NFT's have been a hot topic in the art space ever since CryptoKitties popularised the concept in 2017, but as usual, there's more than meets the eye on the topic.
If the NFT-backed art market is just a kind of art version of sports memorabilia, though, it’s also something kind of profound, an opportunity to think through what a different and more equitable art market would be like. For example, while she has not minted an NFT yet due to environmental questions, Sara Ludy has used the NFT as an opportunity to develop a new contract with her gallery that is more supportive of the gallery’s staff. Likewise, much has been made of the potential for smart contracts to offer automated resale rights for artists to benefit from secondary market sales, although bad faith actors can find ways around these just as they can in the traditional art world. Cryptocurrency is not a prerequisite for these ways of working, but in some way, it does open up a conceptual space that seems to prompt this type of thinking.