Nonfungible token, or NFT, became such a tech buzzword in 2021 that even Collins Dictionary declared the abbreviation its word of the year and Google searches for NFTs spiked to record levels. Behind the term is a market that approaches $17 billion, according to Cointelegraph Research. And the NFT marketplace OpenSea is responsible for processing most of these transactions, with a trading volume that recently surpassed $10 billion. NFTs’ potential reaches far beyond art to include music, sports collectibles and video games, while its utility encompasses ownership as well as exclusive access to unique functions and features. From CryptoPunks and …

Athletes and politicians made headlines as they opted to get paid in crypto earlier this year. Now, in an attempt to attract a younger workforce, companies are starting to offer crypto salaries. A recent CNBC article highlighted two different cases where young talent is paid in crypto. University student Stephen Gerrits and artist Tiyanna Brown decided to receive their pay in cryptocurrencies. Gerrits works part-time at a tech startup, while Brown sells digital art in exchange for Ether (ETH). According to Gerrits, he earned more than what he would’ve made in cash due to crypto price changes. However, it doesn’t …

Mongolia is a land of endless steppes, hosting mystic Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and fierce horse warriors blessed by the eternal Tengri, the sky god in folk shamanism. For centuries, the harsh, cold climate of the plains forced its people to venture to the world beyond in a series of journeys and conquests. And now, blockchain enthusiasts can hear their stories in the form of nonfungible tokens through the Mongol NFT platform. Since its inception in September, the platform has surpassed 100,000 registered users and close to 400 creators in various stages of their projects. In an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph, …

For the past three years, NYC.NFT has been the leading annual gathering in the nonfungible token and digital blockchain art world. This year, over 5,500 attendees and 135 sponsors joined debates, talks, workshops and briefings in the namesake event. In an exclusive ask-me-anything session, Cameron Bale, co-founder of NYC.NFT, joined Cointelegraph Markets Pro users to discuss the outlook on the NFT industry. Here's what Bale had to say. Cointelegraph Markets Pro User: You had some amazing speakers in NFT.NYC 2021. Can you tell us a bit aboutwhat insights were shared by some of those heavily influential folks? Cameron Bale: Some …

Around the world, douchebags are getting into NFTs in a big way. Now it’s true that there are thousands and thousands of legitimate artists in the growing non-fungible token space, and that precisely none of them are Paris Hilton. And sure, NFTs are a potentially world-changing phenomenon that were just declared ArtReview’s most powerful entity in the art world, though probably not as a result of the “catastrophic failure” that resulted in John Cena selling just 37 sad copies of a one thousand-NFT drop. There may indeed be all kinds of use-cases for NFTs — such as the censorship-proof preservation …

Cointelegraph has had a lot of NFT related news this week from pop culture to sports and gaming. Below is a roundup of stories you don't want to miss. Pepsi and VaynerNFT team up Pepsi launched their Mic Drop genesis NFT collection made up of 1,893 generative style NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain. The number commemorates the year Pepsi was born. Consumers will only have to pay gas fees, and to ensure more manageable fees, Pepsi implemented a waitlist process from now until December 14. In homage to the brand’s history, the design of the NFTs are grounded in variations …

Eventually, all museums will build their digital copy in the metaverse, according to Dmitry Ozerkov, the head of the Contemporary Art Department at The State Hermitage Museum. Ozerkov is currently developing the “Celestial Hermitage”, a digital version of the iconic Russian museum, which will be exhibiting NFT art. "We are all moving into the digital era and our digital twin will be following us everywhere", Ozerkov told Cointelegraph in an exclusive interview. The State Hermitage in Saint Peterburg, Russia, is the largest museum in the world by gallery space with around 3 million works of art. In September 2021, the …

After announcing the launch of his "Genesis Collection" NFT auction, Ross Ulbricht, alleged founder of dark web marketplace Silk Road, has sold his first NFT for $6.2 million or 1,446 ETH at auction. The auction kicked off at Art Basel Miami via the SuperRare platform. FreeRossDAO, the decentralized autonomous organization set up to help free Ulbricht from imprisonment, placed the winning bid. The FreeRossDAO website states that the DAO aims to “advance prison reform” and to “share Ross's work with the world and give everyone a unique opportunity to own a piece of it.” The first NFT sold, called "Perspective," …

The world’s top nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea has denied it intends to pursue a public listing any time soon. Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Brian Roberts sparked a public backlash this week when he told Bloomberg that “it would be foolish not to think about going public.” The statement caused an uproar among OpenSea's crypto native NFT community, many of who see a public listing of the platform as a sell out to large institutional investors. The vast majority of users on OpenSea execute transactions below $10,000 at a time. "Sucks to hear @opensea is selling out and doing an …

In her monthly Expert Take column, Selva Ozelli, an international tax attorney and CPA, covers the intersection between emerging technologies and sustainability, and provides the latest developments around taxes, AML/CFT regulations and legal issues affecting crypto and blockchain. On Nov. 14, Tezos-based nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace Hic Et Nunc — which in Latin means “here and now” — abruptly shut down. Artists became worried about their NFTs on exhibit at the Hermitage Museum’s first-ever NFT exhibition, “Ethereal Aether” (Nov. 10 to Dec. 10), as well as Art Basel Miami’s first-ever NFT exhibition, “Humans + Machines: NFTs and the Ever-Evolving World …

The signature of Star Trek producer Gene Roddenberry has gone boldly where no NFT has gone before — into the code for life itself. Back in 1965, Roddenberry signed a contract with Lucille Ball’s Desilu Productions to finance Star Trek. On Nov. 30, that signature was turned into a nonfungible token (NFT) and implanted into the DNA code of a living bacteria cell — 30 years after the sci-fi legend’s death. Roddenberry Entertainment describes it as the first-ever “Living Eco-NFT” and a “true intersection of science and science fiction.” The piece will replicate and grow with the division of the …

Silk Roads lead to nonfungile tokens Bidding for a 1/1 NFT auction created by imprisoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht has surpassed 261 Ether (ETH), $1.17 million at the time of writing. The NFT depicts a hand-drawn illustration from Ulbricht of a psychedelic eye, and is part of a collection of writings and nine other artworks he created, some while in prison, that are included as part of the NFT sale. The auction kicked off on day one of the Art Basil Miami art fair on Dec. 2 and is being hosted by SuperRare. The auction is set to conclude …