| I think most of the answers here have missed the basic point of an NFT, which is this: In a digital system, there is no limit to copying data. You can copy and paste a file millions of times, share it with others, they can copy it, and so on. There is no scarcity. An NFT is simply a way of introducing scarcity into this digital system. An NFT cannot be copied like other files, it is an entirely unique file. [1] This has resulted in some people and artists using NFTs for digital art to add scarcity. Think about how the physical art world works: an individual art object is unique and cannot be copied. There is only one Mona Lisa. All the copies and photographs of it are not equivalent to the original. This is different than say, a manufactured object like a Coke can, an iPhone, or a Ferrari. But digital art can be copied. By using a NFT, however, you can functionally have a scarce digital art object in the same way that a physical art object is scarce. So if you’re a digital artist, you can use a NFT to sell a piece of digital art as a scarce original. Of course, the world of people using NFTs is full of scams and people trying to capitalize on trends. And it’s not really clear if a scarce digital object actually has value in the way a scarce physical object does. But at its core, it’s about scarcity. 1. I oversimplified this. Technically you can still copy the file, but it won’t be treated as the “original” or “valid” file by the validation network. Sort of like how you could make a copy of the Mona Lisa down to the atom, but it wouldn’t be considered the original by the art museums, experts, etc. that are the validation system in the art world. |