WTF is an NFT? The Extremely Profitable New Trend on Digital Art
Things are getting weird on the internet again... A single JPEG that can be found online has been sold for $69 million dollars. How? Why? Who bought it? Again, why? Well, it was an NFT. Let us tell you more about it.
If you’re into tech news, you’ve probably come across the exciting and deeply confusing world of NFTs, a new form of art (?) that’s been making headlines for the exorbitant amounts of money that it’s making, But, like… what is it?
NFT stands for Non-fungible token, which means absolutely nothing to the average Jane and Joe, but to digital artists and entrepreneurs, it means EVERYTHING. An NFT is a form of cryptographic token that certifies the originality and uniqueness of the piece of digital art. Simply put, an NFT is a cryptologic certificate of authenticity, this means that even though you can find the image all over the internet when you buy the NFT, you’re buying a unique file for that piece, yours is the only “real” one if that makes sense.
Some NFTs that have been on the news are the adorable Nyan Cat that’s been a common gif used all over the world for years now, a 50-second video by artist Grimes, a clip of Lebron James, and Jack Dorsey’s -founder of Twitter - first tweet. And at this point, you might be wondering “What’s the point?”, and you know what? That is a totally valid question.
NFTs are opening new markets, which is giving digital artists a new way to make their work profitable, and that’s great! They’re also giving people the opportunity to support their favorite digital artist by allowing them to buy their work… also, the bragging rights you get when buying an NFT? Priceless!
In conclusion… is this weird? Absolutely! Should you know about it? Depends. Are you into art, digital trends, and money news? Then yes, if not, at least you now have something weird to talk about at the next Zoom party.
