The world of NFT art is exploding in popularity and price. A NFT (or non fungible token) is digital proof that someone owned it and no one else could steal it or copy it. One of these NFT’s was auctioned on October 28th for 575 million dollars, according to bloomberg. The question many people are asking is, what are NFT’s and why are they so coveted? 

  First we need to visit the world of Cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency has dominated the financial landscape as a new form of digital payment and asset for financial gain and other properties. In 2017, an experiment was created to store information on the ethereum blockchain, a financial program that stores and validates transactions of crypto from person to person. This gives a single proof of ownership to whoever owned it. Thus, Cryptopunk was created, a digital Jpeg image of a pixelated character with 1/1 features, of which 10,000 were created, for free. 

  So, why are these images worth so much? Well, the assets themselves have the worth of the community and the money put into it. Cryptopunk is less of a work of art and more of a currency asset, something that can be stored and have its value to be increased over time. Cryptopunks, however, were only the first NFT collection to be created. 

  NFTs are now being minted daily with auctions worth thousands being made by the minute. These NFTs are often pictures of, but are not limited to: Bored apes, penguins, pixel toads, lions, and zombies. Each NFT has its unique features, giveaways, and benefits. The Bored Ape Yacht Club, which was created in 2020, has benefits to its ownership. These benefits were a second NFT sent to the owners, exclusive live music events in New York City, and even a $50,000 random drop to an owner. 

  NFTs are not just pictures, they can be tickets to something very new and exciting in today’s digital age. The world of finance meets the world of art in this exciting new medium of creativity.