TORONTO -- A new craze is sweeping through the art world, but it鈥檚 of solely digital work.
Using blockchain technology -- which is what underpins cryptocurrency transactions like Bitcoin -- to authenticate who owns the pieces, digital assets known as 鈥渘on-fungible tokens,鈥� or NFTs, are selling for millions.
An NFT is a singular, one-of-a-kind digital token that cannot be interchanged with other tokens 鈥� which makes them optimal for buying and selling art or other collectibles as .
NFTs give a digital certificate of ownership to buyers to prove authentication of both the work and the purchase, but does not give buyers the original file or copyright 鈥� which is why NFTs have been labeled as a purchase.
Canadian Trevor Jones, who lives in Scotland, sold more than $3 million worth of digitally-authenticated versions of his painting 鈥淏itcoin Angel鈥� in just seven minutes.
鈥淚t鈥檚 crazy how fast this space is moving,鈥� Jones told CTV News. 鈥淭his is the first time in history that an artist could monetize digital pieces.鈥�
A version of the 鈥渘yan cat meme,鈥� where a pixelated cat with the body of a Poptart flies over a rainbow, sold for US$590,000 at auction, and a 10-second video clip by digital artist 鈥淏eeple鈥� sold for US$6.6 million.
Canadian musician Grimes recently sold US$6 million dollars worth of NFTs as well.
Even the NBA is getting in on the action 鈥� with the biggest transaction to date on Feb. 22, when a user paid US$208,000 for a video of a LeBron James slam dunk.
Auction house Christie鈥檚 has recently moved into the digital space, offering a new Beeple piece on the block. NFTs have surged in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic as more and more people purchase items digitally due to lockdowns and stay at home orders.
