The eye-popping sale price of US$69 million on March 11, 2021, for a non-fungible token created by the digital artist Beeple sent shock waves through the art world.
More multimillion-dollar sales of these digital assets that exist on a blockchain and are maintained on networked computers soon followed.
At the same time, art museums have faced substantial financial shortfalls accelerated by a decline in visitors and donations induced by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Many have considered taking drastic measures, such as selling treasured artworks, to plug budget gaps. Can NFTs generate the revenue many museums sorely need?