What’s an NFT? It’s What Makes GIFs Worth Big Bucks: QuickTake

In February, a 10-second video clip known as “Crossroads” by the digital artist Beeple sold at auction for $6.6 million. An animated image of a flying cat leaving a rainbow trail went for almost $600,000 that same month. A video of a LeBron James dunk sold for a mere $200,000. What do all these have in common? Each is an example of a non-fungible token, and the boom in digital art they have set off.

1. What’s a non-fungible token?

Think of them as digital certificates of authenticity. A non-fungible token, or NFT, is a unique, irreplaceable identifier created ...