain that allows artwork creation and ownership to be authenticated and transferred. The NFTs are represented by unique tokens stored on the network and act as a permanent, tamper-proof record of provenance and ownership. Start your NFT journey today! Visit OpenSea Unencrypted is brought to you by https://www.addvirtt.com the sports advertising technology company - step out of the frame and into the action.