Thursday, January 20, 2022

What's all this NFT stuff, anyway?

This is what a non-digital, non fungible token (NFT) looks like.  If you look closely, the serial number of the US Dollar appears in the image. This ties the image to a particular US Dollar note, it can't be swapped with any other dollar, it is now NON-fungible, and the dollar is the token.



With online NFTs, the Dollar is replaced with a small amount of cryptocurrency, which has a unique serial number as well. The picture is just a picture, with a signature including the serial number of the cryptocurrency embedded in it, off screen, in a way that can't be forged. Usually there's also a web site that displays the image so you can show your friends online.

Why someone would pay big bucks for an NFT is beyond me.