This World-Class Tattoo Artist Just Changed the Game for NFTs
What the future world for creators could look like
This year, Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) have been the talk of the town. Along with De-fi, Doge and other forms of cryptocurrencies. Tattoo artist Balazs Bercsenyi’s NFT collection might be next.
Who is Balazs?
Balazs has almost 500k followers on Instagram. He’s inked A-list celebrities like Lewis Hamilton, Orlando Bloom, and Winnie Harlow. And worked at the world-renowned tattoo shop, Bang Bang NYC. Some think of him as a “celebrity artist”, but he doesn’t particularly like to classify himself as one.
I started following Balazs about a year back, and recently came across his NFT release last week.
This was like no-other NFT release I’ve seen.
What is an NFT? (Skip if you’re already in the loop)
Before I get to his drop, you need to know what an NFT is.
NFTs are tokenized digital assets that live on a blockchain. The benefit — it allows ownership and authenticity of the unique assets to be verified.
If that made no sense to you, just know this:
- NFTs are verified one-of-a-kind pieces.
- NFTs are verified authentic works from the creators.
- NFTs can be bought, sold and transferred.
- Having it live on a blockchain enables 1, 2 & 3.
NFTs enable proven ownership of digital assets.
This has sparked countless conversations on its potential use-cases and disruptive nature. From having cross-game, in-game items to digitalized property deeds.
So far, these some of these assets have been selling for insanely high prices. The most expensive piece went for a whopping $69 million USD. And Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s first tweet sold for $2.9 million.
What are the buyers doing with these assets?
They are either
a) hosting it on virtual museums, or
b) holding it in their digital wallet, waiting for its’ price to appreciate.
That’s about all NFTs are used for currently, but this might be about to change.
A Revolutionary Release
Days ago, Balazs made an announcement through a post on his Instagram @balazsbercsenyi.
“In 2022, I’m dedicating my time and attention to an exclusive handful of tattoos. Next year I will only be creating pieces redeemed through my NFT drops.”
This is huge for the NFT space. One of the world’s most in-demand tattoo artists has now tied each of his NFTs to the ONLY tattoo sessions he’ll be doing in 2022.
NFTs are no longer just digital assets that live online. They now are doubling as exclusive tickets to getting real, highly coveted tattoos.
A New Paradigm of Monetization
There are two ways to get his 1-of-1 NFTs:
- Collect all six coins selling for 0.5 ETH (~$2000 USD) each. And be one of the first three people to “burn” them in exchange for the NFT
2. Become the highest bidder for one of the NFTs directly. As of today, his first piece “Between a Rock and a Hard Place” already has a bid of 7 ETH (~$26,500 USD).
Balazs is essentially auctioning of 6 exclusive tattoo sessions through two different mechanisms. By doing an NFT/session drop he’s first increasing the scarcity of getting his work. Then letting the free markets decide how much each session is worth.
Let’s do some math.
He’s releasing 6 x 6 coins at a minimum of 0.5 ETH each. That comes out to 18 ETH (~$65,000 USD) at today’s prices.
Assuming that each of his 1-for-1 NFT pieces sell for 7 ETH, that’s another 21 ETH (~$75,000 USD).
That brings us to a grand total of ~$140,000 USD for doing one tattoo every two months. Not too shabby if you ask me. Not to mention the possible appreciation in the price of ETH.
This really shows us how flexible monetization of NFTs can be.
Balazs’ drop could be just the tip of the iceberg. If more artists start to move toward NFT-based monetization, we’ll start seeing an explosion in the number of different ways artists can get paid.
Human creativity is the limit ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶a̶r̶t̶i̶s̶t̶s̶ ̶n̶o̶ ̶l̶o̶n̶g̶e̶r̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶d̶e̶s̶c̶r̶i̶b̶e̶d̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶”̶s̶t̶a̶r̶v̶i̶n̶g̶”̶. How exciting!
Giving Control to the Artist
“With my upcoming drops, I’m creating the space to slow down, to create art with integrity, to amplify the transformative potential of shared experiences.”
NFTs empower the artists with power to choose. With new creative business models, artists now have more freedom than ever to hone in on their craft.
Balazs believes the act of tattooing goes beyond skin-deep. That there’s something inherently transformative about the experience of tattooing and being tattooed. Auctioning off his NFT-sessions gives him the space he needs to amplify this quality of experience with his clients.
NFTs as a New Form of Expression
Artists can even make the NFT experience itself an avenue for expressing their art. Balazs has created a story around his works in the form of a quest, including a cheeky easter egg that’s yet to be found.
There’s so much untapped NFT potential with the rise of gaming, metaverses and online worlds. A future in which creators and game developers come together to construct in-game quests that lead to rewards in the physical world seems not too far off.
I think it’s safe to say we’re barely scratching the surface here.
Reimagining the Artist-to-Client Relationship
Balazs’ NFTs create a new dynamic for getting one of his tattoos.
His potential clients no longer have to wait for months or even years to get a session with him. As long as they have the funds, they can scoop up the NFTs once they go on sale, or even buy them resold from someone else. This makes his sessions “more available” to his potential clients.
Granted that the price of each session might have become more unaffordable, getting a tattoo from an artist like Balazs would likely have come with a hefty price tag to begin with.
Balazs is an artist who is very in touch with spirituality. This might be a way to filter and identify clients that really “get” and appreciate his work. The people who are willing to buy his NFTs would probably be the ones that buy into his philosophy around tattooing.
“I create on all canvases and lean more in the direction of giving a purposeful meaning design to any client who shares my vision.”
The end result: Balazs can now indirectly “choose” clients that share the same ideals and can form deeper connections with.
Take a look at what kind of fans he has:
Conclusion
I love Balazs’ work. I love what he’s doing with his NFT drop. & I love what this means for the NFT space.
To be honest, I didn’t understand NFTs at first — why anyone would care about officially owning a digital “original”? …Especially if the art itself can still be copied.
But Balazs’ release has opened my eyes to how NFTs can potentially revolutionise the creator economy. The merging of blockchain and art gives rise to a brand new canvas for creators to play around with.
Could this be a spark that triggers a fireball of other LIVE-NFT experiences? If it does, “game-changing” might just be an understatement.
I’m excited for the future of where the space is going.
Check out his collection at https://www.obtainable.io/balazsbercsenyi
