NFTs—Non-Fungible Tokens—are hot shit. Wikipedia explains (at that link),
A non-fungible token (NFT) is a special type of cryptographic token that represents something unique. Unlike cryptocurrencies such bitcoin and many network or utility tokens,[a], NFTs are not mutually interchangeable and are thus not fungible in nature[1][2]
Non-fungible tokens are used to create verifiable[how?] artificial scarcity in the digital domain, as well as digital ownership, and the possibility of asset interoperability across multiple platforms.[3] Although an artist can sell one or more NFTs representing a work, the artist can still retain the copyright to the work represented by the NFT.[4] NFTs are used in several specific applications that require unique digital items like crypto art, digital collectibles, and online gaming.
Art was an early use case for NFTs, and blockchain technology in general, because of the purported ability of NFTs to provide proof of authenticity and ownership of digital art, a medium that was designed for ease of mass reproduction, and unauthorized distribution through the Internet.[5]
NFTs can also be used to represent in-game assets which are controlled by the user instead of the game developer.[6] NFTs allow assets to be traded on third-party marketplaces without permission from the game developer.
An NPR story the other day begins,
The artist Grimes recently sold a bunch of NFTs for nearly $6 million. An NFT of LeBron James making a historic dunk for the Lakers garnered more than $200,000. The band Kings of Leon is releasing its new album in the form of an NFT.
At the auction house Christie’s, bids on an NFT by the artist Beeple are already reaching into the millions.
And on Friday, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey listed his first-ever tweet as an NFT.
Safe to say, what started as an Internet hobby among a certain subset of tech and finance nerds has catapulted to the mainstream.
I remember well exactly when I decided not to buy bitcoin. It was on July 26, 2009, after I finished driving back home to Arlington, Mass, after dropping off my kid at summer camp in Vermont. I had heard a story about it on the radio that convinced me that now was the time to put $100 into something new that would surely become Something Big.
But trying to figure out how to do it took too much trouble, and my office in the attic was too hot, so I didn’t. Also, at the time, the price was $0. Easy to rationalize not buying a non-something that’s worth nothing.
So let’s say I made the move when it hit $1, which I think was in 2011. That would have been $100 for 100 bitcoin, which at this minute are worth $56101.85 apiece. A hundred of those are now $5,610,185. And what if I had paid the 1¢ or less a bitcoin would have been in July, 2009? You move the decimal point while I shake my head.
So now we have NFTs. What do you think I should do? Or anybody? Serious question.
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