Guide to 1:1 NFTs

Having thousands of NFTs in a collection is the norm. A few out of those thousands turn out to be more unique than the others and are perceived to be more valuable than the others. On the other hand, we also have collections that feature a single piece of art that is considered extremely rare and invaluable.

“Everyday: The First 5000 Days” — one of the most expensive NFTs of all time — is one such example.

One-of-one, 1:1 or 1/1 NFTs are one-of-a-kind artworks and do not have any other copies. Usually, they come from renowned artists who already have a huge following and community, however, exceptions may exist. Plus, they’re listed on a single platform. These few factors are enough to derive a huge price for the single entity collection.

While generative art, PFP, or gaming NFTs are bought with an expectation of future gains, the collectors of 1/1 NFTs are usually people who appreciate the art and/or the artist. It doesn’t mean that these NFTs are not a good investment. Rather, they’re mostly meant to be held despite having a high monetary value. In fact, their value is only going to increase over time due to its exclusivity.

Most of the traditional artists who transition to NFTs generally go for 1/1s. Beeple, the person behind The First 5000 Days, is definitely one. Others can include calligrapher Pokras Lampas and animator Deekay.

Porkas was initially a street artist who was popular for appearing in the Guinness Book of Records and collaborating with a number of brands like Lamborghini and FENDI. He entered the NFT realm in 2021 and sold his first 1/1 for 16 ETH, which was about $30k dollars at that time.

Deekay on the other hand had been an underdog until he released a 1/1 that caught Snoop Dogg’s eye. Now he’s also a well-known NFT artist who often releases 1/1 artworks.

With these examples, you may have realized that 1/1 artworks aren’t a recent trend but date back to 2017-18, way before the NFT market’s peak. Traditional artists who just want a new medium of sales for their artwork go for one-of-ones. The blockchain technology here makes it easier for them to retain the originality of their work and keep track of the secondary sales.

However, it doesn’t mean that all 1/1s are beautiful artworks. A few like the ‘Right-click and Save As guy’ also exist solely for fun.

Though one-of-one NFTs don’t offer much extra utilities, their extreme rarity covers up for it. They might also start serving some real use cases in the future, such as the only King avatar in some games or tokenizing unique real-world assets. While these things are still being explored, 1/1 NFTs surely are the favorite distribution system for a lot of artists