An NFT is a digital asset that represents real-world objects like art, music, in-game items and videos. They are bought and sold online, frequently with cryptocurrency, and are generally encoded with the same underlying software as many cryptos.

The first known NFT, Quantum by Kevin McCoy, was created in May 2014 and recently sold at Sotheby’s for $1.4m. Yet as the first NFT art collection, CryptoPunks is no less significant.

Created by Larva Labs in June 2017, the series of 10,000 collectible pixel art characters represents a seminal moment for the NFT movement and explains why collectors consider them to be worthwhile investments.

“CryptoPunks have more than held their value, which was evident when Bitcoin crashed last month,” says Murray. “Many of the CryptoPunks increased in value, while the rest of the crypto market went down.”

The scarcity and historical significance of CryptoPunks is easy enough to grasp, but the intangible nature of NFTs can create confusion. And it’s also led to speculation that NFTs are simply a bubble, and moreover, a bubble that has already burst.

When Sotheby’s brings down the hammer on an NFT, they don’t pack it up in bubble wrap or arrange for the shipment of the artwork to the buyer. The item is stored on a digital ledger called a blockchain (the same technology that enables the vast majority of cryptocurrencies) and the code is transferred from one digital wallet to another.

Anyone can view the NFT online, in the same way that anyone can print out a photo of a Matisse painting and hang it on their wall. But the ownership record, and thus the value, of the NFT is in its code, which passes from owner to owner.

The fast-growing NFT market is redefining our concepts of value and ownership, but terms like ‘non-fungible’ and tools like digital wallets can make the space seem almost wilfully obscure. That’s why Azeez Saeed and Farouk Alao, the co-founders of NFT marketplace Somint, want to keep things simple and accessible for both artists and collectors.

“We describe NFTs as birth certificates for assets,” says Alao, who was born in Lagos and raised in Dublin. “You know the mom and dad, as in the creator; you know the time and date it was created. The NFT is stored in a secure place, but everyone is entitled to have access to the information.”

As a multidisciplinary artist, Alao is excited about the opportunities the NFT industry has created for artists, particularly those who paint with pixels and who, before now, didn’t always get the credit they deserved.

“I think digital art was never considered to be an art form,” he says. “It was always considered a means to an end, for advertising and marketing specifically. Don’t get me wrong, those things have been very beneficial for developing creative people and putting food on the table, but a lot of digital artists have shied away from calling themselves artists, even though their work connects with other people, which, in my eyes, is what art is.”

Alao is currently working on a collection that he will partly sell as NFTs, but he’s also collecting work by other NFT artists and specifically searching for art on the Cardano blockchain.

Most NFTs are part of the Ethereum blockchain and therefore priced in Ether (Ethereum’s cryptocurrency), but the landscape is slowly changing as other blockchains that support NFTs gain ground.

Alao and Saeed prefer Cardano-based projects because the blockchain’s lower energy consumption makes it more environmentally sustainable.

They believe Cardano has huge potential, which is why they’ve snapped up pieces from early projects like SpaceBudz (a collectible series similar to CryptoPunks) and unsigned_algorithms (an ambitious algorithmically-generated art experiment).

“I’m kind of looking for pieces that will signify this moment in time, says Saeed.

As to whether he thinks NFTs are a good long-term investment: “Twenty years from now, people will be looking back at the artwork that came out of this time and it is going to be an era of its own, just like Bauhaus or any other art movement.”

If money were no object, Alao says he would buy an NFT by Beeple, an American digital artist whose work, Everydays: The First 5,000 Days, recently sold for $69m at Christie’s.

“People forget that he worked on that piece for 14 years, creating an artwork every single day,” he says. “I’ve been using Cinema 4D [the 3D software package used by Beeple] for almost four years now and I still feel like a rookie. I can tell you that it’s not easy. So if anyone deserves it, it’s him.”

Also on his wish list is Irish-Latvian NFT artist Rolands Zilvinskis aka Rolzay. “He was a year ahead of me in Limerick School of Art & Design and it’s really good to see people living in Ireland doing so well. I wish I could afford one of his pieces — hopefully I will some day.”

After getting over his investor’s regret, Steve Murray went on to acquire NFTs in the space he’s most familiar with: post street art.

“One of my favourite NFTs is by New York-based street artists Faile,” Murray says. “It’s a short video of a young girl holding a skateboard. I picked it up because during lockdown I was teaching my daughters how to skateboard and now we have something to remind us of fun days.”

With the technology of digital video framing (yes, there is such a thing), Murray plans to exhibit his Faile NFT in one of the new private dining rooms at his Dublin ‘art diner’ Dig In from next month.

The exhibit will debunk the common misconception that you can’t hang NFTs on your wall, and introduce customers to an exciting new way of experiencing art.

Murray, who is also working on ways of accepting Bitcoin payments in Dig In, admits he’s always been interested in bleeding-edge technology. However, he says his love of NFTs comes down to simple logistics. “Collectors are moving to NFTs because it saves them the time, cost and hassle of transporting art, storing art and art insurance.

“I still really enjoy traditional art and seeing brush strokes on the canvas,” he adds. “But being able to rotate the art on your walls without packing it up solves a huge issue.

"On Sunday evenings I’m constantly taking art down and moving it around because I just like to change the place. It drives my wife nuts!”

Other NFT collectors, like marketing and design agency owner Niamh Aughney, enjoy the thrill of speculation. Instead of acquiring works by established NFT artists on popular marketplaces like Foundation, SuperRare and Nifty Gateway, Niamh looks for affordable art on the lesser-known marketplace ‘hic et nunc’.

“I look for artists that aren’t too popular, and artists that have a story, in the hope they will establish themselves in the future,” Aughney says. “Maybe only one per cent of the art I buy will make me money, but that one per cent could transform my life.”

Like the rest of the collectors I speak to, Aughney isn’t willing to share exactly how much money she has spent on her NFT art collection, although she points out that some collectors have been able to pick up pieces for free by taking part in giveaway campaigns, similar to the one Twitter launched earlier this week.

It’s also worth noting that prices for NFT art vary significantly, depending on how well the overall cryptocurrency market is performing and how well established the artist is.

NFT open editions by Mr Doodle (a young artist who’s making waves in the traditional art world) sold a piece for €1,685 on Nifty Gateway yesterday. Elsewhere, collectors can pick up NFT art for as little as €10.

Prices peaked in February of this year before dropping steadily, leading many to surmise that the bubble has already burst. But Aughney says she’s thinking at least 10 years ahead.

“It’s a hype right now and hypes come and go… but I believe in it long term and I have no doubt this will be the future, not just for art, but for assets in general.”

She’s also confident that a circular economy of sorts will help to sustain the industry. “Probably 90pc of the people in the space are artists, but the thing is, most of those artists will become collectors one day.”