What is this lady talking about? Let me explain.
"An NFT is a non-fungible token. Non-fungible, in this context, means that it's unique and (literally) irreplaceable.
In practice, NFTs can be any sort of digital item that someone might want to own, such as a piece of music or a painting. (Graphic designer Beeple just sold an NFT artwork at a Christie's auction for an unheard-of $69 million.)
It can even be a tweet, like Twitter founder Jack Dorsey's first one, which just sold for nearly 3 million dollars." (Tech Xplore)
"In early March, a tech company bought a piece of art worth $95,000. Then the executives lit it on fire. At the end of the spectacle, which was shared live on the internet, the group unveiled a copy of the art, this time in digital form. The creation, by elusive British artist Banksy, was called "Morons (White)."
As for the digital format, it's getting more hype than the painting and the burning put together. It's a rising type of technology called a non-fungible token, or NFT. Think of an NFT as a unique proof of ownership over something you can't usually hold in your hand — a piece of digital art, a digital coupon, maybe a video clip. Like the digital art itself, you can't really hold an NFT in your hand, either — it's a one-of-a-kind piece of code, stored and protected on a shared public exchange." (CBS)
Confused yet?
Most NFTs are part of the blockchain of the Ethereum cryptocurrency. When you buy one using cryptocurrency, you can verify on the blockchain that you are sole owner of that work: no one can undo your ownership of an NFT or re-create the exact same one that you have.
"NFTs are like unique collectible cards that anyone can look at, but that only one person can own at any particular time. (While the image or audio that an NFT represents is obviously infinitely reproducible, the proof of purchase seals the NFT itself as being under the sole ownership of the buyer.)" (Tech Xplore)
So what do you get when you buy an NFT? The answer is not simple.
An Internet trophy? Clout? A feeling? A digital collector's item? It's kind of all of these things.
Essentially it's a bar code, almost a certificate of authenticity that serves as proof that a certain version of something is uniquely yours. Non-Fungible.
"The underlying thing that you're buying is code that manifests as images," said Donna Redel, who teaches courses on crypto-digital assets at Fordham Law School. "You're buying a different format of art."
So putting it plainly, if you like to collect art, you like accumulating wealth and you wouldn't mind some clout, look into getting an NFT or maybe a few? Then let us know how it's working for you, would ya?
SNL attempted to rap it out for us. We still don't get it.