Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, recently attracted mainstream attention after an NFT artwork sold at auction for $69 million, and many people are struggling to understand what NFTs actually are. The Onion provides a helpful guide to understanding the basics of NFTs.
Q: What are NFTs?
A: Unique digital assets that cannot be replaced due to their sentimental value.
Q: Who does the NFT market target?
A: People who have met all their material needs and still can’t fill that empty hole inside of them.
Q: What types of digital tokens are available?
A: NBA clips already on YouTube, memes already on Imgur, and tweets already on Twitter.
Q: How is Mark Cuban involved?
A: He’s the perfect celebrity billionaire to be quoted in articles to give NFTs an air of credibility.
Q: How long until NFTs are used for evil purposes?
A: Two weeks.
Q: Isn’t their value completely made up?
A: There’s something you should know about money in general...
Q: Wait, though, can’t I just get a digital duplicate of NFT art for free?
A: Sure, if you like worthless junk that’s completely identical to the purchased item in every way.
Q: Isn’t this kind of blockchain technology incredibly bad for the environment?
A: Are you seriously going to worry about the future when you can own a file of a basketball card?