

For as long as media - be it images, video, or music - has been shared between people on the internet, the creators of those works have had virtually no means of verifying their ownership of the original. The concept of an NFT is deceptively (and remarkably) simple. To get you acquainted with the ins and outs, we’ve put together a primer of everything you need to know about the NFT boom as an exploration of whether it genuinely presents a new frontier for independent artists or just another soon-to-pop tech bubble.

But there are a number of terms, coins, trends, exchanges, and pitfalls (current and prospective) to familiarize yourself with should you choose to engage with the nascent digital bazaar. To be frank, this isn’t brain-breaking stuff, really. So there’s no time like now to, at the very least, begin the process of understanding some of the keywords, players, and fundamentals at work. But it seems entirely likely blockchain, NFT markets, and the speculation surrounding their emergence and eventual prevalence, are here to stay. The heavy learning curve, the environmental toll, and the crypto economy’s historic volatility are all great reasons to monitor the situation from a safe distance for now. If you weren’t one of the few hundred artists to cash-in on the introductory wave, don’t fret. In the span of just a few years, a marketplace for one-of-one digital pieces has bloomed into a billion-dollar industry for those savvy enough to keep up with all of the new vocabulary or fortunate enough to have the backing of a major label or investor. And the sheer scale of the artistic recession brought on by the pandemic may have invoked the perfect balance of terror and excitement for gigging musicians and digital artists who have nervously endeared themselves to the blockchain.

But crypto’s art-world infiltration has been long-stewing. It may seem as though all of your favorite creators are suddenly NFT obsessed. Graphic: Okayplayer Here is everything you need to know about the NFT boom and why blockchain-minted art is probably here to stay, for better or worse. NFTs and cryptocurrency are already presenting a number of new tools for artists that could prove to be crucial in the long game for financial independence and fair pay.
