If there’s any indication that non-fungible tokens have reached a high degree of popularity among the masses familiar with digital assets, then it’s with the world’s first NFT art museum.
The actual museum itself is open to the public for viewing in Seattle, Washington and showcases blockchain-based digital art, which saw a growth in interest last year as the cryptocurrency market grew exponentially.
“Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are a type of digital asset that has exploded in popularity recently, with NFT artworks selling for millions of dollars,” Reuters reports.
“The museum opened its doors on Jan. 14, and has been providing an outlet for artists, creators, and collectors to display their NFTs in a physical setting, while aiming to educate the public about this fairly new market for digital art,” Reuters adds.
Explosion in popularity could be an understatement. According to CNBC, sales of NFTs grew to over $17 billion during 2021 based on data from Nonfunglible.com — that represents a spike of over 21,000% versus 2020’s sales number of $82 million.
“We really realized the impact of being able to look at this type of art in a way where you actually slow down, you see all the details,” said Jennifer Wong, a co-founder and curator at the Seattle NFT Museum.
Focused on Education
The newly established museum isn’t just for those who are already in the know when it comes to NFTs. The majority of the world is still trying to wrap their heads around what an NFT actually is and what it does.
This is where the museum serves as an educational hub for those who want to gain an understanding of what this digital art entails. Education can always open the pathways for more investment, which can only help the NFT space grow even more.
“An NFT is really just a contract that signifies the ownership of an asset of some kind,” said Peter Hamilton, who co-founded the museum. “These tokens… are basically a contract that says this serial number belongs to this piece of art, and if you own this token, you are the rightful owner.”
“I can’t emphasize enough how important the educational part of this museum is,” said Hamilton. “We’re trying to onboard folks and help them see what the value of NFTs are and help people pull back the curtain a little bit on what blockchain is and what its utility is.”
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