Original version

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

The Inquiry

Documentaries

Factual

News

Getting beyond the headlines to explore the forces and ideas shaping the world

The Inquiry gets beyond the headlines to explore the trends, forces and ideas shaping the world.

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service News Internet

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

BBC World Service East Asia

The Inquiry: What are NFTs and are they really the next big thing?

What are NFT’s and are they really the next big thing?

27/05/2021 GMT

What are NFTs and are they really the next big thing?

BBC World Service - The Inquiry, What are NFTs and are they really the next big thing?

Suzanne Kianpour asks if non-fungible tokens are really here to stay.

Non-fungible tokens - digital certificates of art ownership - are selling for millions of dollars. But what are they? Suzanne Kianpour asks if NFT’s really are here to stay.

In 2005 a photo of four-year-old Zoë Roth standing in front of a burning house went viral on the internet. It became a meme known as “disaster girl”. In April 2021, the image sold for $473,000 as an NFT, or non-fungible token - that’s sort of a digital record of ownership.

And the sales keep coming. Another NFT recently sold for $69 million. The first ever Tweet went for a huge $2.9 million … and a GIF of a pixelated rainbow cat sold for $690,000. 

But what is an NFT, and is it really the next big thing? Suzanne Kianpour explores the world of NFT’s.

Produced by Soila Apparicio and Olivia Noon.


(CryptoPunk digital art NFT displayed on a digital billboard in Times Square NY City, May 12 2021. Credit: Alexi Rosenfeld /Getty Images)

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Inquiry

What are NFTs and are they really the next big thing?

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

About BBC World Service