What is Clevver?
Clevver is a website that creatives use to store digital files permanently.
Once Clevver stores a file, it is permanent and can never be lost or disappear. It requires no monthly storage or viewing costs. The file is specially encoded and stored directly on a public blockchain. The data is not hash referenced to an off-chain drive like other solutions. Files stored on Clevver are different from IPFS, Storj, Sia, Filecoin, etc. The whole digital file is stored on a public eco-friendly blockchain.
The art file is “stored with the money,” resulting in extraordinary value for NFT creators and collectors.
Clevver solves a critical problem with NFTs. When an artist creates a digital art file for an NFT, they (most often) upload it to an IPFS node. Unfortunately, Interplanetary File System (IPFS) does not store files permanently. However, IPFS is a good solution that is low cost and reliable, as long as responsible parties continue to do their job consistently into the future. Unfortunately, this problem is already apparent, and some NFT owners have already lost access to the art file component of the NFT they purchased. Furthermore, losing the art file renders the provenance history stored in the NFT contract moot, as the art file is lost and the value stripped away.
Some NFTs have value in the thousands and even millions of dollars. In those cases, IPFS is not a reasonable solution for the storage of the file. IPFS is too fragile for permanent storage.
Here is one example of why this is true.
An artist created a digital art file and uploaded the file to Pinata, an NFT pinning service. Then the artist mints the NFT using that file. The artist sells the NFT, and after a series of transactions, the value of the file is worth $150,000. The problem is that the original artist still maintains the Pinata account (free tier or paid) and is responsible for the Pinata account so the unknown owner of the NFT can view and trade the NFT in the future. If the artist, who is not a techie, fails to renew the credit card on file with Pinata, undergoes a career change, goes bankrupt, or dies, the files stored in the Pinata account might disappear. The lost Pinata account will impact the distant owner of the NFT as the art file won’t exist any longer. It might not ever be retainable without regular and sustained effort — remember, only the art asset recognized in the NFT smart contract is the original. You can’t point the smart contract to a new digital asset web address. That would break the whole concept of what an NFT was all about.
The above story has already happened. Read here and here.
In the case of Clevver, the artist uploads the art file and gets both a unique and permanent URL to reference the digital art. Later, once the artist has minted the NFT, the artist never has to pay further fees or maintain a file system or account for that file. Globally, anyone can access that file forever, especially the future owner of the NFT.
Artists who use Clevver are adding value to their NFT. The NFT is now worth more, so the initial selling price can be higher, and this means collectors can sell the art for a higher price or hold the NFT for a more extended period because the art file will last as long as the NFT smart contract platform. Clevver mitigates the risk of loss, and the art file will last as long as the smart contract platform stores the provenance data.
Additionally, because Clevver removes the risk of loss, NFTs can now be collateralized in second-tier contracts, earning the NFT owner new forms of income.
Clevver makes NFTs better by storing NFTs forever. Visit clevver.org to get started.
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