NFTs and the financialization of art

ABSTRACT

The explosion of the NFT market has resulted in the unprecedented financialization of the art world. While some view NFTs as another move toward the complete financialization of social and cultural life, others argue that NFTs circulate in a decentralized marketplace outside the confines of traditional art world gatekeepers, providing opportunities for people previously excluded from an elite art world. This study finds that gatekeeping structures and market centralization are prominent features of NFT trading. Trading is dominated by a small, oligopolistic group of wealthy traders and a variety of gatekeepers who can manipulate prices. On the other hand, the practice of paying artists royalties on secondary sales of their work is a major step forward that could affect the non-blockchain art world as well. Whether this becomes an established art world convention will depend on the ability of blockchain artists to defend this practice from current trends toward its erosion.

KEYWORDS:

• NFTs
• crypto
• financialization
• fine art
• digital art

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).