The NFT has exploded recently, inspiring innovators to develop new ways of translating traditional art to the digital world. One such innovation of Hashmasks, an NFT which is redefining the terms of the art world.
However, because there are so many NFTs on the market and many associated concepts, it can be challenging to pinpoint precisely what Hashmasks are. But in this article, we’ll break down everything you need to know about Hashmasks, their value, and how to buy them.
What is a Hashmask?
Hashmasks are a collaborative NFT art project that was developed by Suum Cuique Labs and produced by over 70 digital artists throughout the world–and they’ve quickly become an extremely valuable NFT.
How were Hashmasks created?
In the simplest sense, Hashmasks are stylized digital portraits inspired by street art. But the process to create them was not like traditional art: Suum Cuique Labs’ artists created the Hashmasks not as unified works but in modular pieces, developing hundreds of examples of each of the five component features (base character, mask, eye color, skin color, and item) that make up the portraits.
Hashmasks’ anonymous creators assembled the features into portraits, mainly by an algorithm but sometimes by hand. This means that there’s a definitive scale of rarity for each component part. A base character that’s a robot, for example, is rarer than one that’s a human.
The Consumer helps sets a Hashmask’s value
On top of the sense of rarity that’s created by the hashmask’s specific features, there’s also a degree to which a Hashmask consumer can set the value of the art–via its name.
When the first Hashmasks were bought, their consumers could set the mask’s name and imprint it on the Etherium Blockchain, giving it a distinctive sense of individuality that sets it apart from all other Hashmasks.
This is a subtly powerful feature since, after all, an artwork’s name is a significant way of indexing what it means and how people perceive it–so by giving a Hashmask a unique name, the consumer has a special role in the full interpretation of the artwork.
What makes a Hashmask valuable?
In a general way, Hashmasks are valuable in the same way a traditional artwork is valuable–because consumers and dealers perceive aesthetic merit and notice the piece’s rarity, it’s understood to be valuable. Naturally, the rarest hashmasks are going to be quite valuable.
As time passes, the Hashmasks market will fluctuate, and each portrait’s value may go up and down, reflecting the same economic patterns of the physical art market. This means that there’ll be abundant opportunities to buy and sell Hashmasks as an art investment.
Additionally, you have control of the official name of the NFT on the Ethereum blockchain and the worldwide exclusive license to use, copy, and display the art for commercial use. This can be quite the lucrative opportunity for someone who’s looking to sell art but doesn’t have the skill to produce it.
How to Buy Hashmasks
Buy ETH – link to best exchanges
To have access to buying an NFT like Hashmasks, you will first need to have Ethereum, a particular type of cryptocurrency. In order to access the currency, you’ll have to get involved in an exchange market. There are several online exchange markets where you can buy Ethereum. Some of the markets traders prefer include Coinbase, Gemini, Blockfi, Bittrex, and Celsius.
Create a web3 wallet using MetaMask
Now that you have some Ethereum, you will need a place to store it. This is when you will need to set up a virtual wallet, known as a Metamask.
Metamask is a Google Chrome extension that can keep your Ethereum secure. Once you download the Metamask extension, you can set up an account with the typical username and password security system you’re used to.
Then, Metamask assists you in setting up an additional layer of security by assigning your account a secret 12-word phrase. This phrase can be used to backup your Metamask wallet.
Transfer ETH to your MetaMask
Once the purchase of your Ethereum has been processed on the exchange platform of your choice, it is time for you to send it to your Metamask wallet, where it can be securely stored. If you open up your Metamask Google Chrome extension, you should be able to find your wallet’s address.
This basically functions the same as a regular bank account number, and you can use this to transfer funds online. Once you know your wallet address, you can go into your portfolio on the exchange website, select the Ethereum portion of your portfolio, and have it sent to your Metamask wallet address. And just like that, your Ethereum currency will be in your wallet.
Buying Hashmasks on OpenSea.io
The next step is simple: connect your MetaMask wallet to OpenSea, a peer-to-peer market for NFTs and cryptocurrency. This is the site that Hashmasks are commonly traded on, and it’s here that you’ll engage in actually buying them.
On OpenSea, search for the Hashmasks collection, where all 16,383 Hashmasks currently in existence are traded. You can sort the available Hashmasks based on price, but you can also use filters to search for a certain Hashmask feature–say all those with the rare golden robot character.
Once you’ve decided what Hashmask to buy, you can buy it on OpenSea, then approve the transaction on MetaMask. Now, you own your very own Hashmask!
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most expensive Hashmask?
The Hashmasks collection made a total of $16 million when it first sold, but some portraits came in at a far greater value than others. The highest value a portrait was sold for was 420 ETH, an equivalent of $650,000. The particular portrait in question features a devil figure with a halo above its head, and an expressionist-style background that evokes a mountain. The purchaser is relatively anonymous and is known through their Twitter handle as @seedphrase, or Danny.
Why are Hashmasks so expensive?
The value of Hashmasks is based on the concept of rarity. And Hashmasks offer two different layers of rarity: the rarity of a Hashmask in general, with only 16,384 portraits in existence, and the varying levels of rarity of each portrait’s particular combination of traits.
On top of that, each Hashmask portrait has a unique name, which requires a certain amount of Name Changing Tokens to create or change. Once there are no more Name Changing Tokens left to use on naming a portrait, the portrait will be deemed officially complete, thus solidifying its scarcity on the market.
Like any open market, the Hashmasks market is largely controlled by the traders who set the prices. So far the market is going strong with many portraits being priced in the six digits in U.S. dollars. Because of rarity built into the Hashmasks design concept, there is a good chance that a Hashmasks portrait would be a smart investment for a cryptocurrency-savvy art dealer.
How many Hashmasks are there?
In total, there are 16,384 unique Hashmasks portraits. These portraits are made by combining the artwork of over 70 different artists worldwide and are composed of a few key trait categories.
These categories include base character, skin color, eye color, mask, background, item, glyph, and set. Each unique portrait also has a unique name, which can be changed with Name Changing Tokens.