In short, a blockchain is a database containing information about the purchase and sale of a digital item, whether it be one NFT digital token or one Ethereum. It is incredibly difficult to fake or change this data, but this information is open, so anyone can use it to confirm the authenticity of a digital item.

“This is a digital certificate of authenticity that proves the origin of the item, shows who created it, when the auction took place and the history of the transaction,” explains Colborn Bell, founder of the Museum of Crypto Art.

(Not) interchangeability Cryptocurrency and NFT work in the same way, only the concept of non-fungibility distinguishes them from each other. Money is a fungible thing. 200 rubles is 200 rubles. Two banknotes of 100 rubles are also 200 rubles. Moreover, the serial number of banknotes can be anything, 200 rubles will not lose their value from this.

But art objects, for example, are not interchangeable. "Black Square" by Malevich is a brilliant and priceless painting. The "Black Square" of another authorship is kalyaki-malaki. A painting by Malevich can be endlessly copied and adapted, but nothing compares to the value of the original.

Blockchain technology has made it possible to prove the ownership of digital items and their authenticity. Now, despite the millions of copies of the Nyan-cat gif on the Internet, it is possible to prove the originality of one of them.

"For me, it's a fixation of a cultural moment or phenomenon. Memes come and go, culture on the internet changes hyper-fast. [NFT] sort of packs them up, gives them a timestamp, and allows a certain object at a certain time to have historical weight and immutability," Bell says. .

From crypto kitties to NBA clips Despite seemingly appearing out of nowhere, NFTs have been around for a few years now. Since 2017, technology has been used in the CryptoKitties game, where you can breed, exchange and sell unique kittens.

The most popular NFTs today are works of digital art. An NFT from digital artist Beeple sold for more than $69 million at Christie's, making him one of the three most expensive living artists according to the auction house. But the value of digital art is not only in money.

“I would like to encourage those who love art to look not at dollar signs, but at those trends in art that express the problems that were originally predicted in many cryptocurrency manifestos. Problems of decentralization, empowerment as a person and as a creator. Like us, people, engage in a transhumanist narrative and work more with machines to generate profit, increase transparency and reduce corruption.These key issues were originally expressed in a parallel financial architecture known as blockchain.They interest me in crypto-art - and how NFT maps crypto-currency financial revolution as an artistic medium and form,” says Bell.

NFT is not only art, but also other digital tokens. For example, tweets - the first tweet of the owner of the social network Twitter Jack Dorsey was sold for almost $ 3 million. The New York Times article on the NFT was sold as an NFT for half a million dollars. And basketball fans can collect video clips of the best moments of NBA games by buying them on the official NBA Top Shot site.

"Boom - crash, boom - crash" So far, the meaning of NFTs is to buy and sell tokens for the purpose of collecting or reselling. But the technologies used for NFT trading are also applicable, so to speak, in real life.

Nike has patented the CryptoKicks sneaker. By purchasing them, you will receive a digital token that confirms the authenticity of the shoes and that you are the one who owns them. By reselling sneakers, you can easily prove their authenticity. It is possible that this is only the beginning of the use of the blockchain to confirm purchases and sales.

Already today, the Austrian Post is selling cryptomarks. This is a physical stamp with a QR code that leads to a digital copy of your stamp.

And the Kings of Leon group became the first in the world to release their album as NFT. Fans got access not only to music, but also to limited vinyls and concert tickets.

“I have seen a lot of hype cycles with cryptocurrencies. All technologies repeat the same cycle: boom-bust, boom-bust. But this space will inevitably grow because there is both application and necessary demand for these technologies,” says Bell.

The technology that is used to buy and sell NFTs certainly has a future, but how long the hype around NFT art will last is unknown. According to Bloomberg, the average price of NFTs dropped 70 percent from $1,400 in February in April.

Another problem around NFTs is related to the environment – it takes a huge amount of electricity to mine cryptocurrency.

In short, a blockchain is a database containing information about the purchase and sale of a digital item, whether it be one NFT digital token or one Ethereum. It is incredibly difficult to fake or change this data, but this information is open, so anyone can use it to confirm the authenticity of a digital item.

“This is a digital certificate of authenticity that proves the origin of the item, shows who created it, when the auction took place and the history of the transaction,” explains Colborn Bell, founder of the Museum of Crypto Art.

(Not) interchangeability Cryptocurrency and NFT work in the same way, only the concept of non-fungibility distinguishes them from each other. Money is a fungible thing. 200 rubles is 200 rubles. Two banknotes of 100 rubles are also 200 rubles. Moreover, the serial number of banknotes can be anything, 200 rubles will not lose their value from this.

But art objects, for example, are not interchangeable. "Black Square" by Malevich is a brilliant and priceless painting. The "Black Square" of another authorship is kalyaki-malaki. A painting by Malevich can be endlessly copied and adapted, but nothing compares to the value of the original.

Blockchain technology has made it possible to prove the ownership of digital items and their authenticity. Now, despite the millions of copies of the Nyan-cat gif on the Internet, it is possible to prove the originality of one of them.

"For me, it's a fixation of a cultural moment or phenomenon. Memes come and go, culture on the internet changes hyper-fast. [NFT] sort of packs them up, gives them a timestamp, and allows a certain object at a certain time to have historical weight and immutability," Bell says. .

From crypto kitties to NBA clips Despite seemingly appearing out of nowhere, NFTs have been around for a few years now. Since 2017, technology has been used in the CryptoKitties game, where you can breed, exchange and sell unique kittens.

The most popular NFTs today are works of digital art. An NFT from digital artist Beeple sold for more than $69 million at Christie's, making him one of the three most expensive living artists according to the auction house. But the value of digital art is not only in money.

“I would like to encourage those who love art to look not at dollar signs, but at those trends in art that express the problems that were originally predicted in many cryptocurrency manifestos. Problems of decentralization, empowerment as a person and as a creator. Like us, people, engage in a transhumanist narrative and work more with machines to generate profit, increase transparency and reduce corruption.These key issues were originally expressed in a parallel financial architecture known as blockchain.They interest me in crypto-art - and how NFT maps crypto-currency financial revolution as an artistic medium and form,” says Bell.

NFT is not only art, but also other digital tokens. For example, tweets - the first tweet of the owner of the social network Twitter Jack Dorsey was sold for almost $ 3 million. The New York Times article on the NFT was sold as an NFT for half a million dollars. And basketball fans can collect video clips of the best moments of NBA games by buying them on the official NBA Top Shot site.

"Boom - crash, boom - crash" So far, the meaning of NFTs is to buy and sell tokens for the purpose of collecting or reselling. But the technologies used for NFT trading are also applicable, so to speak, in real life.

Nike has patented the CryptoKicks sneaker. By purchasing them, you will receive a digital token that confirms the authenticity of the shoes and that you are the one who owns them. By reselling sneakers, you can easily prove their authenticity. It is possible that this is only the beginning of the use of the blockchain to confirm purchases and sales.

Already today, the Austrian Post is selling cryptomarks. This is a physical stamp with a QR code that leads to a digital copy of your stamp.

And the Kings of Leon group became the first in the world to release their album as NFT. Fans got access not only to music, but also to limited vinyls and concert tickets.

“I have seen a lot of hype cycles with cryptocurrencies. All technologies repeat the same cycle: boom-bust, boom-bust. But this space will inevitably grow because there is both application and necessary demand for these technologies,” says Bell.

The technology that is used to buy and sell NFTs certainly has a future, but how long the hype around NFT art will last is unknown. According to Bloomberg, the average price of NFTs dropped 70 percent from $1,400 in February in April.

Another problem around NFTs is related to the environment – it takes a huge amount of electricity to mine cryptocurrency.