Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have been around for many years but have recently gained huge traction, taking a variety of different forms such as digital kittens (CryptoKitties), sports highlights (NBA Top Shot), music album downloads (Kings of Leon) and digital art auctioned by Christies. More recently, Sir Tim Berners-Lee sold an NFT that included the original source code for the world wide web.
NFTs represent a new way for brands to directly engage with consumers in the digital age; a way for brands to create a sense of scarcity and therefore value around their digital collectibles, including photos, videos and audio files. They potentially represent the next (digital) generation of the Panini trading cards traded by children in school yards in the 80s and 90s. Also, because of the way NFTs are able to tokenise, store and hold rights in digital or physical assets, they are likely to have a wide application to sectors such as financial services.
But what are they, what do they represent and what are the legal and commercial issues to consider? To find out read the full article here.
