NFT: How crypto tech made it possible to own, trade digital art

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

In March 2021, a 1961 oil painting by VS Gaitonde sold for over $5 million — making it the most expensive Indian art ever sold. In the same month, auction house Christie's sold a digital work of art for the first time for $69 million. It not only set a record but also made a blockchain application called NFT instantly popular. NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are unique digital items stored on a blockchain, the same network that runs cryptocurrencies. Anything digital — images, videos, music, even the online version of this article — can be converted into an NFT and monetised. NFTs are not the digital art but instead certificates of authenticity, and most use the blockchain of ethereum, the second-biggest cryptocurrency. Just like crypto, trading of NFTs too has no legal backing yet. The lack of regulation also means that it is prone to price manipulation. Increased use of the internet and a surge in interest in crypto has driven NFTs' popularity. «Many consumers who had put money in crypto were introduced to NFTs as a new medium of investment. NFTs also gained popularity when celebrities like Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, Paris Hilton, and Snoop Dogg sold NFTs,» said Sumit Ghosh, CEO & co-founder of Chingari, the NFT marketplace that was launched by Salman Khan in October 2021.

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Apart from art and memorabilia collectors, some have taken to NFTs due to speculation as the value of a token is derived from what buyers are willing to pay for it. «The appreciation of crypto market