
Why pay to "own" Jack Dorsey's tweet when you can print out or embed the same tweet on a website like I've done below?

And last week, the bidding for an NFT of Twitter founder Jack Dorsey's first tweet topped $2 million.Īll of this raises the question of just what are people buying? After all, any of these NFT artifacts can be easily copied-legally or otherwise-by anyone with an Internet connection and a basic familiarity with software. An original work by street artist Banksy has been burned and turned into an NFT. The band Kings of Leon, for instance, dropped NFT versions of their new album, while the NBA is selling NFT basketball highlights. Today, the range of NFTs for sale includes just about anything that can be captured as a digital file. Now, in 2021, NFTs have come roaring back as the phenomenon has expanded well beyond digital cats. Those kitties were the subject of a short-lived craze, and some sold for tens of thousands of dollars before the fad quickly fizzled. They've been around since 2017 when a company called Dapper Labs began selling NFTs in the form of unique digital cat cartoons called CryptoKitties. Some suggest NFTs might soothe long-running tensions between creators and tech platforms-while others point out the trend has already given rise to new forms of piracy and rip-offs. In recent weeks, buyers have laid down millions of dollars to acquire NFTs issued by the likes of the artist Beeple and the musician Grimes.īut along with the money and hype, the NFT craze has spurred a debate over what it means to own digital property, and the role of copyright on the Internet. While many people are baffled by the trend, no one can deny it's been lucrative.


Short for non-fungible tokens, NFTs are having a moment as fans scramble to "own" pieces of digital art or pop culture moments. If there was a contest for acronym of the year, "NFT" would be the clear favorite for 2021. In the bigger picture, the problems could be offset by new revenue streams.NFTs have already given rise to new types of copyright infringement, frustrating artists.
