Wednesday, June 8 at 7:30 p.m. GMT:
Associated with gifs of rainbow cats and images of bored monkeys, NFT artworks are now selling for millions at high-end auction houses including Sotheby’s and Christie’s. The multi-billion dollar NFT market has generated new revenue streams for creative professionals and vast opportunities for art collectors, while raising questions about whether the crypto-powered ecosystem is a bubble ready to burst.

NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are a certificate of ownership of a digital asset. Sometimes criticized as an overrated digital status symbol for the crypto-rich, NFTs are changing the way art is bought and sold and giving digital artists the ability to monetize and authenticate their work. The technology could become more important with the development of the Metaverse and other Web3 spaces.

But with the recent downturn in the cryptocurrency market, the values ​​of most digital assets have fallen. According to data website NonFungible, NFT sales fell to a daily average of around 19,000 in May, down 92% from a high of around 225,000 in September.

In this episode of The Stream, we’ll examine the future of the NFT market and its impact on the art world.

In this episode of The Stream, we speak with:
Osinachi, @osinachiart
crypto artist

Tony Payne, @tonipayne
still life photographer

Ben Davis, @benadavis
National Art Critic, ArtNet News