NFTs are minting a new marketplace

- [Jonathan] Whether we're talking CryptoPunks, CryptoKitties, Beeple collages, or Dorsey tweets, welcome to the remarkable and lucrative world of NFTs. Inspired by the success of cryptocurrencies and powered by blockchain technologies, non-fungible tokens or NFTs have captured our collective imaginations. Appearing seemingly overnight, NFTs support a whole new way to buy and sell digital items such as art, photos, music, and so much more. For the first time, digital creators have a robust marketplace that rewards them where legacy challenges have been limiting. The physical world of art paintings for example has built a sustained and attractive market for artists and for collectors alike. Such a market for digital artists has been elusive. It's far too easy to copy any digital file with zero quality loss and there hasn't been a good way for digital artists to mint and autograph an instance of their work, until now, until NFTs. The world of collectibles transposed to the digital realm has become the subject of much debate. Many argue it's as valid to collect a digital art piece with the artist's digital signature as it is a signed baseball card, but a sizeable group of detractors see a superficial and temporary marketplace that has been overinflated by naive enthusiasm. Both can't be right. There's no doubting, however, the rapid expansion of NFTs and supporting applications. Between the years 2017 and 2020, in just three years, the NFT market grew over 700% and by early 2021 was worth well over $300 million. What exactly are NFTs? How do they work? How can you participate? And what might the future bring? These are the types of questions I explore and answer in this course. Hi, I'm Dr. Jonathan Reichental, founder, professor and author. And I'm delighted to take you on an introductory journey through the incredible world of NFTs. Whether you're an enthusiast or a critic or perhaps someone who wants to get started in minting and profiting from their own NFTs, this short course is exactly the right starting point. If you're ready, I'm ready. Let's go.