The Briefing Room

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David Aaronovitch presents in-depth explainers on big issues in the news.

David Aaronovitch and a panel of experts and insiders present in-depth explainers on big issues in the news.

David Aaronovitch and a panel of experts and insiders present in-depth explainers on big issues in the news

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The Briefing Room: Non-Fungible Tokens

Non-Fungible Tokens

BBC Radio 4 - The Briefing Room, Non-Fungible Tokens

What are NFTs? How do you buy and sell them? And how do they help British art and artists?

A token for a picture only visible online recently sold for £50 million. NFTs are the latest digital craze. David Aaronovitch asks what the buyers own and how NFTs help artists.

When a collage of digital images was sold in New York earlier this year for £50 million, the art world was convulsed.  The reason?  The picture couldn't be hung on a wall and was only visible online. 

What had been bought and sold was the non-fungible token - or NFT - relating to the collage.  David Aaronovitch and his guests discover how NFTs work for those who sell and those who buy them and also consider if NFTs are a passing fad or an aspect of our culture that is becoming increasingly common and might lead to the emergence of a future John Constable or Tracy Emin, eventually spreading to and influencing other art forms.

Enter the Briefing Room and find out why collectors are investing in NFTs; how easy it is to spot a fake and what you can do about it; and whether non-fungibles will be an enduring part of the artistic - and investment - worlds in the years ahead.

Those taking part include: Georgina Adam of The Art Newspaper; investor in NFTs and co-founder and chief executive of the Arts and culture portal Vastari, Bernardine Bröcker Wieder; and the art historian, former art dealer and presenter of the BBC FOUR series, Britain's Lost Masterpieces, Bendor Grosvenor.

Producers Simon Coates and Bob Howard
Editor Jasper Corbett

Image: Visitors to "Machine Hallucinations - Space: Metaverse" by Refik Anadol, which will be auctioned online as an NFT at Sothebys, at the Digital Art Fair, Hong Kong
Credit: REUTERS/Tyrone Siu

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