Why going on-chain is the answer to secure, valuable generative NFT art projects
Written by Sharon Cheng
Here’s the problem. A lot of people assume that blockchain technology guarantees the digital permanence of their NFTs. Their logic is that since the smart contract is on the blockchain and immutable, the digital artwork is also automatically protected.
Yes, we all know that the first part about the unchangeable quality of smart contracts is true. But for most NFT art projects on the market, the artworks’ metadata are not actually stored on a blockchain. In fact, they only keep the link that directs users to an off-chain storage location, including centralized servers or an InterPlanetary File System (IPFS).
Well, what happens to your NFTs when those centralized storage locations become compromised and damaged?
Source: https://hackernoon.com/
Let’s talk about it.
The challenge with off-chain NFTs is that the artwork’s metadata is stored in locations that depend on hosts to maintain its services indefinitely. While IPFS is the most popular and slightly more secure option due to its distributed and decentralized network, it is still not as safe as storing everything on the blockchain.
And by everything, I mean the smart contract and the metadata. Think of the metadata as the artwork’s DNA, containing every composable visual element, i.e., its physical traits, color palettes, that make up its unique features. When both the smart contract and metadata exist on the blockchain, on-chain NFTs can guarantee the digital permanence of their artworks.
I’ll explain more.
When all the artwork’s visual assets live on the blockchain, creators no longer have to rely on a third-party server. For generative art projects that have thousands of composable SVG layers, creating on-chain projects is more efficient and reliable because creators can access all their visual assets and render directly from the blockchain. They can also use the smart contract to generate more on-chain NFTs for collectors, prove the authenticity of traits that make up generative NFT artworks, and allocate on-chain royalties for future usage of each of the traits.
From a collector’s POV, owning on-chain NFTs is more secure as the traceability, and trustless nature of the blockchain mitigates the risks faced when stored off-chain.
Some examples.
Here are two groundbreaking projects that have paved the way for the generative on-chain NFT art space.
1. Autoglyphs by Larva Labs: Larva Labs were the first to figure out how to wrap the art’s metadata inside the contract itself and to fully deploy the project to Ethereum. As the first on-chain generative art project, Autoglyph’s generative algorithm allows NFT owners to create and fully own each unique glyph, which “allows a long-term guarantee of ownership, provenance and edition size that is independent of any central authority.”
Source: https://www.larvalabs.com/autoglyphs
2. Avastars by nft42: Founded by on-chain NFT enthusiast and collector j1mmy.eth, Avastars is the first breedable on-chain project to store all artwork and its metadata, i.e., PFP’s attributes, color palettes, and generative vectors, entirely within the Ethereum network.Source: https://www.larvalabs.com/autoglyphs
Source: https://twitter.com/AvaStarsNFT
And there’s plenty to look forward to as more generative art projects are following suit to show the metaverse community their intentions to stay for the long haul.
In August 2021, Larva Labs deployed Cryptopunk’s images and its attributes on-chain. And even though it cost them over 73M gas, they “think that is well worth it to now have the Cryptopunks and their attributes part of the permanent record on the Ethereum blockchain.”
In March 2022, Cyberbrokers paid 91.04 ETH (~$250,000) to move all of its artwork and SVG assets completely onto the Ethereum network, as a way to enable full ownership and to continue pushing boundaries of the NFT generative art space in the future.
Source: https://twitter.com/cybourgeoisie/status/1503130093207625728
Final Thoughts
With more people looking to create their digital identities in the metaverse, I think on-chain generative art NFTs’ ability to give collectors full ownership, verifiability to their assets, and security make owning an on-chain (vs. off-chain) project far more valuable.
I believe on-chain projects are the way to go for NFTs will hold its value for as long as the blockchain lasts. Stay tuned for more updates here on exciting developments in the on-chain art space.
