What the Heck is a Numiz?

As of 2021, there are three topics you don’t discuss over polite conversation; politics, religion, and... NFTs.

While blockchain-based one-of-a-kind artefacts sure were a lot of fun for a time, it seems the hype is cooling. Those ultra-rare NBA hotshot GIFs aren’t as hot as they were when your Uncle Steve bought them. He doesn’t blame you. You told him it wasn’t investment advice. Nevertheless, neither of you ever speak of it again.

This may seem a grim, possibly familiar, opener, and it is.

Cryptocurrency and Blockchain won’t take over the world thanks to overpriced sticker packs with no more value than a 2017 utility token.

And herein lies the vicious circle of vilifying volatility which ravages our beloved vocation.

But fear not digital art fans! There may just be another way...

More than just an NFT

“A centralized NFT is not an NFT. It’s an NFT-like something or other that only exists until someone decides it shouldn’t. The whole point is true NFTs. Today’s entire NFT “market” isn’t real. It’s hype with nothing behind it“

Ron may be a bit of a blunt fella, but his sentiments are noble. Alongside my good friend Eugene Morozov and a small group of ‘true’ NFT enthusiasts, Ron is responsible for setting up the first private subgovernance model seen on Free TON to date: CryptoNumiz.

Nummus, in case you were wondering, is the Latin word for coin, with Nummi being the plural. Nice to know, right?

As with their Latin namesake source of inspiration, the hook to the CryptoNumiz project is that every coin has two-sides. The head of the Numi is a public facing static image, designed by the artists to entice collectors. The tails side is private, shared between only the creator and collector (and whomever they decide to share it with), and can take the form of an image, song, short movie, practically anything!

NFT: Not Fully reTainable

It’s a well-covered topic, but 99% of NFTs aren’t actually the artwork itself.

9/10 what you’re buying is a link to data stored on a centralised server. Should the server shut down, or the host stop paying their fees, you’ll find yourself empty-handed.

Stealing Ron’s words again (work smart, not hard as they say!):

“Free TON has decentralized storage, DeNS, easy-to-use DeBots, and essentially an entire decentralized platform where a Numi can live forever without fear of being shut down. That means true NFTs can be made and exist securely. This is very attractive for CryptoNumiz. That and of course the very cheap transaction fees and near internet-as-usual speed. It just makes sense.“

When Launch!?

The Free TON one-year anniversary took place last month, with several award-winning artists taking part (you can read my interview with them here!). And there are more big names from the world of art, celebrity, and crypto in the pipeline ahead of the public release of the auction site.

Exact dates are still to be confirmed, but looking at recent activity, it won’t be long now! For now, check out some of these incredible pieces coming up for auction soon!

Emmaunuel Flipo

Art Labs - Dmitry Trekhsvyatsky and Artem Mirolevich

Dionne Amy Edwards

Sasha Pivovarova

Igor Vishnyakov

Want to join in the true NFT revolution on Free TON? Join us on telegram; main chat and NFT subgoverance! And check out my other stories on Hackernoon, here: https://hackernoon.com/u/benjaminbateman