NFTs in the art world: A revolution or ripoff?
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are digital objects that represent something else, such as a work of art, a video or even a tweet.
They certify the existence and the ownership of this item through a data recording on a blockchain (a distributed ledger technology).
Since the emergence of NFTs in 2016, many artists have experimented with this new digital device to market their creations. NFTs are most often bought and resold via auction sites, where payments are made in cryptocurrency (such as ether currency).
It is this notion of a certificate registered on a blockchain that distinguishes an NFT from a standard digital work. The public and media discourse about NFTs is polarized: in the eyes of their strongest enthusiasts, NFTs represent the future of art, while their detractors consider them a vast ripoff and waste of energy.
