Welcome to BeInCrypto’s weekly news roundup for March 1 – 5, where we cover all the interesting news that happened in crypto from Monday to Friday.
This week has been all about non-fungible tokens (NFTs)! Throughout this week, there have been several noteworthy examples of how these trendy digital assets are being utilized. First, we’ll briefly discuss what an NFT is. Then we’ll then run through how they’ve appeared in the news over the week.
What are NFTs?
NFTs enable any kind of data to be tokenized. That tokenized data is pegged to an identifier unique to the owner. In this way, NFTs can be thought of as unique collectables.
NFTs differ from ‘fungible’ tokens in two ways. Fungible tokens are interchangeable with other units of the same token. They are also divisible. For example, you can exchange 1 Bitcoin for another distinct Bitcoin or trade it for several other coins of smaller denominations.
This cannot be done with NFTs. This makes them ideal as a vehicle for unique digital assets, as well as for authenticating ownership. They have manifested several interesting ways, many of them in just this past week!
Art NFTs
A few stories featured NFTs as pieces of digital art.
Earlier this week, a group of art and tech enthusiasts tokenized a physical piece of art by infamous British artist Banksy. They then set the original piece ablaze. They claimed the stunt was to demonstrate that NFTs can have real value. Some 19,000 people tuned in to the event, which the group live-streamed on their Twitter page. “The goal is to inspire tech enthusiasts and artists. We want to explore a new medium for artistic expression,” the group said.
Over the past weekend, Canadian musician Grimes sold a collection of digital art for $6 million. The collection contained 10 different pieces. Most of the pieces are still images. But three are animations that feature unreleased, exclusive tracks. Grimes, AKA Claire Boucher, is currently the girlfriend of Tesla CEO Elon Musk, which may have contributed to her crypto savvy.
Music
Notably, NFTs are becoming increasingly popular as a means of releasing music. Apart from the few tracks released by Grimes mentioned above, several musicians and bands have announced plans to release albums as NFTs.
American rock band Kings of Leon said they would be releasing their new album as an NFT before releasing a non-tokenized version. Canadian EDM musician deadmau5 is releasing an NFT collection, which will include tracks off a forthcoming album. London-based EDM artist 3LAU released the very first tokenized album last month.
‘Moment’ NFTs
One of the more novel ways NFTs have manifested is by capturing ‘moments,’ on both a small and large scale.
Last month, American Youtuber and boxer Logan Paul purchased several booster packs of first edition Pokémon cards, which he then auctioned off. However, he filmed himself opening the booster packs and packaged these highlights as NFTs, which promptly sold out this past weekend.
On March 3, the Associated Press (AP), an American news organization, initiated an auction for its first NFT. The digital artwork commemorates the first time the US election results were called on a blockchain and contains that information in its metadata. “This digital artwork represents a glimpse of how organizations like The Associated Press are going to be marking important historical events in the future,” said collaborator Everipedia co-founder and CEO Theodor Forselius.
Tune in next Friday for BeInCrypto’s latest weekly roundup!
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