NFT artworks accounted for some $2.8 billion in sales last year and the rate has declined only slightly in the first half of this year, despite the rout in the crypto market
In this file photograph taken on February 15, 2022, a gallery assistant looks at a digital reproduction of the painting 'Madonna del Cardellino (Madonna of the Goldfinch' by Raphael, displayed as part of the 'Eternalising Art History: From Da Vinci to Modigliani' exhibition at the Unit London gallery in London, where so-called "NFT", (non-fungible token) digital reproductions of six Italian masterpieces, including paintings by Leonardo da Vinci and Amedeo Modigliani, are on display in London as part of the exhibition, entitled "Eternalising Art History". Image: JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP
Paris, France: The closest most people get to owning a world-famous artwork is to buy a cheap poster from a gallery, but art dealers are determined to harness technology to draw in new collectors.
Anaida Schneider, a former banker based in Switzerland, is among those promoting new ownership schemes—for a small fee, investors can buy a digital chunk of a painting and share in the profits when she sells.
"Not everyone has $1 million to invest," she told AFP. "So I came up with the idea to split, to make like a mutual fund but on the blockchain."
Each buyer gets an NFT, the unique digital tokens created and stored on the blockchain, the computer code that underpins cryptocurrencies.