NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, exploded into the art space last year, no doubt because Beeple (a digital artist) sold his NFT at Christie’s auction house for a staggering $69 million. This book explains NFTs in the art world, from their history to how (and why) to collect them.

Since the NFT phenomenon took over the art world, useful information that isn’t too reductive is in short supply. Artists, collectors, arts professionals, art lovers, and museumgoers are still trying to understand what NFTs are, how to benefit from or engage with them, and what they mean for the art world in the future. This book is precisely for this audience.

The authors take the reader through the basic concepts of NFTs and the underlying technology of blockchain, including their origins, their surprising connections to the history of artmaking and art collecting, and their potential to radically reshape the art world. The book provides the reader with the information and tools that enable them to engage with this new technology, to understand its connections to the longer arc of art history, and to help shape its future.

The volume is structured around four key chapters: Origin Stories (where NFTs come from), Artists + Making (how artists are currently engaging with the technology and minting NFTs logistically and conceptually), Collectors + Buying (what does it mean to collect an NFT and other advice for current and soon-to-be collectors), and Future States (how NFTs will upend and democratize the arts). In addition to the authors’ extensive knowledge, the book draws on a wide range of interviews with leading contributors to the NFT story.

Amy Whitaker is a long-standing blockchain and NFT researcher in the arts and faculty member at New York University. She is the author of Museum Legs, Art Thinking, and Economics of Visual Art. Nora Burnett Abrams, PhD, is the Mark G. Falcone Director of MCA Denver.