Curious About Non-Fungible Tokens?

Technology has made possible an entirely new way to present and sell art, but the field is so very deep in jargon that understanding what you read about it can require quite a bit of effort. According to Logan Klugar writing for Communications of the ACM, a non-fungible token (NFT) is like a statement of authenticity for a painting, only it applies to .jpg image files. The NFT offers proof that you are the one and only owner of a digital asset. What was once an easily copied and reproduced series of bits can now have a proven scarcity, which can increase the investment value.

For example, Beeple’s “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” sold at auction for over $69,000. @muratpak’s “Pixel”—one medium grey pixel—sold for $US1.36 million after a 90 minute bidding war. Even better for the creator, the NFT system allows for royalties to be paid each time the file is sold.

A few websites, such as OpenSea, that will help you to “mine” your .jpg file and make it available for sale under a number of different conditions that the maker can specify. You can expect to find variety of expenses and fees, sometimes referred to as “gas,” that can be confusing to sort out at first. Of course, you first have to make an online “wallet” because NFTs are paid in bitcoin. Different mining companies may limit your choice of bitcoin.

It’s a new world!

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This is not a single grey pixel, but merely an illustration of what one might look like on a splattered background.