MIAMI – Among the extensive exhibits and events scattered across the city for Miami Art Week, some artists are hoping a new form of digital expression will continue to grow in popularity and enthusiasm — NFTs.
NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are pieces of digital content built and managed on a blockchain — a digital system used by Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to keep track of transactions and ownership.
“Any digital art or digital music can now have a limited edition version that’s fully authenticated and be collectible,” said Lin Dai, CEO of one OneOf, an NFT platform for music.
Each NFT is wholly unique and original, meaning no two of them are the same. An NFT can be made from anything, such as music, drawings, or video highlights.
“Its potential is extreme,” said Salah Zalatimo, CEO of Voice, an NFT Platform. “I think the introduction of an NFT into society and into the internet could really change everything.”
NFTs have already been prevalent in other forms. The NBA, for example, got into the space with NBA Top Shot, a marketplace where fans can buy, trade, or sell officially licensed video highlights.
Also, AMC Theatres — the largest theater chain in the world — and Sony Pictures are offering limited-edition NFTs to customers who purchased advance tickets to screenings of “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”
This flexibility in both ability to access and purchase is what artists and executives across multiple sectors of business believe will keep NFTs around for the foreseeable future.
“It’s the future of URL meets the IRL world,” said Cherise Gary, an artist also known as UNIIQU3.
That explosive ambition is met with genuine excitement in artists like Gary and Shan Vincent De Paul, who say the opportunity to turn their work into NFTs then profit from sales allows for more creative and financial control over their work.
“This is completely shifting art, culture, and innovation, and how far we can take this,” said Vincent De Paul.
“The music, the art, that’s definitely what NFT are all about, in all forms,” Gary emphasized.
Additionally, the allure of Miami and its moniker as “The Magic City” provides an energy these artists say is unmatched anywhere else.
“It feels like we’re at the epicenter that’s going to be changing how we look at art… and places like Miami are at the forefront of that,” Vincent De Paul said.