Non-fungible token Wikipedia

John Schmidt is the Assistant Assigning Editor for investing and retirement. Before joining Forbes Advisor, John was a senior writer at Acorns and editor at market research group Corporate Insight. His work has appeared in CNBC + Acorns’s Grow, MarketWatch and The Financial Diet. To the best of our knowledge, all content is accurate as of the date posted, though offers contained herein may no longer be available.

Then you need to purchase some cryptocurrency depending on what currencies your NFT provider accepts, most likely Ether. You can use platforms like OpenSea, Coinbase, Kraken, PayPal, etc., to buy cryptocurrencies. Digital collectibles contain distinguishing information that make them distinct from any other NFT and easily verifiable, thanks to the blockchain. Creating and circulating fake collectibles doesn’t work because each item can be traced back to the original creator or issuer. And, unlike cryptocurrencies, they can’t be directly exchanged with one another because no two are the same.

The NFT industry may come up with additional arrangements to grant or rent the viewership right, especially for art pieces with high viewership utility. Technically, anyone can create a piece of art, turn it into an NFT on the blockchain (a process called 'minting') and put it up for sale on a marketplace of choice. You can even attach a commission to the file, which will pay you every time someone buys the piece through a resale. If you are new to NFTs, then read my guide to NFT tips for beginners where I outline some of the big mistakes to avoid. Many new artists and traditional artists coming into NFTs are using the technology to affect change. The artist Nina Chanel Abney's bold NFT collection expresses her views on diversity and develop her style.

No, but technically anything digital could be sold as an NFT (including articles from Quartz and The New York Times, provided you have anywhere from $1,800 to $560,000). William Shatner has sold Shatner-themed trading cards (one of which was apparently an X-ray of his teeth). Whoever got that Monet can actually appreciate it as a physical object. That image that Beeple was auctioning off at Christie’s ended up selling for $69 million, which, by the way, is $15 million more than Monet’s painting Nymphéas sold for in 2014.

As a result, NFTs have become collectable digital assets that hold value, just like how physical art holds value. NFTs are designed as way for digital files to be secured in a way that ensure ownership and create scarcity. Like physical art an NFT can be sold but the artist can retain the copyright, or they can offer it to the buyer, or decide the on a percentage of secondary sales an owner can have.

Information provided on Forbes Advisor is for educational purposes only. Your financial situation is unique and the products and services we review may not be right for your circumstances. We do not offer financial advice, advisory or brokerage services, nor do we recommend or advise individuals or to buy or sell particular stocks or securities. Performance information may have changed since the time of publication. NFTs are also subject to capital gains taxes—just like when you sell stocks at a profit. Coincheck is a Tokyo-based cryptocurrency exchange and digital wallet founded in 2012.