Do Digital Art NFTs and Prints Go Hand in Hand? Or Would One Devalue the Other?

There’s a very interesting phenomenon in the digital art space where people are buying both a digital art NFT and a print of the same artwork from the artist. This made me think: which one holds the real value—both of them, maybe? Or could one potentially devalue the other?

This is just an observation and an opinion of mine. I assume the concept came about because collectors who bought NFTs wanted a way to display and enjoy them, and prints are an accessible medium for the artist to create a physical version of the artwork for the collector to also have. I assume this also ties into the idea of tokenization, where you link an NFT with a real-world asset, though we’ll get to whether this is a good idea later.

However, I feel an issue arises: which ends up being more valuable—the NFT or the print? Or both?

Personally, I lean towards the idea that both won’t share the same value. Why? Because if you have the digital artwork as both an NFT and a signed print, there would be a natural inclination for the signed print to hold the real value. It would likely be the item your kids would be fighting over, while the NFT might serve more as a certificate of ownership.

There’s nothing wrong with this at all—it’s just a matter of preference. But I feel that if the value were retained in the NFT by not creating the signed print, it would keep all the advantages of a digital asset, unlike a signed print.

Especially now, with advanced digital art frames that allow you to beautifully display digital art on your wall (plug: we offer digital art frame retail and custom options with our partners, so do get in touch with us for details). This could reduce the need for prints since the art can be easily displayed digitally.

And if you still wanted a print, you can create one from your NFT (we’re happy to arrange this or give recommendations if an artwork is bought through us). The only difference is that it wouldn’t be a signed print from the artist, so the value of the digital artwork would remain with the NFT.

Solution

It’s a pendulum: you can have both a signed print and NFT, but in this case, the print holds the value while the NFT serves as proof of ownership. Or, you can just have the NFT and use a digital frame to display or create your own prints.

In the end, there’s no right or wrong—it’s your preference, but each scenario has different consequences, as mentioned.

As the market evolves, we may see new developments and ways of doing things. At the end of the day, these are just observations and an analysis of the current trends in digital art.